Judith Arndt first out lesbian to medal in London Olympics

BY NATASHA BARSOTTI – German cyclist Judith Arndt became the first out lesbian to win a medal at the London Games, winning silver in the time trials Aug 1.

“I’m really happy with the silver medal. Of course, my goal was to win gold, but if you would have asked me yesterday, I would have named Kristin [Armstrong] as favourite for today,” Arndt said, according to shewired.com.

Armstrong, an American, won gold in the event, while Russian Olga Zabelinskaya took bronze.

Arndt, who is one of at least 23 openly gay athletes at the Summer Games, is competing in her fifth Olympics.

The German now turns her focus to the team pursuit event today.

Natasha Barsotti is originally from Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean. She had high aspirations of representing her country in Olympic Games sprint events, but after a while the firing of the starting gun proved too much for her nerves. So she went off to university instead. Her first professional love has always been journalism. After pursuing a Master of Journalism at UBC , she began freelancing at Xtra West — now Xtra Vancouver — in 2006, becoming a full-time reporter there in 2008.

Keep Reading

Andrea Gibson, left, and Megan Falley, the subjects of the film "Come See Me in the Good Light," pose for a portrait during the Sundance Film Festival on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, in Park City, Utah.

Andrea Gibson helped me see life in the good light

Gibson’s poetry about queerness and mortality taught thousands of people how to reject apathy and embrace life
Collage of greyscale photos of a sofa, chair, shelf and the lower bodies of two people, against a purple and pink background

We need queer gathering spaces more than ever

The eleven-part series Taking Space explores where we go next as the lights of gay bars dim

Summer 2025 is all about the moustache

OPINION: But never forget that a silly little moustache will always be a little bit gay
Cynthia Nixon as Miranda Hobbes in And Just Like That... Nixon has short red hair and wears green; she is facing someone else across a bar table

Where is Cynthia Nixon in the evolution of Miranda Hobbes?

OPINION: There should be butches in the “And Just Like That …” universe