Holmes gay
Dame Kelly Holmes recalls youth when 'being gay was very taboo'
BBC News
Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes has spoken about growing up in Kent at a moment when being gay was "stigmatised".
The gold medal-winning athlete, who was raised in the countryside adjacent Tonbridge, came out last year after hiding her sexuality for 34 years.
She embraced being "unique", but not in "every part of my life", as she hid her sexuality for 34 years.
She said not being able to be open about their sexuality had caused many people "a lot of mental health trauma".
Holmes, who came out last year, told BBC Radio Surrey that in the generation she grew up in, being gay was "very taboo, it was very stigmatised".
She started her career in the army, where until homosexuality was illegal.
Becoming a full-time athlete in , Holmes went on to win two gold medals in the Athens Olympics.
She retired in and turned her hand to motivational speaking.
"We're in a world
In my previous post about Sherlock Holmes I mentioned how emotional I am about this topic. I have spent quite a few years doing research on this and I would verb to share my findings with anyone out there who is interested. I could not possibly fit everything into one send , which is why I will split this into 2 parts (and there are still so many things I&#;ve left out). If you are interested in Sherlock Holmes and his (homo)sexuality, check out my other post The relationship between Sherlock Holmes and John Watson, I wrote about their relationship in The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes and BBC&#;s Sherlock.
For these 2 parts, I will exploit evidence from books about homosexuality at that time, books about Sherlock Holmes in general, and online sources about the subtext found in the original Sherlock Holmes stories. Part 1 will be all about homosexuality in the Victorian era, while part 2 will be an analysis of the homoerotic subtext in the stories.
Before I begin, for the sake of clarity and to avoid common misconceptions, Sherlock Holmes and Dr John Watson were not old men
Sherlock Holmes: Queer, Straight, Neither?
I don’t remember how I discovered Sherlock Holmes, but I remember when—I was 10 years old—and I remember why—I was one of the taller, brainier kids in my class, and he was a perfect role model. I doggedly read my way through The Boys Book of Sherlock Holmes, despite classmate ridicule (“You’re a girl!”) and the baffling behaviors of Victorian London (when I questioned my mom about Holmes’ cocaine usage, she replied, “Oh, that’s just something adults sometimes do to feel good.”)
I was never a Holmes scholar, but I do keep up with him, a literary pal like Harriet the Spy and Fantomas whose acquaintance I value.
I was intrigued by Robert Downey Jr.’s claim that he played Holmes as queer in Guy Ritchie’s latest film &#;Sherlock Holmes,&#; followed by the quick denial of Andrea Plunket (who claims U.S. rights to the Holmes stories). But the film was disappointing; it had more in common with clichéd buddy movies like &#;Batman,&#; &#;48 Hours,&#; and every other film aimed squarely at the wallet of year-old boys than it did with Victori
Dame Kelly Holmes: 'I'm happy for the first time ever'
From a young age, Holmes dreamt of winning an Olympic gold medal. But to do the m and m double was something even she had not allow herself imagine before the Athens Olympics.
"I can look back 19 years later and think, 'how did I do it?' But I think what was critical was that I had always had a talent, clearly, and I knew my trade."
Holmes had won a bronze medal in the m at the Games in Sydney and a silver in the same event at the World Championships.
But winning medals in both the m and m was something she had never managed on the world stage, at the same event. So how did it all come together on the biggest stage of them all?
"I knew how to race. I knew my opposition. I had trained with the best, I had raced with the top and I knew my downfalls," she told Sky Sports.
"It was really important to know my weaknesses, which were injuries, and then my mindset, because every time I got injured, it just brought me down. I wanted to be at the top.
"I just didn't give up on it. The moment you give up, you don't fetch anywher