In the final instalment of Bruce Mouat's Pride Month, Bruce picks the brain of badminton's Kirsty Gilmour.
The two-time Olympian came out publicly as gay in 2021, tired of hiding a part of who she was from the world.
As summer and winter collide for one last time, Bruce and Kirsty discuss their sporting history, how to navigate your sexuality at a young age and the how Team GB athletes can use their platforms for good.
Bruce: Obviously we're both Scottish and we have a little bit of a connection. Your uncle is Graeme Thompson who used to be the British Curling Performance Director so we already have a bit of a connection. Your family are really sporty and that's how you got into badminton is that right?
Kirsty: Yes. Firstly, I'm surprised we haven't crossed paths more, I've seen a lot of the curlers at the Emirates. I've met your teammate Hammie McMillan before, but we must have been ships crossing in the night!
Sport runs all the way through my family. My dad was a national junior coach and my uncle went to a few Commonwealth Games. Then on my mum's side, she actually has a Scottish Schools Mixed Doubles curling title she needs you to know about, then her cousin has been to the Olympics for badminton in Atlanta. We're trying to tick off a lot of sports. But I liked badminton because it encapsulates everything, you have to be fit, skilled, tactically and technically aware. It's everything merged into one.
Bruce: It sounds like both our sports are skilled based as we're pretty tactical within curling too. We have to use our brains and bodies to win those games and you have to out manoeuvre your opponents.
You were obviously very sporty at school; I was listening to a couple of podcasts you've chatted on and you've said that your school journey was where you started to realise that you were part of the gay community.
Kirsty: When you start to turn 12 or 13, that's when your friend group starts to get really excited about the prospect of boyfriends and you realise that it's not very exciting. Later I realised that at that age you often manipulate your feelings to shoehorn into the mentality of your friends. But I knew I wasn't as excited about the prospect of kissing boys as my friends were.
Bruce: I was on the reverse of that I guess with girls! It did take me a bit longer to find myself and it was just after school, but I never related to kissing girls. As soon as I heard I could kiss boys I knew that was for me.
Kirsty: I was in such a lucky position when I came out that I was only met with positive reactions from my friends and family. Everyone just knew that was me and it was fine. I actually used to practice coming out to people I would never see again like taxi drivers. I wouldn't even have a girlfriend at that time, but I would pretend I was going to meet her just to gauge a reaction.
It was just that, not desperation, but you know there's this part of you that you haven't been able to show until that point, and you feel like if you don't tell someone you will burst. For straight people it's the norm all the time, but you get to the point where you are so comfortable in yourself you want people to know you. Now I honestly couldn't care less about telling people but how do you feel?
Bruce: I'm so comfortable with talking about it now, it comes up in conversation naturally and I don't panic about saying the word 'boyfriend'. When I was younger, I used to think that you would 'come out' once or twice to your family or friends but it happens so many times and you don't realise.
For the likes of you and I who have come out already, how would you describe that idea of not wanting to be named as a 'trailblazer'.
Kirsty: Well, my sexuality is just one part of me and it's so accidental, so you just want it to be matter of fact. I feel like it's odd to be a role model for something that is just part of me. You get used to the headline of 'gay badminton player' instead of just 'badminton player' but it's about toeing that line of visibility for the community and showing the other interesting parts of myself.
You want to have that positive visibility for the LGBTQIA+ community and to show people that something as coincidental as your sexuality doesn't mean that you can't be at an Olympics. If you think that's a barrier for you, let me tell you that it's not and we want to show that positive story. I don't feel like I necessarily have a responsibility but every coming out story I had heard pre-coming out made it sound awful, but I have never experienced one piece of abuse directed towards me being gay. I wanted to show that coming out stories don't have to involve misery, and I understand that's a lot of privilege on my part and a credit to the people around me and badminton fans.
Bruce: It's great to hear that another athlete as part of Team GB has had the same experience that I have. What does it mean to you to be an openly gay athlete within Team GB.
Kirsty: Well one I have strived for since I was a child and the other is a happy accident, hopefully you can guess which one is which. In the grand scheme of things, if we can make sport a really safe space for LGBTQIA+ people, then that can only be a good thing. Imagine if people felt so safe they flocked to sport because they knew it was a welcoming environment and a safe haven for however you identify. I think that's the general way we're going but it's the very loud one per cent that makes it hard sometimes. What's the gay landscape like in curling?
Bruce: I'm not the only person, there's a few gay curlers in Canada actually. I was the first openly gay man to win the World Championships but in Canada they actually have a gay national league which is so cool! They've got it sorted.
Kirsty: So you could be the general best curler in the world and the best gay curler in the world.
Bruce: Yes, technically I'm not even the best gay curler because I've never won the gay curling league! I'm just one of the best curlers I guess. Look at me, bigging myself up.
But in terms of your sporting journey in badminton, I see that you've been selected for the European Games this summer.
Kirsty: Yes, it will be my second Games and my fourth time representing Team GB so it's going to be pretty special to put on that shirt again. I will never not find kit day exciting! It's just a huge showroom where we get to try on everything, the ultimate personal shopper experience.
Bruce: And of course, we're coming up on a year until Paris 2024, which would be your third Olympic Games, so what is the qualification like for you and how excited are you for Paris?
Kirsty: Our qualification last a whole year and it's all the points you can collect in those 12 months. I think my spots will be relatively safe but I really want to push and get a seeded position which will really help come Games time. It's going to be tough; it's going to be a spicy year, but I say that every year and my girlfriend always rolls her eyes. I don't think I would have written playing in three Games on my sporting bucket list, it would be amazing.
Sportsbeat 2023