LGBTQ Sports

[Hilda]

I came across this image yesterday:



Today I attempted to track it down using my limited photo-search skill. Google Images flags it as "Lesbian Rugby" and shows images of what looks to me like plain-vanilla women's rugby.

Judging by the age of the image, the caps, the uniforms, and the boots, I'd guess early 20th century, and Wikipedia informs me there were women's rugby teams back then.

And judging by the condition of the ground, and the lack of dirt on ball and boots, I'm guessing the captains had just tossed a coin (hence the referee) for sides.

Otherwise I'm puzzled. Can anyone help?

[Pornhubby]

I tried. But came up with nothing. Great photo. Thanks.

[MintJulie]

All I found was the photo captions below, with not much more detail.

"1921. The captains of Stoke United Ladies and Blaydon Ladies greet each other before the match. Women's football was born in 1894, when a predestined activist by her last name, Nettie Honeyball, founded the first women's team: British Ladies Football Club. (221)"

 "1921. Stoke United Ladies and Blaydon Ladies captains kissed each other before the match. Female football's origin was in 1894. Nettie Honeyball, aa feminist activist, founded British Ladies Football Club, the first female football team."

https://cafeblissett.tumblr.com/post/22719937362/1921-las-capitanas-del-stoke-united-ladies-y-del


Another page from a different site captioned it....
"Kiss Before Kick Off
February 1921: Two members of the Lyons girls' football teams kissing each other during a match. (Photo by Topical Press Agency/Getty Images)"

And perhaps the answer that gives reasoning to the kiss, a website from France with an article regarding athletes coming out has a caption alongside the image reading;

"Two female soccer players kiss before the kick off of a match, which was the custom in the 1910s-1920s. (© GETTY IMAGES)"
source:https://www-francetvinfo-fr.translate.goog/sports/foot/sportifs-est-ce-le-bon-moment-pour-faire-son-coming-out_314493.html?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc

[Pornhubby]

The Sheriff rules 🥰🥰🥰

[Hilda]

All I found was the photo captions below, with not much more detail.

You have amazing search skills, MJ. Thank you!

One thing I noticed about that photo is the ball. It doesn't look completely round, but that could be an artefact. I recall that in the UK football = rugby, but the French caption says soccer.

[MissBarbara]

I came across this image yesterday:

I agree with Hilda: The ball looks more like the ball used in rugby than the ball used in football/soccer. But that might be the angle of the pic. The line behind looks like the back part of the center circle, and a rugby pitch doesn't have a center circle.

The haircut of the woman on the right seems to put in in the 1920s.

I don't know much about the history of photography, but the picture seems to be taken from relatively close by, meaning that the camera was set up n the middle of the pitch. And the players behind them don't seem to be ready for a kickoff.

And it isn't necessarily an LGBT moment. It might be a chaste kiss between two straight women.

Regardless, it's an intriguing pic, and thanks for posting it.