Sports
Out and embracing it
Catching up with Kirk Walker, first out coach in Division I NCAA
Kirk Walker left Oregon State University as the ‘all-time winningest’ softball coach in the school’s history. (Photo courtesy of Kirk Walker)
When Kirk Walker and his partner Randy Baltimore decided to adopt a child in 2005, the process required the couple to fill out public records, which led to Walker making the important decision to do what no other head coach in Division I NCAA had ever done — come out to his team and the world. (Since his announcement, Sherri Murrell, head women’s basketball coach at Portland State, has also come out.)
“For probably five or six years before I came out, I was definitely in a place where I would not hide it and I wouldn’t lie about it, but I wasn’t necessarily sharing it and it wasn’t a point of conversation,” he says. “It certainly wasn’t something I shared with my team. In fact, my team was a very big turning point for me in terms of being more vocal.”
Walker was in his 11th season as head softball coach with Oregon State University at the time and it was important to him that his players learn he was gay from him, rather than through the news reports that were certain to follow.
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Kirk Walker on the field at the University of California at Los Angeles, his current coaching post and alma mater. (Photo courtesy of Kirk Walker)
“I brought up the topic and I shared it with them,” he says. “For the next year or so, I was a little reluctant to do a lot of articles and interviews, because I didn’t want that to be the first thing listed on my resume, that I was the ‘gay coach,’ and that was partly my ego. I wanted my record to stand from my coaching world for who I was.”
Eventually, Walker decided that he was being selfish and that his attitude was diminishing the impact he could have, and proudly wore the label as “the coach who came out.”
Last season, Walker was offered an assistant coaching position for UCLA’s softball program and decided to make the move. He was an alumnus of the school and had previously served as a coach for the Bruins from 1984-1994, helping his alma mater to six NCAA National Championships.
Walker left OSU as the Beavers’ all-time winningest softball coach, with a 594-491 record, and led the team to 10 postseason appearances, including the College World Series in 2006 and the NCAA regionals in 2012.
Somewhat surprisingly, Walker believes he is making a bigger impact with LGBT students in his new role.
“As the role of a head coach, I know I was an example for people and they were respectful and appreciative, but a head coach is someone who is hard to seek out and share personal issues,” he says. “Now, being an assistant, I am in a different role and I certainly see more accessibility to me as a resource.”
In April, Walker, in conjunction with UCLA Athletics and UCLA Recreation, held an event for Athlete Ally, an organization that educates athletes, coaches and fans on issues regarding sexual orientation and sports. UCLA released a “You Can Play” video, which encourages acceptance and tolerance for gay athletes in all levels of athletics, and UCLA head football coach Jim Mora became the first current major college football coach to encourage gay athletes to play for his team.
“Coach Mora is fantastic and has been since I was hired,” Walker says. “I didn’t doubt for one minute that he wouldn’t be on board with the video we were producing and I certainly was very pleased he was so honest about how he felt, and I believe that was very powerful.”
Athletes from throughout the UCLA program — male and female — were on-board and Walker was impressed with the younger generation’s acceptance and support for teammates and individuals who might be LGBT.
Walker was happy that NBA player Jason Collins felt secure enough to come out and doesn’t believe that moments like this are as big a deal as many others do, calling it a safer climate today.
“I think anytime a high-profile person identifies as LGBT, especially in the sports world, it’s important, but I often said that there are many people in the media and the LGBT community who believe the first pro athlete or first football player or first basketball player that came out would be an earth-shattering moment, but I never really ascribed to that,” he says. “I think it’s fantastic, I think it’s great, but I don’t think an event like that means everything has changed.”
So, when contemplating why more athletes aren’t following Collins’ lead, Walker admits part of it is the perception of the public and part the perception of teammates. Still, he thinks the external struggle is the greatest challenge.
“For high-profile athletes, they worry, “Will I still be one of the guys? Will they still value me as a teammate and want me to be part of their family?’ and I think that’s a big roadblock,” Walker says. “I think the dialogue and having more conversations about LGBT athletes, coaches and individuals has created an opportunity in the locker room where there are some vocal people who will stand up and be supportive.”
As the new UCLA softball season is set to get underway, Walker is looking forward to more excitement and success from the team in his role as assistant to coach Kelly Inouye-Perez.
“I have relished the opportunity to be back in that role as an assistant and it’s been great. I have no regrets about making the move at this point in my career,” he says. “My passion in coaching is about changing lives and building individuals into the best person they can be moving into the real world.”
Sports
JK Rowling condemns history-making transgender Paralympian
Valentina Petrillo will race again Friday after failing to qualify in 400m final
Valentina Petrillo ran her personal best Monday at the Paralympics in Paris, but it was not enough to qualify for Tuesday’s finals in the 400m T12 competition. Losing to two cisgender women was also not enough to quell a social media firestorm of transphobia and hate directed at the first out trans Paralympian runner.
Hajar Safarzadeh Ghahderijani of Iran was first across the finish line, followed by Venezuela’s Alejandra Perez. Petrillo, the Italian sprinter, finished third with 57.58.
“I tried until the end, I couldn’t do it,” Petrillo, 51, told reporters after the race. “I missed that last straight. I pushed harder than this morning and I tried. They are stronger than me. There is nothing I can do. I had to do 56 to get into the final. It’s impossible, 57.58. I have to be happy even though I’m a little upset.”
Petrillo also spoke indirectly about haters, but what concerned her most, she said, was the perspective of her son, 9-year-old Lorenzo, who calls her “Dad.”
“I hope my son is proud of me,” Petrillo, said, amid tears. “That’s important to me because I’m a trans dad, it’s not everyone’s dream dad. But I hope he will be proud of me. I hope he will always stand by me, I hope that he loves me even if I am like this. I can’t help it if I’m like this, I’m sorry. Don’t treat trans people badly. We suffer. It’s not fair. We don’t hurt anybody.”
JK Rowling disagrees.
In a social media post on what was Twitter, the outspoken opponent of trans rights and inclusion denounced Petrillo as an “out and proud cheat.”
Why all the anger about the inspirational Petrillo? The cheat community has never had this kind of visibility! Out and proud cheats like Petrillo prove the era of cheat-shaming is over. What a role model! I say we give Lance Armstrong his medals back and move on. #Cheats #NoShame pic.twitter.com/bvqhs3DexI
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) September 2, 2024
Others condemned Petrillo as a “pervert,” a “disgrace” and of course, a man, and a “biological male” who “robbed a young disabled woman” of her chance to compete.
🚨BREAKING🚨
A biologically male runner has just qualified for the Women's 400m T12 semi-finals at the Paris Paralympic Games.
Valentina Petrillo, a father of two, previously won 11 national titles in the men's category before beginning to identify as a "woman." pic.twitter.com/7CqLuFD8dB
— REDUXX (@ReduxxMag) September 2, 2024
The 50-year-old Italian transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo robbed a young disabled woman from a spot in the semifinals of the Paris Paralympics today
Petrillo has previously said that those who don't want Petrillo to compete against females are "on the same level as Hitler." pic.twitter.com/DLU2hxWEVD
— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 2, 2024
Petrillo has one more chance to compete for a medal this Friday in the 200m T12 visual impairment competition. She’ll compete against Katrin Mueller-Rottgardt of Germany.
“Basically, everyone should live how they like in everyday life,” Mueller-Rottgardt told the German tabloid Bild. “But I find it difficult in professional sports. She lived and trained for a long time as a man, so there’s a possibility that physical conditions are different than for someone who comes into the world as a woman. So, she could have advantages from it.”
For her part, Petrillo is not letting detractors stop her from running as the woman she is and living as the woman she is.
“There are lots of people dying only for being trans, people are killed because they are trans, people commit suicide because they are trans and lose their jobs, or are not included in sport,” she said. “But I made it. If I can make it, everyone can make it.”
As for so-called “advantages,” Petrillo cites a study funded by the IOC — and published in April in the British Journal of Sports Medicine — showing that trans women are actually at a physical disadvantage compared to cis women across several areas, including lung function and lower body strength.
“This means rather that I have a disadvantage, because apart from anything else, going through hormonal treatment means I am going against my body so against the biology of my body and that’s certainly something that’s not good for it,” Petrillo told the Associated Press in an interview in a suburb of Bologna, where she lives and works in the IT sector.
She was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a degenerative eye condition, at the age of 14, and can only see 1/50th of what most people can. Petrillo cannot drive and uses public transportation to get around, and told me in a 2020 podcast interview that the trauma of her disability has haunted her all her years.
“I tried to lead a normal life as much as possible,” she said through a translator.
Although her condition forced her to give up running as a teen, she picked it up again in her 40s, telling me it felt empowering, “Knowing I have two good legs,” she said. “Running is life.”
But it was not enough. Petrillo, who was raised as a boy, had been keeping a secret since she was a child, saying that even at age seven, she knew who she was. “I didn’t feel like myself.”
“I decided to transition after years of fighting myself and not understanding what was the problem,” Petrillo said. “It was a very difficult decision.”
Petrillo came out to her wife, Elena, in 2017, just one year after they wed. With Elena’s support, she transitioned in 2018 and started her medical transition the following January. They remained married, for a time, and have another child in addition to Lorenzo. “My wife is very supportive,” Petrillo told me in 2020. “99 percent of the stories end up in divorce, but my wife is the most important love of my life.”
Elena and Valentina have since divorced but remain friends. She and Lorenzo and Petrillo’s brother, Francesco, were in Paris to cheer her on.
“Family is everything,” she said this week.
Petrillo won 11 national competitions in the male T12 category between 2015 and 2018, then won gold in her first official race as the woman she is, in the 100m, 200m and 400m T12 events at the 2020 Italian Paralympics Championship. Last year, she won two bronzes at the World Para Athletics Championships.
In that competition, she narrowly beat Melani Berges of Spain, who placed fourth in the semifinal. That meant Berges didn’t qualify for the final and missed her chance to make it to the Paralympics.
Calling it an “injustice,” Berges told Spanish sports site Relevo that she “accepts and respects” trans people, but “we are no longer talking about daily life, we are talking about sport, which requires strength, a physique.”
The International Paralympic Committee says it “welcomes” Petrillo, who is not the first out trans Paralympian. That honor belongs to Dutch discus thrower Ingrid van Kranen, who finished ninth in the 2016 Rio Games. The rules of the World Para Athletics organization state a person who is legally recognized as a woman is eligible to compete in female categories. She legally changed her name and gender in 2023.
Back in 2020, Petrillo told me the 200m race she will compete in this Friday is her favorite, because of the performance of her personal hero, 1980 Olympic champion Pietro Mennea, who holds Italy’s world record in the event.
“I’m dreaming about this,” she said, recalling the memory of seeing him compete when she was seven years old. “The determination that Mennea showed was something he taught all of us. That is how I feel when I am running. That same determination and that same drive.” And she said again, “Running is life.”
Enjoy world-class soccer at Audi Field and celebrate United Night Out on Aug. 24. Bring your friends and family for an evening full of fun and inclusivity. Experience the thrill of the crowd at Audi Field, have some delicious food at the concessions, and cheer on DC United as they take on Dallas FC. Visit D.C. United’s website for tickets.
DC United will host the 13th annual “Pride Night Out” on Saturday, Aug. 24 at 7:30 p.m.
There will be a special tailgate in Heineken Hall at 6 p.m., providing exclusive giveaways and swag. When purchasing tickets, please use the same email used for your Ticketmaster account, and your tickets will be transferred. Proceeds from the ticket sales will go to Federal Triangles Soccer Club and Team DC.
Tickets start at $41 and can be purchased on DC United’s website.
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