Dennis rodman is he gay
A Shot On Ehlo
“You also had LGBTQ bars on the south side. … Jeffery Pub may have been one of the oldest Black gay clubs not only in Chicago but in the United States. … Everything that people were doing, whether it’s the drag queens or the gay clubs, the gay businesses, entrepreneurs, creative people—I think all of that inspired Dennis to be as open and as bold as he was.”
— Chicago designer Otis Richardson on Chicago’s gay community’s influence on Dennis Rodman
Hi all! For anyone in Chicago, grab a duplicate of the Reader this week and check out my cover story on Dennis Rodman’s connection in the 90s to Chicago’s Queer community: “Dennis Rodman’s gay 90s”.
I started thinking about this piece a rare years ago, and it was stylish to see it come together so quickly, starting last month when I pitched it. I had been behind gathering material on the topic, not just on how Rodman immersed himself in gay tradition, starting in San Antonio, but also how members of the LGBTQ+ group viewed him, some with wariness, many others with a full embrace.
One such person was illustrator Otis Richardson. In June of 1996, Otis was 32, living in Uptown and contributing art to the new magazin
Everybody has an image in their thought of what it means to be an athlete in our society. I paint my fingernails. I color my hair. I sometimes wear women’s clothes. I want to challenge people’s image of what an athlete is supposed to be. I like bringing out the feminine side of Dennis Rodman.
Dennis Rodman, from his bestselling 1996 memoir Bad As I Wanna Be
The year was 1996, and Leslie Feinberg had a hot recent book and a press tour and a revelation: Her subtitle was wrong.
A self-described transgender butch lesbian and head voice on the LGBTQ+ experience, Feinberg published Transgender Warriors: Making History From Joan of Arc to RuPaul in the spring. Switching your book subtitle for the paperback edition is not the norm.
But that was Dennis Rodman for you—he made you pay attention.
“I originally subtitled this book Making History from Joan of Arc to RuPaul in order to breathe recognizable sense into the synonyms transgender, and to convey the sweep of time and cultures in my work,” Feinberg wrote in her brand-new afterword, dated September 1, 1996. “But that was before Dennis Rodman, the greatest rebounder in basketball history, proudly came out as a cross-dresser—and b
Dennis Rodman responds to critics after Pride procession appearance
Basketball Hall of Famer Dennis Rodman made an appearance at a Event parade in Houston on Sunday and clapped help at the negative comments he received on Instagram.
Rodman posted a picture of himself on Instagram greeting parade-goers while wearing a green skirt and a hat with a smiley face on it along with sunglasses over his face.
“Love will Always win,” he wrote on Instagram. “Happy Pride.”
However, Rodman received several negative comments on the post and as the remarks piled up, he posted a note on his Instagram Stories addressing the haters.
“Do your research guys,” he wrote, “#beenhim.”
His words were posted on top of a collage showing various pictures of Rodman during the prime of his NBA career wearing a wedding dress and other outfits that were deemed controversial for the time.
In 2019, Rodman talked to Business Insider about the attitudes toward LGBTQ athletes in the sports realm as some professional players stared to come out publicly as gay.
Rodman estimated at the time that about 10-20% of pro athletes were a part of the LGBTQ community.
“People Thought I Was Gay”: Dennis Rodman Reveals Why He Was Perceived Differently To Other Athletes
NBA players today arrive at the arena in bold outfits that can border on being labeled risque. However, that wasn’t the case until Dennis Rodman arrived on the scene. From his colorful hair to his vibrant outfits, the forward pushed the envelope with his style. But it also subjected him to some prejudice.
On the Got Sole podcast, Rodman was asked about people’s perceptions of him through the years. He revealed that during his time with the Spurs, people often questioned his sexuality. His eccentricity attracted a lot of criticism, especially from people in conservative cities favor San Antonio. Rodman said,
“A lot of people thought I was gay. Cause I was cross-dressing, women’s clothes… Imagine guys, in San Antonio, the Bible bumping city in the world. I was going to gay clubs, gay pride, doing this and that.”
While on the Spurs, Rodman was dating celebrities, wearing crop tops, and painting his nails. He was also one of the few athletes raising knowledge about fatal diseases like AIDS. He even colored the Red Ribbon on his head in 1995.
This was all unheard of at the t