Johnson made headlines for being the only Black male professional tennis player to publicly come out as gay during their career. They made history as the first openly gay Black male in professional tennis to come out. The only male player in professional tennis to come out publicly before Johnson was Brian Vahaly, who spoke about his sexuality for the first time in 2017, a decade after retiring from the game. Johnson said not everyone supported him, including fellow players. Lendale now identifies as Transfemme and casually goes by the name “Naomi”. They said, “A trans woman is a woman that is transgender. A transfemme is a person transitioning towards femininity.”
They said they will continue to represent USA and compete on the Men’s circuit as Lendale Johnson. "I can be feminine and girly if I want. I can wear a ponytail. I can paint my nails. When I go on the tennis court, that is not going to stop me from performing. People shouldn’t judge me for that either but that is just how the world is," said Johnson. Fox News They have been interviewing numerous tennis stars such as Nick Kyrgios, Andre Rublev, Danielle Collins, & more for their reality tv series. Johnson wants to excite tennis fans and advocate for LGBTQ athletes around the world and open the hard conversations on why Lendale is the only active tennis professional on the men’s tour that identifies with the LGBTQ community since the sport turned professional in 1968. The Florida House Passed Three Extreme Anti-Trans Bills in a Single Day this month, but that won’t stop Johnson from pursing their goals as an out LGBTQ+ professional athlete. Johnson is set to play in the main draw of the 2024 Emerald Coast Tennis Tournament on March 22nd in Panama City FL (Purse $500) in the Men’s Open. Top seed is currently Cole Phillips (9.0 UTR) LIVE STREAM THIS EVENT HERE
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