ONE-ON-ONE
20 sept./oct. 20
Lendale Johnson may not be a household name … yet. But as the world’s first out
gay professional tennis player, he’s starting to make waves on the court. He’s also an actor, model, entertainer and he’s now hosting a new reality TV show, “Deuces and Love” that’s bringing awareness and education about civil rights for Black Lives Matter and the LGBTQ+ community. You’re sure to see and hear more about him as his star continues to rise. Eric Carlyle: Congratulations, Lendale – It’s really exciting to know that tennis now has its first openly gay professional player! How old were you when you started playing tennis? Lendale Johnson: I was about seven.
Photo courtesy of Christian Coleman
EC: How did you get started in tennis? LJ: My dad and I would go to the community park in Kalamazoo, Michigan to play basketball with everyone. I wasn’t a big fan of basketball as a kid but I looked up to Michael Jordan as he was a black professional star athlete. There were some slum tennis courts next to the basketball courts and I fell in love with tennis from there on.
EC: Who is your favorite professional athlete? Michael Jordon still or maybe a tennis player?
COURTING
LENDALE
JOHNSON: FIRST OUT PROFESSIONAL BLACK TENNIS PLAYER BY ERIC CARLYLE (HE, HIM, HIS)
26 COMPETE january-february 2021
LJ: Definitely Venus Williams. I watched her win Wimbledon on TV in 2000 and I was just so inspired and amazed. That was a few months before I turned 14. On the ATP Tour I’m always rooting for Djokovic.
EC: Lendale, please share your coming out story with our readers. LJ: You could say I fully came out right after high school. My family knew but I wasn’t comfortable at all with it. It’s something I knew not to talk about around most of them. Deep down, I know my grandma on my mom’s side was OK with it, so that was comforting. There’s a ton of homophobia in the black community and being a double minority has been and still is very difficult to navigate.
