Betty Baxter (born 1952)"A matter of pride; Firing for being gay, Betty Baxter turned political; now she's out to win B.C. riding for federal NDP". '' Montreal Gazette'', August 17, 1992. is a Canadian athlete, activist and politician. Baxter was once a school trustee for the Sunshine Coast District 46 in British Columbia. Baxter was a member of the women's national volleyball team at the

1976 Summer Olympics Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phi ...

, and was later named the team's head coach in 1979."Sports roundup: Volleyball". ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'', November 27, 1979. Prior to being named coach of the national team, Baxter was a women's volleyball coach at the University of Ottawa, and was named the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union's coach of the year. However, she was fired from that role in 1982 for a variety of reasons, one of which was speculation about her sexuality after the media began to report rumours that she was

lesbian A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...

. Baxter was not actually out as lesbian at the time, but subsequently came out and served as a board member of the

1990 Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was starte ...

in Vancouver. She also cofounded the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and the National Coaching School for Women. Baxter subsequently worked as a professional volleyball coach. Baxter ran as a

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

candidate in

Vancouver Centre Vancouver Centre (french: Vancouver-Centre) is a federal electoral district in British Columbia, Canada, that has been represented in the House of Commons of Canada since 1917. It is the riding with the biggest Japanese community in Canada. As ...

in the 1993 federal election, in a high-profile race against Prime Minister Kim Campbell, but was not elected. Baxter later was elected as a school trustee in 2011.

Electoral record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Baxter, Betty 1952 births Living people British Columbia candidates for Member of Parliament Canadian sportsperson-politicians Canadian women's volleyball players Lesbian politicians Lesbian sportswomen Canadian LGBT sportspeople Canadian LGBT politicians Canadian LGBT rights activists New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Olympic volleyball players of Canada Sportspeople from Vancouver Women in British Columbia politics LGBT volleyball players Volleyball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Alberta People from Brooks, Alberta 20th-century Canadian women politicians British Columbia school board members UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball players 21st-century LGBT people