Susan Douglas McGreivy (née Gray; October 24, 1939 – November 30, 2019) was an American competition

swimmer Swimming is an individual or team racing sport that requires the use of one's entire body to move through water. The sport takes place in pools or open water (e.g., in a sea or lake). Competitive swimming is one of the most popular Olympic ...

who represented the United States at the

1956 Summer Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

in Melbourne, Australia. She competed in the preliminary heats of the women's 400-meter freestyle, and posted a time of 5:16.7. McGreivy became a

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 ...

activist and civil rights attorney for the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a nonprofit organization founded in 1920 "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States". T ...

(ACLU) of Southern California.Finding aid to the Susan McGreivy papers, 1975-1990 Coll2012.138
/ref>Russian #LGBTSports Federation among those honored by Federation of Gay Games Legacy Awards; Olympic athlete and civil rights advocate Susan McGreivy and LGBT sports pioneer Jean-Nickolaus Tretter also to be honored
/ref> She had a "leading role" in a range of ACLU gay and lesbian civil rights issues, including a case against the

Boy Scouts of America The Boy Scouts of America (BSA, colloquially the Boy Scouts) is one of the largest scouting organizations and one of the largest youth organizations in the United States, with about 1.2 million youth participants. The BSA was founded i ...

, a defense of the

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 ...

against the

United States Olympic Committee The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) is the National Olympic Committee and the National Paralympic Committee for the United States. It was founded in 1895 as the United States Olympic Committee, and is headquartered in Col ...

, and defense of the Norton Sound Eight.

References

1939 births 2019 deaths Lesbian sportswomen American female freestyle swimmers American LGBT sportspeople Olympic swimmers of the United States Swimmers from San Diego Swimmers at the 1955 Pan American Games Swimmers at the 1956 Summer Olympics LGBT people from California LGBT swimmers Pan American Games competitors for the United States 21st-century American women {{US-swimming-bio-stub