I had no idea that Diana Nyad, the swimmer from Cuba to FL,

[xfundy]

Is a lesbian. That makes me double-cheer!

[rdharma]

1. 64 years old?

Did I hear that correctly? WOW!!!!

[Lydia Leftcoast]

2. The first time I heard of her she was swimming around (literally around) Manhattan Island

in the 1970s.

[treestar]

4. That is amazing

And those waters are not the cleanest, I would imagine.

[treestar]

3. I was wondering is she American?

How could she travel to Cuba? Is she Canadian?

[joshcryer]

5. Cuba travel restrictions are somewhat exaggerated.

You can go there you can't just provide "material aid" to Cuba (money, supplies, etc).

A high profile case such as her would be able to easily go there via boat, step on land, and swim back. With the right PR people the Cubans would welcome it and she is quite loved there.

[Nye Bevan]

6. Why would you care, and how is that relevant?

Whether she is left or right handed, black, white, or otherwise, blue-eyed or brown-eyed, it is a tremendous achievement. Unlike you, I would not cheer her any less if she happened to be a heterosexual.

[joshcryer]

8. You got to represent!

Nye's unite?

[DontTreadOnMe]

9. I agree... I find that statement very strange.

Imagine if I said... "she is straight?.. double cheer!"

[Hekate]

10. Who knows? I got my hand slapped here for not knowing that Glenn G. is gay and married.

I had to explain that I'd had no idea, because I was focused on the man's public life and statements. So maybe cheers are warranted for the swimmer if she feels and says she is swimming through societal as well as oceanic barriers.

It is, regardless, a tremendous achievement, which I applaud. She is courageous and strong and wonderful. The vast majority of people, including me, could not even dream of performing such a feat.

[JI7]

11. because they face a lot of discrimination , and usually the bad is always pointed out

and made examples of .

[joshcryer]

7. And she's been openly lesbian for awhile.

It's shameful that as she worked for ABC she was instructed not to bring her partner to social events and to "make sure her lesbianism stayed in the closet where it couldn't scare the Nielsen families."

Shocking that this is how the country was a short 15 years ago. Now ABC, of all people, hosts one of the most gay friendly shows on the networks, Modern Family.