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 ''The Gazette'', also known as the ''Montreal Gazette'', is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper which is owned by Postmedia Network. It is published in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the only English-language daily newspape ...

'', August 17, 1992. is a

Canadian Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

athlete, activist and politician. Baxter was once a school trustee for the Sunshine Coast District 46 in

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

. Baxter was a member of the women's national volleyball team at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

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

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Newspapers in Canada, Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in Western Canada, western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of more than 6 million in 2024, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on week ...

'', November 27, 1979. Prior to being named coach of the national team, Baxter was a women's volleyball coach at the

University of Ottawa The University of Ottawa (), often referred to as uOttawa or U of O, is a Official bilingualism in Canada, bilingual public research university in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on directly to the northeast of Downtown Ot ...

, 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 homosexual woman or girl. 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 nouns with female homosexu ...

. 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 in

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

. 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; , ) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * * The Editors of ''Encyclopædia Britann ...

candidate in

Vancouver Centre 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 includes the neighbourhoods of downtown Vancouver, the West End, Yaletown, False Creek ...

in the 1993 federal election, in a high-profile race against

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Kim Campbell Avril Phaedra Douglas "Kim" Campbell (born March 10, 1947) is a Canadian politician who was the 19th prime minister of Canada from June to November 1993. Campbell is the first and only female prime minister of Canada. Prior to becoming the f ...

, 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 Canadian lesbian politicians Canadian lesbian sportswomen Canadian LGBTQ rights activists New Democratic Party candidates for the Canadian House of Commons Olympic volleyball players for Canada Sportspeople from Vancouver Women in British Columbia politics LGBTQ volleyball players Volleyball players at the 1976 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Alberta People from Brooks, Alberta Candidates in the 1993 Canadian federal election British Columbia school board members UBC Thunderbirds women's volleyball players 20th-century Canadian LGBTQ people 20th-century Canadian sportswomen