Betty Baxter
- disambiguation: this name can also refer to Betty Baxter Anderson, an American author, or to Lauren "Betty" Baxter, the mother of Blythe in Littlest Pet Shop (2012 TV series)
Betty Baxter (born 1952 in Brooks, Alberta)[1] is a Canadian athlete, activist and politician. She was a member of the women's national volleyball team at the 1976 Summer Olympics,[1] and was later named the team's head coach in 1979.[2] However, she was fired from that role in 1982 after the media began to report rumours that she was lesbian.[3] Prior to being named coach of the national team, Baxter was a women's volleyball coach at the University of Ottawa,[2] and was named the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union's coach of the year.
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.[4] She also cofounded the Canadian Association for the Advancement of Women in Sport and the National Coaching School for Women.
Baxter ran as a New Democratic Party candidate in Vancouver Centre in the 1993 federal election,[5] in a high-profile race against Prime Minister Kim Campbell, but was not elected.
Electoral record
| 1993 Canadian federal election | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||||
| Liberal | Hedy Fry | 19,310 | 31.19% | |||||
| Progressive Conservative | Kim Campbell | 15,510 | 25.05% | |||||
| Reform | Ian Isbister | 10,808 | 17.46% | |||||
| New Democratic | Betty Baxter | 9,397 | 15.18% | |||||
| National | Thorsten Ewald | 4,949 | 7.99% | |||||
| Natural Law | John Cowhig | 643 | 1.04% | |||||
| Green | Imtiaz Popat | 586 | 0.95% | |||||
| Christian Heritage | Darren Lowe | 242 | 0.39% | |||||
| Libertarian | Tunya Audain | 220 | 0.36% | |||||
| Independent | Brian Godzilla Gnu Salmi | 114 | 0.18% | |||||
| Independent | Scott Adams | 83 | 0.13% | |||||
| Commonwealth of Canada | Lucille Boikoff | 25 | 0.04% | |||||
| Independent | Peter C. Nuthall | 24 | 0.04% | |||||
References
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ a b "Sports roundup: Volleyball". The Globe and Mail, November 27, 1979.
- ^ "Gay sports figures discuss homophobia ; 'What I do in my bedroom is my business'". Toronto Star, June 22, 1999.
- ^ "Vancouver hosts the third and largest Gay Games". The Globe and Mail, August 6, 1990.
- ^ "Lesbian candidate for the NDP [Betty Baxter acclaimed in June as federal NDP candidate for Vancouver Centre]". Perceptions, July 29, 1992.
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