Making A Statement In the Pool

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Fisette was an avid swimmer long before he became Virginia's first openly gay elected official in 1997. Since then, he has worked hard to avoid being defined by his sexual orientation, careful not to be identified as "the gay guy."

Though Fisette said that his participation in the games was more about love of his sport than politics, he sees the games as a way for gays and heterosexuals to reach out to a community that still needs acceptance.

As participants filed into Soldier Field for opening ceremonies, they were met by a small band of protesters who used a megaphone to decry homosexuality, holding placards bearing such slogans as "Repent or Perish." Police said there were no arrests.

"How many sporting events can you go to where there are protesters . . . where people have bullhorns and are telling you homosexuality is a sin?" Fisette said in a telephone interview from Chicago. "You feel sorry for them, that they don't understand, but it's still there. It's a constant background noise."

The games, he said, are about breaking down barriers and changing attitudes.

"There are so many people who struggle and live in the closet," he said. "There's still so much pain. This is about breaking down boundaries and providing healthy experiences."

Some of Fisette's own healthiest experiences, moments that helped define him, were in the swimming pool, where he learned as a teenager to compete and win and lead.

The years of laps and kick-turns culminated at Bucknell University, in Central Pennsylvania, where he was captain of the swim team and the water polo team, which at the time was ranked seventh in the country.

"Swimming got in my blood," he said, and he described the sport as "a labor of love."

After graduating from college, Fisette planned to work at the University of Pittsburgh coaching water polo, but the school abruptly dropped the program to devote more resources to women's sports to comply with the federal Title IX law.

So Fisette took some time off and moved to San Francisco, where he came out. He has said the transition was relatively easy. It was about being honest with himself and others, he said.