Queer Athletes Celebrated In New Children's Book By FL Author

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — St. Petersburg families will have a chance to celebrate a new children’s book by Brandon author Rob Sanders at a June 13 event at Allendale United Methodist Church.

The event marks the release of his latest title, “Play Proud: Fiercely Fabulous Queer Athletes,” a picture book that introduces children to LGBTQ+ athletes across a range of sports.

The gathering, taking place from 10 to 11:30 a.m., is co-hosted by the church, Tombolo Books, and the organization Out Arts & Culture. The celebration includes story time with Sanders, games, a bounce house, mini golf and crafts.

With the release of “Play Proud,” Sanders, a former Hillsborough County educator, knew immediately he wanted to organize a community gathering for children and their families at Allendale. The author previously held other events at the church, but he was hoping for a stronger partnership for this book release.

“I have had other events at Allendale, but they’ve just been events where I just kind of went in and used the space. I’ve always thought I would like to plan an event where we were really planning together and working together, and that together we were inviting kids and their families to come,” Sanders told Patch.

He’s also frequently worked with Tombolo Books and the bookseller, which has a shop in the Grand Central District, was the obvious choice for the “Play Proud” release.

“Tombolo is just so community-minded and I knew I wanted to work with them on this community event celebrating families and having a fun day with kids,” he said.

Sanders came up with the idea for “Play Proud” while watching the Super Bowl and thinking about how few openly LGBTQ athletes there were in football and other sports.

“I thought, ‘Where could LGBTQ+ kids see athletes from our community?’ And the answer was, ‘nowhere,’” Sanders said.

It dawned on him that he could compile the stories of queer athletes, representing a variety of sports, in one children’s book.

“No matter what your interest is in sporting, or even if you’re not interested in sports, that you could find an athlete that was someone you thought was cool, or that you wanted to know more about,” he said.

While researching the book, Sanders started with the list of athletes he knew of already and built from there. Among the athletes included are Billie Jean King, Jason Collins, Megan Rapinoe, Orlando Cruz, Skyler Bailar and Tom Daley.

The topic of LGBTQ+ athletes felt like an important one to tackle for children.

“Sports are not always friendly to kids who are different or may not feel comfortable,” Sanders said. “Even if you aren’t a sporty person, being able to see that people who identify as you or identify as members of your family could make you feel more a part of sporting, or that it’s more of a possibility for you, or that you can enjoy watching and knowing that within those people you see on television are some people from our community.”