For Openly Gay Fighter Liz Carmouche, MMA Offered Open Arms and Bloody Noses

[w8liftinglady]

http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/07/20/for-openly-gay-fighter-liz-carmouche-mma-offered-open-arms-and/

When Liz Carmouche first walked into the San Diego Combat Academy, she wasn't sure how the team would take having a lesbian training partner. MMA seemed like a man's world, and maybe not the most accepting one for women in general. For a homosexual woman like herself, Carmouche thought, the reception would only be colder.

But after five years in the Marines under the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, Carmouche had decided that she was done lying about who she was.

"After having to keep that aspect of my life secret while I was in the military, I realized that it wasn't the person I wanted to be," Carmouche said. "I wanted to be open and honest about it and take the risk rather than hiding it."

But as it turned out, her teammates were more accepting than she thought, and a whole lot less surprised to hear the news.