The former swimmer for Jamaica and Great Britain wants others to take lessons from the racism and homophobia he experienced throughout his career.

Michael Gunning has been part of the sports for the past 15 years and was best known for participating in the 200-metre butterfly event. He holds dual Jamaican and British citizenship. He suppressed his true identity for a long time and faces prejudice growing up which inspired him to work harder for success.

Michael came out publicly on the television show, The Bi Life in December 2018, he went on to win the Pride Award at the Attitude Pride Awards 2019 for his work in promoting LGBT sports throughout the world. He wants to keep doing this effort to make it simpler for everyone to be themselves in the sporting world.

In today's episode, Michael shared how he learned to swim at the age of four, the punishment for being gay in Jamaica, his experience going back home to Jamaica for the BBC documentary, how did he hide his identity in sports, how he knew he was going to be part of the LGBT community and his advice to those who are scared getting involved in sports.

So if you're ready, go grab your earphone, tune in to your favourite podcast platform, and let's get started!

If you have any feedback or suggestions for future episodes, feel free to reach out to us at thesecretgarden25@outlook.com. Thanks for tuning in, and we'll see you next time!

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