It is June and that means for the whole month the LGBTQ community get to celebrate extra hard about being ourselves every day! And because of that, every day here throughout the month, we are going to spotlight one LGBTQ+ wrestler. These names are not going to be in any order. So, this won’t be a countdown but more of just a highlight to celebrate.
- June 1 – Toni Storm
- June 2 – Sonny Kiss
- June 3 – EFFY
- June 4- Mercedes Martinez
Onto June 5, and this one may not be known by many, but hopefully this will inspire someone.
Sandy Parker
Sandy Parker was a Black Canadian wrestler who revolutionized wrestling in the 1970’s. She worked with Mildred Burke after being trained by The Fabulous Moolah. She worked for the NWA and is a former NWA United States Women’s World Champion. A belt that had been held by names such as Mae Young, Wendi Richter, and Judy Martin. She formed a tag team with Sue Green and the two would go on to become the NWA World Women’s Tag Team Champions. The tag team titles were deactivated in 1984 and were revived at NWA Empowerrr by Mickie James in 2021.
Parker also worked in Japan for the All Japan Women’s Pro-Wrestling promotion. She became the first Black woman to win the WWWA World Single Championship. A title that would later be held by Jaguar Yokota, Aja Kong, Amazing Kong, Manami Toyota, Bull Nakano, and many more. She held the WWWA World Tag Team Championship on eight different occasions between three tag team partners.
Parker was openly lesbian and considered herself a “tom boy” growing up. Being open about her sexuality caused some difficulty during her career, especially with Fabulous Moolah who frowned upon her being so open. She sadly passed away at the age of 77 years old in 2022. Her death was not made public until 2024.
