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‘One Knows That This Condition Exists’: An Analysis of Tennis Champion Bill Tilden's Apology for His Homosexuality

The authors examine tennis champion Bill Tilden and his discussion of his sexual orientation in his 1948 autobiography My Story. The investigation uses two strategies. Media coverage of Tilden is compared for 1924, at the height of his fame, and 1947–9, when he was arrested twice for morals charges involving young men. Then, Tilden's explanation of his sexual orientation is studied from a rhetorical perspective. Two conclusions are drawn: that newspapers minimized coverage of Tilden's arrests, and that Tilden's strategy of ‘bolstering’ is undermined by a contradictory rhetorical approach. Overall, the study provides a historical perspective of an iconic tennis champion who faced public censure for his sexual orientation later in life.