Sports Legend Diana Nyad, Renowned Long-Distance Swimmer, Joins Stonewall National Museum for Exclusive Dinner & Bold Project Announcement
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Oct 27

Sports Legend Diana Nyad, Renowned Long-Distance Swimmer, Joins Stonewall National Museum for Exclusive Dinner & Bold Project Announcement

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This is a press release from EDGE OUTreach partner Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library

Ft. Lauderdale’s  Stonewall National Museum, Archives, & Library  (SNMAL) is kicking off November with a visit from Diana Nyad, a nationally beloved athlete, author and motivational speaker best known for her historic swim from Cuba to Key West. Nyad will be the featured guest at a dinner on November 5th at 6pm where she, alongside SNMAL, will announce a new project, months in the making, celebrating LGBTQ+ athletes, sports history and culture with the new national Nyad LGBTQ+ Sports Archive.  

The new archive will include invaluable contributions from leading professional and amateur sports figures, people who have changed their sport for the better and have eliminated the false stigma that queer people "don't do sports". These items will be part of a new national touring exhibition that will travel the United States in 2026 and bring real pride to millions of LGBTQ+ community members from coast to coast. 

“Each day we face new challenges, many of which are unprecedented in their cruelty,” said Robert Kesten, Stonewall Museum’s President and CEO. “However, each morning we wake up ready to take on the fight of the day and continue working to make this a better world for all of us. Our new archive bearing Diana's name will be about success in sports, advocacy, and to Diana's iconic fighting spirit.”  

November 5th is far from the first time Nyad has made a deep connection to SNMAL. In 2024, during the annual Gala, she was not only a guest but was inducted into the Museum’s ‘Standing on the Shoulders of Heroes’ traveling educational exhibit, which later visited multiple locations across Florida as well as New York, New Orleans, Philadelphia and 20 other locations across the United States. Earlier this year, Nyad again offered her support, attending the 2025 Gala where she participated in our salute to the historic achievements of Edie Windsor.  

“Like Nyad, no one in our community can afford to give up on the belief that a better more accepting world is possible. That is as much a part of our mission at Stonewall as protecting our archives, and sharing our community's history” added Kesten.  

Attendees will be the first to hear the details of the new project, offering a unique opportunity to connect first-hand with Nyad and be part of what will be a historic addition to Stonewall National Museum’s archives and the LGBTQ+ community. 

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