Gays in Sport

In response to the article, "Out of the locker room closet" I also agree it is important for gay athletes to have someone to talk to whether it be a coach, another player or just a counselor. In men's professional sports such as the NFL and NBA and MLB there has never been a current player that has come out and openly stated he is homosexual.

Many players such as "Steven Thompson" in this article http://www.outsports.com/nfl/2003/1002bloodysundays.htm speak about how coming out to their teammates would alienate them and effectively end their future in that sport just for that simple fact.

I believe a problem in society is the assumption that male athletes who participate in such sports as football or hockey, a sport that is portrayed as extremely violent and masculine that there is no way an athlete could be homosexual.

Several players who have retired such as former NBA journeyman center, John Amaechi have admitted that they are gay.

http://www.bridgew.edu/glbta/images/ncod/nba_maninmiddle_195.jpg

In this article about Dave Kopay, the first major athlete in the three major sports to reveal his homosexuality talks about his decision and the outcome of it.

Kopay read an article on homosexual athletes in sports and felt that some insight was needed. He decided to call in and was interviewed and allowed the paper to use his full name. One year later he published his book, "The David Kopay Story" which ended up becoming a New York Times best seller.

Society and athletes on teams make the assumption that a superstar male athlete doesn't have the possibility of being gay and that is what is wrong. The gay community in sports is a community that is secretive and frowned upon. Many athletes are afraid of coming out due to negative reactions.

I believe until a major star athlete comes out of the closet, the viewpoint of the male athlete will always be that they are straight. Imagine if LeBron James, Tom Brady, or Derek Jeter publicly announced they were homosexual. That would probably be the biggest sports news story of the decade if not the century. If an athlete of that elite caliber came out of the closet they would draw a ton of negative attention, but it would show that no longer would gay athletes have to hide and lie about who they really are. And perhaps one day the thought of a gay athlete won't seem strange and unnatural.