Speaking up

When I first started reading Pat Griffin’s post, A Call for Heterosexual Women and Men in Women’s Sport to Stand Up to Anti-Gay Discrimination on her LGBT blog, I was happy to see another profession male athlete had publically spoke out in support for homosexual hockey players. I think that anti-gay discrimination in sport is an important issue that needs to be addressed more frequently. I personally find it sad that the topic of sexuality has become what is has in the context of sport; the sexuality of an athlete has nothing to do with their performance on the field.

In the post Pat Griffin specifically calls out female heterosexual athletes for their lack of involvement against the anti-gay discrimination, which I have some issues with. I do think that anti-gay discrimination is an extremely important issue that should be addressed by both female and male athletes alike but I think it is wrong to call out heterosexual female athletes specifically. I don’t think that heterosexual female athletes should be held responsible for speaking out any more than homosexual female athletes should and vise versa. Does it matter if the person speaking out is straight or gay? I don't think it should, I think it is more pertinent that the topic is being addressed, than who it is being addressed by. I understand the difficulty associated with a homosexual speaking out against the anti-gay discrimination but I think both homosexuals and heterosexuals alike should take a stand. I think that Pat Griffin's argument in her post took away from the real issue at hand, the homophobia and anti-gay discrimination that exist in sport.​