Homosexuality in sports

Having a conversation around this topic is as uncomfortable as that of the birds and the bees. Despite the attention that issues such as gay marriage have garnered socially and politically, in the hyper-masculine sports world the topic of homosexuality continues to be avoided. It seems that the only time that the topic of gay athletes and sensitivity towards them are discussed is when the issue is forced, such as when an NBA player gets fined for yelling a homophobic slur at a referee or fan.

When I proposed the idea of writing a column about the topic to my friend the other day, he responded with, “I think it’s too controversial to write about.” Therein lies the problem. Too often is the thought of an athlete being gay is swept under the rug because it is “controversial.” This is an understandable tendency. After all, isn’t it more pleasant to talk about heterosexual athletes abusing their spouses and girlfriends?

Despite the evasion of this issue in the media and general public, the issue is not going away. Rather, it is becoming an increasingly pertinent as issue. This begs the question: is our country at a point where all but the fringe few are ready to accept and embrace gay athletes while they are still playing? As much as I would like to think otherwise, the answer is no; close, but not yet.

Ask yourself this: If your favorite athlete, whether it’s the franchise quarterback or the slugger batting clean up, came out as gay tomorrow, how would you react? Would you burn their jersey? Be disappointed? Would you think any less of the athlete? Your answer is a good indication of your willingness to accept homosexuality in athletics.

Some of you reading this might think, “I wouldn’t want a gay athlete on my favorite team, but that’s not a problem because I don’t think there are any gay guys on my favorite team or many gay guys in sports in general.” While this seems to be the consensus feeling among sports fans about any athlete possibly being gay, it is an ignorant one. There is a reason why very few athletes, in over 100 years of professional sports, have publicly come out. People everyone from opposing fans, teammates in the locker-room, and a GMs who have to decide whether or not to give a gay athlete millions of dollars to be a part of the team, judge an athlete’s decision to come out. The backlash athletes anticipate as a result of coming out is enough to keep them in the closet.

To be clear, I am not writing this in an attempt to argue the rectitude of homosexuality, but instead to advocate that it is time to accept athletes of all sexual orientations.

Personally speaking, you won’t find me at any gay bar or same-sex marriage rallies any time soon, but if a player on my hometown team came out, I would not hesitate to support that player. I would not have a problem simply because the reason I cheer for and liked this athlete in the first place was his athletic abilities, not his sexual preferences.

Although, very few athletes have come out of the closet post-career, when it has happened their peers have expressed the same restrained acceptance.

In 2005, retired NBA power forward, John Amaechi, made it publicly known that he was gay. When his former teammate, Tracey McGrady was asked about whether or not his opinion of Amaechi changed, McGrady eloquently responded,

“I’m the type of dude who don’t give a f—. I don’t care what you are as long as you’re doing what you’re supposed to be doing on the court. You could be the most flaming [guy] on earth and answer to boyfriend and kiss him after the game as long as you don’t try it with me. I just want to win. And that’s how I am. To each his own, be yourself, and be proud of it.”

Bingo; well sort of. The essence of McGrady’s statement is that as long as Amaechi wasn’t doing anything that would hinder the team from reaching its goal on the court; he could do what makes you happy off the court. This is the beauty of team sports folks. A group of people who set their personal goals and beliefs aside in an attempt to achieve a common goal: winning. McGrady could have been the biggest homophobe imaginable, but he would have swallowed his pride for the sake of winning. This seemed to be the consensus sentiment among all profession athletes after Amaechi came out.

Fans should take heed of the way teammates have reacted to gay athletes and base their view of these athletes on how they perform on the playing field. Fan’s opinion of an athlete should be predicated of their on-field performance. The same Lombardi Trophy or Larry O’ Brein trophy will be handed out if your team wins a championship whether every player is heterosexual or homosexual.

The aforementioned extreme “anti-anything-gay” part of society will continue to not judge gay athletes for what they get paid to do on the court (which is the reason they are in the public eye in the first place), but rather judge them by what they do with their private lives. That’s fine. Just as not everybody is going to appreciate a certain athlete’s game for whatever reason, too boring, too finesse, noteverybody has to embrace a gay athlete. I think it is safe to say that if you told an in-the-closet gay athlete that roughly 95% of fans will accept your sexual orientation if he were to come out, he or she would be more than content.

Looking ahead to the future, I think that now is as prime a time as ever for a gay athlete to come out while playing. The recent public coming-out of ex-Villanova basketball player, Chris Sheridan, and Phoenix Sun GM, Rick Welts, make me think that we are closer than ever. When it happens, it will be one of the biggest sports stories of the decade and a story that I will tell my kids about one day. Coming out for this athlete will put this player’s career in a better place. Maybe not initially, but just as Jackie Robinson is viewed as a pioneer among black athletes, this athlete will act as the same in the homosexual community.

It is one thing for America to accept a gay artist or musician, because these are fields in which homosexuality is not uncommon. Sports, with its testosterone-fueled hyper-masculine atmosphere, is a totally different ball game. Despite the contrast between homosexuality and the atmosphere that the sports world has created, I have faith that American sports fans can accept gay athletes as athletes, even if they don’t morally agree with homosexuality. Maybe this faith is misguided and will prove to be wrong. Maybe we, as a country, still have too many homophobic pre-dispositions to accept one of the athletes whom we assumed was heterosexual as gay, and the athlete that comes out in the next ten years during his career is in for a hostile backlash. Either way, it is coming. We cannot control that. What we can control is how we accept and embrace the athlete. I guess the sole question you have to ask yourself is: What will you do?