"This completely reads like they consider gay people some separate species who don’t exist in the sport" - Tennis fans react to ATP's initiative promoting inclusion of LGBTQ+ community

In a bid to make the men's tennis tour a more inclusive and better place, the ATP has launched a partnership with the non-profit organization 'You Can Play' to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in the sport. The development came after the results of an LGBTQ+ survey conducted by the ATP among players. However, there were some startling observations from the survey, drawing varied reactions from tennis fans.

In a statement announcing the partnership and the findings of the survey, the ATP concluded that while there were "general positive attitudes of players towards gay people," 75 percent of the 65 players who participated in the survey reported hearing the use of homophobic slurs from fellow players on tour.

"The survey identified social acceptance, conformity with social norms and banter as primary drivers of homophobic language use within tennis," said an observation in the ATP statement.

While the intention of the survey was good and the eventual partnership with You Can Play is a step in the right direction, tennis fans on social media were miffed with some of the findings and observations that indicated the existence of a big problem.

"This completely reads like they consider gay people some separate species who don’t exist in the sport and certainly not in the locker room with them," a fan wrote on Twitter, reacting to one of the observations.

Another major barrier highlighted was the reluctance of male tennis players to openly reveal their sexuality. The survey data concluded that most players considered rejection, isolation from colleagues on tour, and loneliness as the biggest hindrances to openly coming out as gay.

At the same time, the ATP stated that players who were involved in the survey and gave further interviews strongly opposed the use of homophobic slurs that were creating a negative impact on the tour.

Another fan responded to a lack of action from the governing body against the use of homophobic slurs on tour.

"The 75% is frightening. I don’t want to support any player that uses any kind of slur and yet we will likely never have a way of knowing which ones are doing it. Its uncomfortable that ATP just let this kind of behaviour slide and that the players see using these slurs as banter," said a tweet.

Here are some more reactions from tennis fans on the recent developments:

How the ATP aims to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in men's tennis with the new partnership

Hamburg European Open 2022

The multi-year partnership between the ATP and the You Can Play organization - which has also worked with the NHL, MLS, and NASCAR - will see the introduction of an education program. The program promotes the inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community and aims to eradicate any negativity around the topic. Additionally, the program will tackle the massive problem of homophobia, as revealed by some of the shocking data from the survey.

"Together, the two organisations will create science-based educational content to be rolled out across ATP players, tournaments and staff over coming seasons, with content directly informed by insights and data from an ATP survey conducted last year," the ATP statement further read.

The majority of the 65 players who participated in the survey were inside the top-250 tennis players in the ATP rankings. Many of these players also appeared for one-on-one interviews to further provide personal accounts and observations of some of the occurrences on the tour. On the WTA tour, Daria Kasatkina became the latest player to publicly come out as gay.