Sports and being gay

[baachus]

Recently, the president of the Phoenix Suns, Rick Welts, came out as gay. He had an interview with Time about why. Rick Welts on why he came out (http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,2071898-1,00.html)


Welts is believed to be the first major American professional-sports-team executive to make such a declaration; no male athlete in major American pro team sports has come out during his playing career.


An article by Ann Killion of Sports Illustrated talked of how there is still a long way to go. Welts coming out progress (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/writers/ann_killion/05/17/gay.athletes/index.html)

She mentioned some active athletes doing PSA's on tolerance. Sean Avery (NHL) part of a New York campaign for same-sex marriage. Ben Cohen (Rugby) being a presenter at the GLAAD awards in San Francisco.

For the most part, male athletes do not come out as gay/bi until their playing careers are over, Glenn Burke being one exception. There have been several women who were openly gay while playing (Martina Navratilova, Amelie Mauresmo and many LPGA players amongst others). There seems to be a difference between team and individual sports.

There has been progress, slow though it may be. Brent Sopel with the Stanley Cup during Chicago's Pride Parade, with Ernie Banks (Mr Cub) representing the Chicago Cubs.

Maybe there will come a time when this doesn't become headline news anymore. One can only hope. I'm posting this to reflect some positive news. It seems there is too much negativity in the world today.

[Long Duck Dong]

lol.... games like rugby union that are full contact, are issue areas....

jokes like players looking at other players butts and groping while in scums and tackles ( rugby union ) are common... but if a player is gay, then some people are no longer sure if its a joke or serious....

the trouble is that on the playing field, having sex is the last thing on most players minds....

its odd in a way that many sports players are not concerned about hetero players naked with them in the shower, but if its a gay person, there is a common unspoken rule of * don't look, don't touch *

the thing I love, is that players that are playing full contact sports, are generally not fem males, they are built like shit houses and when they come out as gay, people can struggle with the idea of a 6 ft 2 100 kg ( 220 pound ) tank on legs, enjoying a solid ass fucking, but that has a lot to do with media images of gay males as fem, girly type males.....

ironic, is the fact that most people do not have a issue with a lesbian / bisexual sports player and that can have a lot again to do with the misunderstanding of how gay people interact..... for most people the idea of a female perving at you in the showers is something that is *normal* to them.... but there is a misunderstanding that gay / bi men are very likely to be checking out your *junk * and stroking the meat later in bed, thinking about you, and that does freak some guys out....
but unfortunately, people go by the image they have of gay / bi males.. and gay / bi males do have a image of being males that will go for anything with a penis... and that is enforced by cruise bars, park pervs and other visible aspects of crusing for sex.....
there is a more respectable, discreet culture that are not so visible to the generaly public and thats cos they are discreet and respectful of others.... but cos the general public doesn't associate with gays / bis on that level, they rarely get to see it

I used to play a game called pigskin ( a illegal grid iron / rugby game in nz) with only two rules, no weapons on the field and try not to kill your opponent... and when it became known that I was bisexual, some players got a lil nervous about me.... I just said, that they can hide on the sidelines with the other ladies or they can get on the field and * deal with me * like a man..... only 2 tried, after that, it was understood clearly that bi / gay didn't mean pushover...

so in my opinion, you can be gay / hetero / bi / les / trans etc... and what I will judge you on, is your performance on the playing field.... who you sleep with, is your business....

[baachus]

I guess you are right. The slap and tickle, rough house games that take place in the locker change dynamic if one of the participants is gay. Then the jokes take on a different meaning. I've seen television shows and movies where there is a gay sports league. The jocks are still jocks, sexual preferences aside. In any locker room there are still going to be neanderthals. Those that don't think women sportswriters should be allowed in, or they are checking out all the buff men that are there. Should a player be gay, the neanderthal now thinks he becomes the focus and resents it.

[jamiehue]

Had season tickets next to dugout could hear everything they said not that they had much to say that was interesting the f word (fag) was in use all the time.Kinda ruined baseball for me in a way.Got lots of money for the seats donated to local aids charity. still a lazy typist sorry.

[look4one]

I think everyone on the field are in there to play the sport. Playing rugby for quite a few years myself, there is not really a second that can be spared to think about groping someone else.

After the game in the shower room is a different matter. I have to admit that even at the time I did not come out to myself yet, it was like a buffet of meat :bigrin:

In Toronto, there is an openly gay rugby club: Muddy York (http://www.muddyyork.ca/). I had the privilege to play against them several times, and I have to say that they were all about the business of playing rugby on the field.

[sammie19]

I am to play in a former pupils inter school hockey tournament in the summer and it will be interesting what the reaction will be to me from some of my own team (several of whom were my detractors when I was outed after leaving school) and from the girls in the other teams, a number of whom I know I will have played against as a schoolgirl.

There was a girl from another school I played directly opposite a number of times who I am told will play for her old school who used to call me Twiggy, Bimbo and charmingly, Scrawny Blonde Fucker on the pitch and she I know was never very pro gay. In those days I was known as a boy mad heterosexual and she often gave me quite a rough time on field and whom I loved running straight at and "taking the mickey". It was sort of hate at first sight and her after match attitude was always one of antagonism. I'm sorry to say so was mine. I'm not sure I am looking forward to facing her but it will be interesting to say the least. Never fear for Sam was quite a dirty player too if a little more subtle.

[Flounder1967]

Does anyone remember this guy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/19/gay-groups-applaud-gareth-thomas

[baachus]

I remember him. His name was on the tip of my tongue and didn't want to make a mistake when I posted yesterday. Still, the amount of active male athletes who are out isn't very large. Attitude changes come slowly.

[Katja]

I attended a number of rugby and football matches with my ex husband, boy friends and my father. Name calling into question the sexuality (and parentage) of players is common place among many fans (even those who would not consider themselves homophobes) and is a major reason why so few top rugby and football playes have ever come out. Club managements have also conspired to make sure a player's sexuality is kept secret in the interests as they see it, of the player and the club. I can imagine the name calling which would occur should a player openly play as a homosexual man. In the UK, it would be the kiss of death to his career and in football in particular, maybe even his continued living and breathing.

Until a number of players come out openly as gay or bisexual, there will never be any improvement in tolerance at football an rugby grounds, and it will be a brave man who does so. But as with the once all white teams of yesteryear, time will soften attitudes, even if it does not soften the name calling very quickly, but that too will disappear as people are evicted and banned from sports grounds for their homophobia.

In women's sport, things are not quite so bad and in team sports such as hockey there have been openly lesbian players for almost 20 years and being selected to represent their country at major championships such as the Olympic Games..

[innaminka]

It's much the same in Oz.
There has been recent press 'discussions" regarding gay sportsmen and although there are certainly some playing elite sport - none have come out.

slightly different with women. There are a number of openly gay women playing elite sport he in Oz - possibly slightly more than the normal population percentage. No one give a toss.