Gay athletes' dilemma

[kweerwolf]

This is the sports guy's favorite time, the season when grown men find themselves as giddy as children on Christmas Eve, waiting to unwrap all the goodies that await inside their widescreen televisions.

There are the Broncos, chasing the most coveted of prizes, the Super Bowl's Lombardi Trophy. There are college football bowl games, capped Wednesday by a Rose Bowl contest that features the season's final two undefeated teams, Southern California and Texas. And though the local franchises may not be title-worthy yet, the National Hockey League is back and the National Basketball Association is taking flight.

Throughout it all, men will root and cheer and agonize and despair, never once considering the psychology of so fiercely celebrating the physical prowess of other men. But as they paint their faces, don their Rod Smith jerseys and plop down onto the couch for the next month or so, former major-league baseball player Billy Bean has a question that might cause them to drop their clickers: What would happen if one of those athletic gods - a Bronco, a Miami Heat player, a USC Trojan - announced he was gay?

"If somebody famous came out, all those sports fans who love him, who run around wearing his T-shirts and jerseys, it would be something where they'd have to start asking questions about themselves," Bean said.

http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_3363317

[TallahasseeGrannie]

1. It would really make a lot of guys

stop and think, wouldn't it??

[Berry Cool]

2. It sure would.

They would sure be shocked to learn that "no, it's not just the figure skaters."

In fact, they'd be shocked just to learn that not all the male skaters are gay. Then try taking them to the realization that some football players ARE.

I'm not sure they could handle it.

[terrya]

3. I can just hear the sports radio shows throughout the country.

I think there are quite a few fans who couldn't handle the idea of that star quarterback or first baseman announcing that he's gay. There would be a huge furor about it.

Major league sports is one of the last bastions of homophobia. Somehow...we can excuse that player for taking steroids or displaying inappropriate behavior towards women...but loving another man? That's just too much for some people to handle. And it's sad beyond belief. Come on, there are gay men in professional sports...football and baseball and basketball....today. There has to be. It's very, very sad that they feel they can't come out and just be themselves. Open and honest about who they are.

[xchrom]

4. masculine and gay or bisexual.

the boogey man under the bed.

[sui generis]

5. oh yeah who's your daddy?

:P

It needs to happen, but a lot of times the guys who are pro athletes on team sports and gay meticulously avoid the gay community and gay support structures, so they really ARE out there on their own. It has to make it excruciatingly difficult to think about "coming out" as an athlete when you yourself harbor some of the same culturally learned dislikes about this mythical gay stereotype.

And overwhelmingly people think you are no longer really male if you're around "real" men. The natural reaction would be to reject the athlete rather than revamp your own views.

Whoever does come out has got to have some astonishing personal strength of character and confidence in himself (or herself).

[xchrom]

8. lol -- bad daddy -- bad!

well -- you come to the dilemma of being male don't you?

a man is an island -- strong enough to weather any storm.

except that it's both true and not true.

it poses some interesting problems for gay male athletes.

[closeupready]

6. With the success and money come boyfriends who seek you out

I'm not sure that people are fully aware that money motivates not just women to seek out rich men, but men to seek out rich men, too.

Add to that the physical fitness most athletes need to maintain, and the fame, and you have a formula for a clandestine homosexual affair.

[davidinalameda]

7. great article

thanks for posting it

I troll on another message board www.outsports.com which is dedicated to gay sports fans and athletes

there's a list of openly gay athletes

to my knowledge, no professional male athlete has come out, except for those in "minor" sports--certainly not in the big three--football, basketball or baseball

there's rumors of gay players, but the players always deny it

I do remember reading about one pro baseball player who was raised by his mother and her partner and he spoke so glowingly about them

that took a lot of guts to do

[sui generis]

9. okay sui just can't resist

Sports guys have the added burdens of being labeled "dribblers", "shooters", "pitchers", "catchers", and "tight ends".

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! The Lounge is Strong Within Me Today, Luke.

:P

[davidinalameda]

10. you forgot wide receivers

[bigscott]

11. it amazes me

I know of several pro football players that are gay - they act on that homosexuality, their agents and managers KNOW it and say nothing. One of these players is so "gay-acting" (a term i hate as much as straight acting) that i find it impossible to believe his team-mates dont know it. If one of them had the balls to come out publicly it would do us all a world of good