Having participated in what many consider the manliest of sports (football) I began to reflect on my playing career and wondered if anyone I had played with or against was a homosexual. I did not wonder this out of fear or nervousness but rather out of recognition of the struggle that this young man may have encountered. Though, what I did not know was this question would be answered for me. One of my best teammates in high school who went on to play in college recently revealed his sexual orientation.
Rather than thinking back to the butt taps, jokes, and showers shared among teammates all I remembered was the friend I had gained. It did not matter to me that he was a homosexual what mattered to me was that for 20 years he had to keep it a secret out of fear of what others may have thought. Recently, some professional athletes have been more open about their sexual orientation. Though for the most part have done so after their career was over. Will an athlete ever be able to open about his or her sexual orientation during his or her playing career?
I have gained a new appreciation for the experiences that my friend had to go through by working with young student athletes who often throw terms around that would be deemed less than satisfactory. Though like my very own teammates these young men simply do not know better. I can only hope that no one has to go through what my former teammate did.
Until next time...
Ian,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very inspirational story about your friend. How relieved he must feel now that he doesn’t have to hide who he is. When we had this discussion in class, I remembered my freshman year of undergrad when I played rugby. You mention that there aren’t too many open homosexuals in the “manly” sport of football. However, when it comes to a women’s sport where women are aggressive and physical, people just assume the athletes are lesbians. As soon as I joined the rugby club, my friend Brooke and I worked a sign-up table at the Union. I remember a couple guys asking us if we really played rugby because they didn’t know the girls were so feminine. I wondered what he meant until more and more people asked me about the sexuality of the other athletes on the team. It’s ironic how male athletes are scared to come out of the closet yet female athletes are automatically labeled gay.
Megan brings up a great point, in contrasting how perceptions of gay male and female athletes are regarded. I wanted to share about a high school male athlete who was a football player, and he came out about 10 years ago. His name was Corey Johnson and he was one of the captains of his team in Massachusetts. Here is a link to a follow-up about his story: http://outsports.com/jocktalkblog/2009/05/08/corey-johnson-10-years-later/
ReplyDeleteI remember talking about Corey Johnson in the undergrad sport and gender class last semester. It was a very inspiring story and gives hope that one-day athletes will not have to be afraid to be themselves. I also like Megan's comment about female athletes being labeled lesbian for playing what would be considered by society as a masculine sport. What is funny to me is that during the sport and gender class, we discussed why people want to watch men play basketball more than women play basketball. Consistently, the class responses focused on how high paced the men's games are, the game is more aggressive, competitive, and showy. Then when female athletes do show aggression and assertiveness, they are labeled as lesbian with a negative connotation. How can the public get what they "want" from female athletes if the female athlete constantly has to negotiate her femininity within society?
ReplyDeleteCourtney, Megan and Dr. Spencer,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for your comments. In response, their is not much I can say it is a Catch-22 situation as you all mentioned when a women displays aggressive and masculine traits she is immediately lableled as a lesbian. For what it is worth, I love watching ladies basketball and respect the girls who play with a fire and passion and in no way would illogically make the assumption that a girl is a lesbian because she plays hard. Unfortunately, like several facets in our society it is a byproduct of mass media and until this societal belief is changed it will probably linger. But as I said in this simple man's perspective women who play hard and with fire are awesome!!!
From what I can gather, lesbian women in sports is a more commonly accepted concept than gay men. Though this is not the case all of the time, like Megan talked about, aggressive women who play in manly sports are automatically assumed as lesbian. So if this is the case with women, why are men not considered to be gay if they play volleyball or softball? Both are normally "female" sports, but yet the stigma is not tied to that...
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