04/27/24
June 11, 2002
Being an openly gay athlete: takes balls (sorry). What is it about professional sports that makes it so hard for homosexuals to come out of the closet in our day and age - when other celebrities are coming out in droves? Also, what sports figures do you think are hiding something?
posted by Samsonov14 to culture at 08:39 PM - 6 comments
Mike Piazza is definitely not gay. :) I think the reason athletes don't come out, is because socially, it is an unacceptable thing to do, if the athlete is on a team (at least a male team). I could see it happening more easily in and individual sport like tennis or golf, because there is no overriding locker-room component. After being in a hockey locker room for years, the banter is decidedly heterosexual... I can't imagine how an openly gay player would affect the group dynamic. Locker rooms are the place often where a team knits together, buddies are made, and an openly gay player would probably be seen as a threat to the closed, heterosexual society that is the sports locker room. I really have no idea which athletes are gay... I wouldn't even know where to start.
posted by insomnyuk at 12:21 AM on June 12, 2002
yeah, that just wouldn't fly in the locker room, and I think it'll be a long, long time before someone comes out and is not totally blackballed. Many wouldn't be comfortable being naked around a gay teammate, conversations would probably change, and he'd probably become something of an outcast. Maybe not everywhere, but definitely in the locker room. And this is even with semi-tolerant people, I think. I know it'd make me slightly uncomfortable. I'd learn to live with it, as would others, but most people aren't as tolerant as I am (nor was I just a few years ago, untill I worked for a gay person. Then moved to San Francisco). And there are probably some real homophobes in pro sports too. I'm sure there are gay players, and if perhaps they start coming out after their careers are over (soon after), then maybe that'll entice current players to do it. But I really just think it's going to be a long time before anyone in the big 4 team sports comes out.
posted by Bernreuther at 12:52 AM on June 12, 2002
Some pro athletes have said in interviews that they know a teammate is gay, so I don't agree with the notion that fear of the locker room is keeping people in the closet. More than anything, I think it's fear of fan abuse, and for high-profile athletes, fear of losing endorsements.
posted by rcade at 08:01 AM on June 12, 2002
After being in a hockey locker room for years, the banter is decidedly heterosexual...
Now if there was a subculture that had latent homoeroticism written all over it, it is hockey. I have never heard of a rookie initiation ritual at the junior level of hockey (I never made it that far myself) that didn't involve masturbation, bondage, or other such shenanigans. It's some pretty twisted stuff...
posted by smithers at 12:31 PM on June 12, 2002
Gay athletes are fags!
posted by StarFucker at 09:42 PM on June 12, 2002
And no, I'm not gay. I've never been gay. There was that one thing with Mike Piazza, but I was only trying to get an autograph. That doesn't count, does it? Whatever. You're just jealous.