I think that it is very sad to know that in the year 2009, Gay athletes are still not able to come out and be accepted in their sports. In the videos we watched in class, the retired football player, that had come out of the closet, post retirement, believed that Gay's in Athletics have come a long way in the past years. I have to disagree with that, because you do not see more then a handful of openly gay athletes, while it is impossible to believe out of the hundreds of male athletes, only a few a gay.
In high school, an athlete on the males baseball team came out our Senior year. The entire school was out raged, and the boy actually dropped off of the team. A friend of mine, (Who was also friends with the gay athlete) said that the other players destroyed his locker and all of the contents, also, they made posters saying horrible things about him, so the kid would want to quit the team. My friend asked the other played why they did not want the kid on the team any more, even though they had been playing baseball together for four years, the other players replied that they were not able to trust the kid anymore.
In a professional setting, I believe that the only way an athlete would the the "guts" to come out as openly gay, would be if they were absolutely outstanding at their sport. Even if they were good at their sport, any mess up or anything that wasn't outstanding would result in being a "side effect" of them being gay, and not respected by their team.
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I agree what you said about an athlete needing to be elite in order to be able to come out. It seems that if a lower, less-well-known player would not be accepted the way a LeBron or Alex Rodriguez (or similar type of dominant player) would be seen in our society. It's sad how some people can't be open and see people for who they are rather than what they are labeled as.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe that students in high school would do that. I mean kids are mean and I know that but to go to that extreme amazes me. It shows how bad the stereo types still are. I think it brings out the point in the video that being called a homo is the worse thing someone can say to a person.
ReplyDeleteThe stereotype of Gay peopls is that they are weak and they are like a women and don't not have men quailties. So I can see why the baseball team did that but I think it was wrongly handled by the coach and he needed to sit his team down and explain to them that him being gay doesn't effect how he plays on the field and that when he is around they speak nothing of it. That is horrible situation for the guy to go though but I believe that is just one of the many examples why alot of them don't want to come out.
ReplyDeleteI think it's horrible that people who are gay or lesbian can not come out to their own teammates due to the consequences that may happen after that point. Yes, they may be a little different, but what if you were in their position? How would you feel?
ReplyDeleteI also was shocked that kids in high school would do so much to someone that they had been playing sports with for almost 4 years. Just because he is gay doesn't mean they needed to do so much. I don't know if you watching the video that Dr. Spencer posted on Andrew Goldstein, but he was treated the complete opposite. His teammates still accepted him and they even apologized to him for saying 'gay' in the locker room.
The way that players reacted to their team mate who came out is exactly why he probably didn't come out before. And yet, the players on the team felt they could not trust him anymore? What's wrong with this picture?
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