California State University East Bay

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California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

California State University East Bay

The Pioneer

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We Should Support LGBT Athletes to Come Out

In a population of nearly 400 million people, the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Policy estimates there are 4 million openly gay people in the U.S. That breaks down to almost 2 percent of the American population who identify as gay.

With such staggering numbers, I wonder why there aren’t more openly gay professional athletes, especially in the nation’s most popular sports.

There have been only three professional football players to come out of the closet in recent years, one male basketball player and two WNBA players. Each of these players “passed” as straight during their careers and didn’t feel comfortable admitting they were gay during their time in their respective leagues.

There are over 1,000 active NFL players, over 400 active NBA players, over 700 active MLB players, nearly 150 WNBA players, over 2,000 players registered in the United States Soccer Federation, almost 700 NHL players and over 200 players on the PGA Tour.

According to those statistics, there should be over 100 gay athletes in the six major professional sports organizations.

With nearly 5,500 professional athletes in six of the major professional sports in the world, there is not one player who is openly gay. The main reason for this shocking statistic surely must be past prejudice against the LGBT community.

John Amaechi, the first NBA player to ever come out of the closet, claims his former coach for the Utah Jazz Jerry Sloan oftentimes made homophobic comments in the locker room, along with other culturally imposed derogatory phrases and values in male sports. Amaechi said he felt he could lose his career for coming out.

Even superstar LeBron James has publicly stated, “With teammates you have to be trustworthy and if you’re gay and you’re not admitting that you are then you are not trustworthy.”

The issue of being forced into staying in the closet is not only in professional sports but on the collegiate level as well.

In the documentary film “Training Rules,” 15 former Penn State women’s basketball players came forward to the public to address how their former coach Rene Portland forced her athletes in the closet.

The Lady Lions’ 2005 leading scorer Jennifer Harris was dismissed from the team after admitting she was a lesbian. When Harris took her case to court in 2006, former players stepped up and spoke of the prejudice they felt from their former coach.

“Sometimes things go a little too far and maybe some players who are gay don’t want the jokes to stop being just jokes,” said Michael Cronenwett, a CSU athlete. “I have been involved in a sport every year since I was five years old and I have never had an openly gay teammate.”

Reform needs to begin at every level of sports, but more importantly our ingrained perceptions, values and beliefs as a society are deeply rooted in homophobia. Nothing is so black and white, especially sexuality.

There has been a recent advertisement that features Phoenix Suns star Grant Hill advocating for tolerance of one’s sexual orientation. This is one of few advertisements in the world of professional sports that actually speaks on the subject.

More sports organizations should jump on the opportunity to speak on tolerance in sports, especially when a player’s sexual orientation does not have anything to do with their talent or skills.

These organizations should encourage players who are gay to speak up without any prejudice towards them. They should be harsher on the players who think that it is okay to single someone out because of their sexual orientation. Too many players get away with making disgusting homophobic comments and sports organizations should make an example out of them.

Homophobia and being pushed in the closet should not be tolerated by any sports organization be it professional, collegiate or what have you. People do not choose their sexual orientation and preferences, but sports organizations can choose to make players feel comfortable about their sexual orientation.

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California State University East Bay
We Should Support LGBT Athletes to Come Out