Yes, there had been athletes who ‘came out’ after their playing days were over, but their stories were relegated to the back pages of the newspapers, or not talked about at all.
That long-held stance has since fallen to the wayside with Jason Collins and Michael Sam breaking barriers by coming out as gay during their careers. Collins became the first openly gay active NBA player when he took to the court for the Brooklyn Nets in 2014. Sam was the first openly gay player to be chosen in the NFL draft when St. Louis selected him with the 294th pick just last year.
These milestones are a huge step in the right direction for athletes, but they are mere baby steps in a world that has become more open to the idea of homosexuality.
Many athletes decide not to be open about their sexuality because sports have a history of being homophobic. It maintains a culture in which being gay is seen by many as a sign of weakness.
“The worst insult you can give a professional athlete is to call them soft,” Collins told USA Today. “And the stereotype out there is that gay is soft. When I was playing with the Brooklyn Nets, we still called people soft, but we never equated it with being gay. It shows people are capable of changing language and culture.”
As well, it’s common in many locker rooms to hear gay slurs or homophobic jokes.
The website Out on the Fields displays a survey that included nearly 9,500 people from six countries. 84 percent of the study’s participants said homophobic jokes occur often in sports. According to that survey, 80 percent of all participants said they had witnessed homophobia, and that the most common form of it was homophobic language.
The survey also found that 54 percent of gay men felt that they are “not at all accepted” or only “accepted a little,” compared to 36 percent of lesbians who felt that way.
Just by looking at the history of lesbians in sports, it’s not altogether surprising that they feel more accepted than gay men. Former WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes was openly gay, and tennis superstar Martina Navratilova came out as bisexual during her playing days decades ago. Both women were prominent players during their careers, as opposed to Collins and Sam, who are backups or role players at best.
The idea of a gay athlete has permeated our consciousness, but it won’t really take hold unless a gay, male athlete at a superstardom level comes out. That might be the day that everything changes and people become more accepting of gay athletes.
We can hope that that day will happen sooner rather than later. But until then, gay athletes will keep their sexuality hidden from a world that is moving ever so slowly toward sexual equality.
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Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor of the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@d ailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
