Hey everyone, hope you are enjoying your weekend. As for me, all is well, working hard and trying to get some good results towards the end of our season.
As everyone wrote, both on outsports and some of the comments on my last post, most of the discussions lately are about athletes who have been coming out of the closet this year, which seems to be much more than ever.
My opinion? And again, please don't take it the wrong way, I might sound a little homophobic or not appreciative of some of what has happened lately, but just think about it before you react.
As for Will Sheridan? That's great that he is feeling good about himself and decided to come out, BUT again, he hasn't been playing for some years now, he doesn't have a active rule in sports and is just about to come out with an album, so that also might have something to do with it.
I do applaud him and I think it's great that he is coming out and helping others by reaching out, answering emails or just showing them that it's ok to be gay, but still it's much different than an athlete coming out while he is playing and while he has a active rule in sports.
As for the Suns gay president, I think it's great, he is still active in basketball and still has a part in running a N.B.A team. I think he is showing a lot of people about gay influence and that gay people can succeed and do a lot of things, with no relation to what they prefer to do in their personal life.
I of course haven't talked to him, but I'm happy about the reactions he is receiving, and I’m sure it's a big step inside the N.B.A for accepting gay people, BUT still, he doesn't play on the court, or coach, he doesn't have to receive reactions from the fans, who can be very taunting and very difficult.
I said this once, fans overseas tend to be much more aggressive, homophobic and racist than the American crowd and the damage outside the U.S.A for a sports player who comes out will be much bigger and it will be much harder to deal with.
As for broadcasters and people from the media, again, great news and I think it again shows to those who don't want to believe it, that gay people are just as a part of sports or anything else for that matter, and it doesn't matter if you’re gay, straight or bi, as lady gaga sings.
Regarding Charles Barkley? what else can you say, only great things and only positive things, always admired him as a players and I guess he should be rewarded the same admiration for the stand he took on the gay issue. It’s something that has been going on as long as I remember going on outsports and writing my blog, Sr. Charles will always be something special I have to say.
Last thing for this post, I read in one of the articles about Barkley, I think at least he was him that two of the writers wrote: "Cyd and I agree that it would not be anywhere near as hard for a pro athlete to come out as is generally perceived".
On a side note, I have to say that Jim Buzinski was the one who helped me start this blog and helped me with everything around it and I will always appreciate that.
However that saying pissed me off, how do they know if it's going to be difficult or not? Have they been there? Have they experienced it, have they been in locker rooms? Again, I’m not saying I can be 100 % sure what will happen when the time comes, but just because a lot of people encourage the subject doesn't mean that those who don't are also speaking their mind.
I tend to believe that most of those who are homophobic or against gays in sports or however you want to call it; will try to be as quite as they can as long as nothing major happens. After that, I’m sure there will be enough homophobes, just like Tim Hardaway and others
Just like Barkley, I also had gay teammates (at least I’m almost certain) and also played against gay players on different teams and still no one has ever come out. So I guess it must be a little harder than those who sit behind a desk think.
Enjoy your weekend.
Will Sheridan came out to his teammates while he was still playing. Many of the other athletes profiled on Outsports have as well. None of them have said that their teammates or coaches rejected them, or that they had to leave their team because of harassment.
ReplyDeleteNo one should be forced to come out. But I've come to believe that if there's a superstar athlete -- vital to his team's success, making millions of dollars so he's essentially set for life unless he screws up -- if that athlete is gay and remains closeted, he's a coward. There's no reason any more for such an athlete to not come out. If any teammate speaks out against him, so many other people will support him. If any company drops sponsorship, others will take their place. The only real backlash will come from the usual sources: the extreme right-wing politicians, Fox News, the ultra-religious nuts.
It's easy to call people cowards, but that doesn't make it so. The first active U.S. major-leaguer who comes out will certainly encounter a lot of hostile reactions. Hopefully the reactions won't be at the level that Jackie Robinson experienced when he broke the color barrier, but it definitely won't be easy.
ReplyDeleteJackie Robinson paid a high price emotionally for being a trail-blazer. He was an extremely strong person psychologically and emotionally, but he suffered a lot of psychological stress and trauma and it probably took years off his life. The first couple openly gay major-leaguers will need to have thick skins and strong personalities to endure the abuse that bigots will throw at them.