Are there any? I remember reading an SI article (IIRC) a few years back noting that in all four major league team sports, there has not been a single openly gay athlete. Is this true? Laws of chance would seem to indicate that at least some athletes were gay, and yet not one person has ever come out of the closet. I’m wondering whether this is because:
a) Athletics as a whole doesn’t attract homesexual men: most definately not true, as homosexuality has no more effect on athletic skill than heterosexuality does. I have known several gay men who were quite athletic and had great skill at team sports.
b) There’s an unwritten, unspoken-of code that keeps gay men from achieving success in athletics: Something like, if a man comes out of the closet in high school, even if he’s a great athlete, suddenly colleges aren’t interested in him. Seems ludicrous to me, and I;ve never heard any theories that explain it this way, still a plausible explanation.
c) There are heavy internal pressures for men particpating in team sports NOT to “come-out” even if they are gay: Makes most sense, espcially with guys like Reggie White playing next to you, as well as the heavily christianized locker-rooms that would discourage open homosexuality. Still, you’d think that in THIS day and age, SOMEONE would have spoken-up.
d) Some have come-out publicly, but the press has ignored it and no one noticed. A possibility, but this would be such a huge story, I doubt this as an explanation.
As a straight man who is an vocal and avid supporter of gay rights, it has always troubled me that no athlete has ever “come-out.” What a better path to widespread acceptance than if a man in the malest of professions were openly gay and what a model it would be for young males, gay and straight, for acceptance. So, anyone have any ideas about this. Do we need, or have we had, a gay “Jackie Robinson?” Why or why not?