[Butthead]
Uh…huh…huh…uh…
He said…
[/Butthead]
-Rav
**mangeorge wrote:
Anyway, the thrust of my post was supposed to be the unquestioning acceptance of many fans that a sports hero was infected by a woman, and not by recieving (far more likely, statiscally) anal sex from a man.**
Yes, HIV infection is most easily done thru anal intercourse but that’s not the ONLY way. Can you show us some other reason that this sports figure might be gay because he’s infected with HIV? You seem to be saying; since HIV is mostly easily passed on thru anal intercourse and gay men have anal intercourse, then said sports figure must be gay?
The only other people I’ve ever heard propagate this hypothesis are conservative radio commentors, like Mark Belling in Milwaukee WI (where I used to live).
Said sports figure has never had any other links to the GLBT community other than being infected with HIV. I think you need better evidence than this.
Why are we worried about saying Magic Johnson’s name in this thread? We can’t “out” him if he ain’t gay, and he doesn’t seem to be! That’s one of the stigmas of getting HIV- oh my, he must be gay!
Actually, Magic has a long and storied history of promiscuity, which probably led to his HIV infection. Luckily, he got diagnosed before he gave it to his wife (and thus their next child). He has spoken candidly about it. He wasn’t in Wilt Chamberlain’s league or anything, but he did get around.
EJsGirl:
Really? I thought they both played in the NBA…
(sorry, couldn’t resist)
Chaim Mattis Keller
Freyr and Snooooopy;
I don’t care if Magic (or Steve Young) is gay. I really don’t. Their sexuality is truely a non-issue for me.They were both very good at their jobs. That’s all that concerns me. And then not a lot.
My slight irritation is with some fans who seem to think it important to ‘defend’ male sports figures. There’s nothing to defend against, one way or the other.
We don’t really know, do we?
First thing out of my friends mouth when Magic Johnson (quite nobly, I thought) announced his illness was “He got it from a woman”. Who cares? And why?
Peace,
mangeorge
Even more apparent is the fact that there is a big wall of defense that goes up anytime someone makes that suggestion. Freud would have a field day with that. The degree of homosexuality may be small on the scale, but imagine the response you’d get if you blurted out “football is an expression of homo-erotic fantasy” at the sidelines. Sports practically provide a breeding ground for the closeted homosexual male. I think we need to realize that whether someone likes Barbara Streisand is not the gauge through which to measure sexual orientation. Often times the “manly men” are trying to cover something up by roughing up other men. Hell, if I had to cover up my heterosexuality because of discrimination and the only way to do it would be by taking showers with women, pushing them down on the fields, and slapping their asses, I’d sign up in a heartbeat. Sports must be gay heaven, to the closeted. It gives them male contact, PLUS acceptance while actually adding the extra cover “he couldn’t be gay, he too tough.” A perfect way to use existing stereotypes for one’s own goal. [Re: OP] Needless to say, I think most of America would collapse and go into convulsions from shock if they knew “how gay” many athletes actually happen to be or what the percentages are.
Can I get a gay male opinion on this? Doesn’t this seem like a reasonable method to remain closeted (and it’s obvious why one would want to remain in the closet)?
I still think you’re off the mark, Dale. You’re saying that in sports, men get to touch other men, therefore it is a bastion of homosexuality. By that reasoning, doctors must all be gay.
You’ve got sex on the brain. Not everything in the universe revolves around sex.
I’m not disagreeing that there are probably many closeted gay atheletes, but the way I see it one has very little to do with the other. They play sports, and they are gay. Not - they play sports because they are gay.
I doubt very highly that a gay man would take the time and effort to become the best that he can at football, or basketball, or tennis, or tiddlywinks, or whatever, just on the off chance that he’ll make it to the top where all the real beefcake is.
You gotta like it first to get to be the best at it.
For dykes in sport, I know several of the Australian Women’s basketball team are (met them out on the town). Same same for the soccer team, and pretty much the entire Aussie rules/rugby/league bunch. From people who know them, the hockey team is said to be mainly dykes, and with cricket its pretty much a given thing.
So, lesbians certainly play a lot of sport! Then again, its part of our stereotype.
:rolleyes:
And that’s a damn shame.
Wasn’t there an Aussie rugby player who was recently suspended for his habit of goosing opposing players in the scrums? Any sexual content to that, or was he just trying to distract them?
His name is John Hopoate, and he plays for the Wests Tigers team in the Australian National Rugby League (NRL) competition.
Hopoate received a 12-week suspension from the NRL earlier this year for sticking his finger up the rectum of opposing players. I don’t think that Hopoate saw any sexual significance in his actions. His rationale, as expressed to one of the opposing players, was that it slowed down the playing of the ball and gave his (Hopoate’s) team more time to line up in defence. (see this site for a bit of info)
In term of the issues being raised in this thread, i think the reaction to Hopoate’s actions are considerably more illuminating than the actions themselves.
For example, Hopoate was suspended after a hearing which arose from a complaint by the North Queensland Cowboys team to the NRL. According to this site:
And there were some cries of unfairness from Hopoate’s team regarding his 12-week suspension. Another player last year received only an 8-week suspension for an illegal and highly dangerous “spear tackle” (a tackle which deliberately upends a player and drives him head-first into the ground) which had badly injured another player’s neck and, according to this site, “effectively ended former Tigers captain Jarrod McCracken’s career”. Another website says that McCracken was in a neck brace for two months, and that fifteen months after the incident he had played no football and his team doctors still did not think he was able to train, leaving him “on the brink of retirement”.
Now i realise that having a finger stuck up your butt during a game might be a little unpleasant. And you could definitely make the argument that it is rather unhygenic, especially if the offending player’s hands have been in the dirt etc. during the game. But i don’t think that this compares to the danger that arises from picking a guy up, turning him over, and driving him head-first into the ground so hard that he spends two months in a neck brace and is never able to play football again. Yet the former offence received a suspension fifty percent longer than the latter. Draw your own conclusions about institutionalised homophobia.
Hopoate’s antics were featured in the online edition of Outsports: The Weekly Review for Gay Sports Fans and Athletes. This article gives some more details of the incident, its aftermath, and the rugby league community’s response, but does not contain any opinion or comment from the Outsports editors.They do, however, title the piece “Digital Penetration: The Weirdest Sports Story of the Year”.
I don’t know if that guy’s unpleasant tactics are because he likes to put his finger in other guys’ rectums, or if he did it because he just knows that it will really freak out the invaded person … but I do know that Digital Penetration would be a friggin’ great band name.
The NY Times last year had a lengthy series of articles about homosexuality in sports. I think Robert Lipsyte wrote. There was a long interview with Billy Bean, who used to play for the Dodgers and Padres. He said it would be difficult, if not impossible for any current major leaguer to come out. Bean even was married during his playing days just to fit in. Needless to say, it wasn’t a successful marriage.
Was Magic ever diagnosed with AIDS? I thought he was HIV+, but did not develop AIDS.
On the contrary. The stereotypical athlete is often obsessed with sex. I, on the other hand, have started threads pondering the question of why in the hell are people so damned sexual. In other words, I’m noticing how our culture is bombarded with sexuality, but the minute I mention a link between sexuality and sports we find ourselves shifting to a different gear. We are told that men think about sex all the time, but that magically goes away when they are watching sports? Feh.
FTR, I was primarily refering to subconscious decisions. Most gay men don’t think “Hmm, I bet if I really applied myself, I could become a pro football player and surround myself with the sight and smells of other men.” The way people so adamantly follow sports and will even fight about sports stars, the only other thing in life of that caliber must be sexual. Frankly, one of the things I find unappealing about sports is the stench and grotesqueness of other men. I don’t feel comfortable when they are that close to me and I don’t even want to look at them. Who would? Heterosexual women? Yes, the women who are interested in sports pick out the men they find attractive, the difference is that they do is consciously. No, I’m not saying every guy who likes sports is gay, but there’s got to be a lot out there.
Dr. Freud. Paging Dr. Freud.
This thread, initially, was about people of a certain sexual orientation participating in a certain professions, and why they may feel the need to keep quiet.
You’ve interpreted that somehow, as … “Aha! Yet another activity which is a thinly veiled attempt at forcing sex on us. Heathens!” Or something like that.
Yes. I’m sure some gay men who are athletic, secretly enjoy their contact with other men. But for the most part, I would imagine that it is the sports, the activity, the competition that is important to a pro. I’m sure that some gay men who are accountants secretly enjoy some contact they may have their co-workers too. Is accountancy on your list too?
Allow me to introduce you to our friend the generalization.
Men, nor women for that matter, think about sex literally all of the time. Nothing would get done.
I can assure you that when I’m watching sports, whether it’s the NFL or the Baton Rouge Regional Woman’s Softball Tournament, that I’m interested in the game, not the participants as potential fantasy partners.
I would categorize something like that as more adequately compared to a familial feeling. When someone from San Francisco argues that Joe Montana is better than Dan Marino, it’s because he probably feels a sense of community with him, not that he wants to bend him over the goalposts.