The Possibility of an Openly Gay Athlete

Things have certainly changed from our grandfathers’ sports realm. Heck, things have changed from our fathers’ sports realm. The media, social networks, and bloggers (coughs) have turned sports into something just a tad more than just wins, losses, and championships.

That change is progressing into something we haven’t seen before. Along with that change comes that of an openly gay athlete. It is something that is pondered by many and the way it will be received is not really known by anyone. People, cameras, and attention are simply relentless in today’s sports and one has to question exactly how that would effect the inevitable of an openly gay athlete in a major team sport.

Lets take a look at small samples. We will start with one Tim Tebow. Tebow has possibly received more media attention than anybody in recent memory and I’m still trying to figure out exactly why that has been the case. For one, he’s pure fascination. Whether its because you think he’s not good enough to play “quarterback”, you hate him because of his “image”, or you just think he’s spectacular at the end of games; you watch.

Given the media attention Tebow received for just being Tebow, any gay athlete that may come out can expect something of the same and possibly even more in the way of media attention. People are going to want pictures of the athlete’s normal routine. Cameras would follow on any night out at the bar, movies, or dinner dates.

Calling it “like it is”, the homophobia would be running beyond wild. We can go to Lebron for that. Lebron has received more hatred during his career than most could imagine in a lifetime or so. Given the aforementioned progression of sports, that hatred has spilled over into his twitter account. I would not even want to see the slurs that would possibly be thrown towards the potential athlete’s or athletes’ way.

Like every topic, there is a bottom line in all of this. That bottom line is that all of this is excessive and simply should not be the case. If an athlete, along with any other person, chooses that lifestyle then they are well within their rights and should not be scrutinized for it.

In saying that, I realize this world is far from perfect. Also, as inevitable as an athlete coming out is, its also inevitable that the athlete will be looked at differently. Every play will be watched and every movement will be discussed. What we need to do is give him/her the necessary space.

People have all of their own reasons for justifying their homophobia. Personally, I don’t care about either one of them. It is not fair to the people who choose their lifestyle and may suffer in other areas because they don’t feel safe about making it known.

We can sit here all day and discuss a player’s skill sets, stats, or talent but the notion of asking a potential draftee about his sexuality was, is, and will always be flat out wrong. Situations like that will not help the progression of safety that needs to happen for all athletes.

In the near future, the sports world will have an active gay athlete on a team sport. Kudos to Orlando Cruz, a professional boxer, who decided to come out in 2012. Lets hope this serves as a door opener and athletes who decide to walk through it can walk through it peacefully and as safely as possible.

University of Mississippi graduate in Broadcast Journalism. Huge lover of sports with a bigger love for people.