Which team sport will have the first high-profile openly gay athlete?

[charleskinbote]

With the help of Brian Burke it might well be hockey, although there are decades of homophobic standards and tendencies to wade through before that happens.

 

[charleskinbote]

The key qualifications here are 'current athletes' playing a 'major team sport' and who are 'high-profile.'

This is why I did not include the rugby player from last year. He simply wasn't that well-known a player and didn't play for a well-known team.

Also, feel free to guess some early betting favorites on who the athlete might be.

 

[prinz4ming]

The key qualifications here are 'current athletes' playing a 'major team sport' and who are 'high-profile.'

This is why I did not include the rugby player from last year. He simply wasn't that well-known a player and didn't play for a well-known team.

Also, feel free to guess some early betting favorites on who the athlete might be.

Gareth Thomas was well famous even before he came out.
Tbh- I dont know any hockey, NFL or baseball players...

But I think that football prob has the most players so chances are there are gay players who will come out. Actually there is already a mainstream openly gay sportsperson- Steven Davies is the English cricket team's wicket keeper (and is well cute too )

 

[zortek]

this poll/question is very USA-centric...

as well as those mentioned above, here in australia the first was Ian Roberts, a rugby player for a major team in the main league who came out in 1995.

 

[absalom]

Team sports and being gay: it was difficult, it is difficult and will stay difficult for the time being. Why?

First, in most team sports the Straight Alpha Male mentality still reigns supreme. It creates an atmosphere where it is not easy to come out. If you want to come out team members or the club will object. Maybe even the small print in your contract says (cryptically of course) that you cannot come out. If rumours start spreading that you are gay your club might provide you with a fake girl friend to 'prove' the world that you are as straight as an arrow.

Second, it can have devasting consequences for the performances of the team member that comes out of the closet. How do you think it feels when 20.000 fans of the other team shout FAG at you? You can think that you are not touched by it but you must have a very strong spirit to not let it affect you.

Third, your club might disapprove of your coming out. A sport club is a business directed towards making a profit (well, at least trying!). Some sponsors or financial supporters might withdraw their money because they do not want to be identified with the word 'gay'. I remind you here of the difficulties Matthew Mitcham, an openly gay Australian diver who won GOLD at the 2008 Olympic games, had in finding a sponsor after his win in Beijing. If he would have been straight companies would have lined up en masse with contracts.

These reasons make it difficult for a member of the bigger team sports (soccer, American football etc) to come out of the closet. Things will only change slowly, very slowly. That is why we, gay guys, should be proud of people like Gareth Thomas who had the courage to come out while being active as a rugby player.

 

[charleskinbote]

I agree completely. I think an even bigger factor against it happening anytime soon is actually the over-the-top homophobic locker room atmosphere in most of these sports. Hockey, football and basketball are the three worst, in my opinion.

The reason I brought up hockey though to start is that Brian Burke, the current manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs (I'm Canadian eh), has been thrust into a position of leadership/advocacy for openly-gay athletes ever since his son died in a car accident last year.

Some background: Brian Burke is a former player (not very successful), former coach (quite successful) and current GM in the NHL. His style in all three of these positions has been a classic bruising style of hockey. Find a skill player, find someone to pass him the puck, then surround them with enforcers to protect the scorers and fight as needed. Classic 'old-school' type coach/GM. Anyways, his son, Brandon I think, a former minor-league hockey player with a position in the NHL to boot came out to him a couple years back. Brandon's plan, upon coming out to his father, was to work to create a more accepting environment for gay hockey players and gay athletes in general. A lofty ambition no doubt, but one he would not have a chance to complete after dying in a car crash just a few months after coming out to his father.

The silver lining in all of this is that Brian Burke has thrown his weight behind this issue as a kind of tribute to his son. He's marched at Toronto Pride ever since, and has done speaking tours around the city and country at high schools and elementary schools. With his old-school hockey roots and considerable heft around the league, he has as good a chance as any to effect change.

Thought that was a cool story, sorry it got long-winded.

p.s. I think that the change will come slowly at first, then come quickly (hehe) as soon as a superstar level player comes out. Think what would have happened if Dan Carter came out instead of Gareth Thomas. Don't you think their would have been a cascade of players thinking: "well, if he could do it, and he's a superstar of the game, then I could do it for sure." Just a thought.

 

[Tjerk12]

I agree completely. I think an even bigger factor against it happening anytime soon is actually the over-the-top homophobic locker room atmosphere in most of these sports. Hockey, football and basketball are the three worst, in my opinion.

The reason I brought up hockey though to start is that Brian Burke, the current manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs (I'm Canadian eh), has been thrust into a position of leadership/advocacy for openly-gay athletes ever since his son died in a car accident last year.

Some background: Brian Burke is a former player (not very successful), former coach (quite successful) and current GM in the NHL. His style in all three of these positions has been a classic bruising style of hockey. Find a skill player, find someone to pass him the puck, then surround them with enforcers to protect the scorers and fight as needed. Classic 'old-school' type coach/GM. Anyways, his son, Brandon I think, a former minor-league hockey player with a position in the NHL to boot came out to him a couple years back. Brandon's plan, upon coming out to his father, was to work to create a more accepting environment for gay hockey players and gay athletes in general. A lofty ambition no doubt, but one he would not have a chance to complete after dying in a car crash just a few months after coming out to his father.

The silver lining in all of this is that Brian Burke has thrown his weight behind this issue as a kind of tribute to his son. He's marched at Toronto Pride ever since, and has done speaking tours around the city and country at high schools and elementary schools. With his old-school hockey roots and considerable heft around the league, he has as good a chance as any to effect change.

Thought that was a cool story, sorry it got long-winded.

p.s. I think that the change will come slowly at first, then come quickly (hehe) as soon as a superstar level player comes out. Think what would have happened if Dan Carter came out instead of Gareth Thomas. Don't you think their would have been a cascade of players thinking: "well, if he could do it, and he's a superstar of the game, then I could do it for sure." Just a thought.

Great story!

 

[spy78]

my guess is that it will be a tennis player

 

[prinz4ming]

The only openly gay footballer is Anton Hysen - but he's not particularly high profile. He is in the second division and will hopefully go on to play in the premier leagues

GO HOMO!!

 

[Martinus]

Tennis is not really a team sport and we've already had the world's best player well out. For the younger members, Martina Navratilova. Also in non-team sports there is an Australian diver (unless you count synchronised diving). Wish there was an English one but its early days yet.

 

[absalom]

Tennis can be a team sport

my guess is that it will be a tennis player

Djokovich is giving my Gaydar some signals but maybe that is just me ...

 

[prinz4ming]

Tennis can be a team sport




Djokovich is giving my Gaydar some signals but maybe that is just me ...

I love Djokovic

 

[absalom]

Last week BBC 3 showed a doentary made by Amal Fashanu, niece of the only professional footballer to have ever come out in the UK, Justin Fashanu (who committed suicide in 1998). You can find that video on YouTube under the title Britain's Gay Footballers. Don't know how long it stays on YT.

 

[orion2070]

Definitely Soccer/European Football. Europeans aren't as hung up about sexuality as Americans

 

[Sebaceous]

Ian Thorpe won't be coming out anytime soon