Take me Out(Sports)

As the recent diatribes by Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant and Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell show, homophobia is still a major issue in sports. And one that does not get nearly enough attention. In the past month Bryant was fined $100,000 for yelling a homophobic slur at an official after being called for a technical foul that he did not agree with. Bryant’s slur was caught on camera and immediately circulated throughout the Internet. When asked about what he yelled, Bryant claimed that, though he used the slur, he was not expressing homophobic sentiments; rather, he said he used the slurs as an outlet for his frustrations. Regardless of Bryant’s intent, his slur demonstrated an ignorance towards the issues that face the gay community and society as a whole. Unfortunately Bryant’s ignorance is just a scratch on the surface of the attitude in sports towards the LGBTQ community. Though Kobe has shown appropriate contrition since he was severely reprimanded by the media and has gone to lengths to work with gay rights groups to spread awareness, cases like Roger McDowell’s demonstrate that the scope of the issue is much greater than just ignorance.
Before a recent game against the San Francisco Giants, McDowell asked three fans in the stands if they were in a homosexual relationship and then used a baseball bat to make lewd suggestions directed towards them. In the stands another man with his family told McDowell that his actions were inappropriate and that there were kids in the crowd. The Braves coach then turned on the fan and began threatening him instead. After the game the fan reported the incident and Major League Baseball reacted swiftly by suspending McDowell for two weeks without pay.
While the NBA and MLB have taken strict measures to demonstrate that they have no tolerance for such behavior, both leagues, and athletic atmospheres in general, are notorious for fostering homophobic feelings. This is best demonstrated by the fact that there isn’t a single “out” player currently active in any of the big three leagues.
Think about that for just a moment. There are nearly 5,000 athletes between the NFL, NBA, and MLB and not a single one of them is openly homosexual. This doesn’t mean that there aren’t gay athletes at the professional level, but it would suggest that tens if not hundreds are still closeted.
A few years ago John Amaechi became the first NBA player ever to come out as openly gay. Shortly after Amaechi came out, former player Tim Hardaway made disparaging comments about Amaechi saying that he never would have played with Amaechi had he known he was gay during his playing career.
While these are just three examples of the abuses that homosexuals face in sports, many more take place behind closed doors or out of the earshot of reporters and the sightlines of cameras that are never reported. Nor is it rare for players to have their sexuality openly questioned without merit.
Each occurrence of homophobia acts as a deterrent to the next generation of athletes feeling comfortable with their sexuality. And something needs to be done about it.
In 1999 two gay men, Cyd Zeigler and Jim Buzinski, founded a website dedicated to raising awareness about the presence and experiences of gay athletes in sports. The site includes many articles written by the athletes themselves on their decisions to tell or not to tell their teammates about their sexuality. Zeigler and Buzinki’s goal is to provide a forum of support for gay athletes.
Recently Zeigler and Buzinski considered discontinuing outsports.com but a rash of suicides by gay teens made them reconsider. While hopefully the words of Bryant and the actions of McDowell will not have a similar effect, they demonstrate an ugly truth about sports. Homophobia is still extremely prevalent.
Outsports.com has done a great job raising awareness and supporting teens in need. But as this past month has shown, we can always do more.