sports sports sports
Feb. 16th, 2007 04:07 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
burnunitJohn Amaechi comes out-- after his retirement.
Tim Hardaway says "I hate gays." (Hardaway is also retired)
Well. No. Shit.
Neither of these things is anything like a surprise to any of you, right? I mean, that an athlete feels he can't come out until after retirement and a bigot feels he can be bigoted pretty much... well, anytime? The truth is, many, if not most, pro sports athletes are homophobic in the extreme and this attitude is encouraged from the top down and the bottom up (pun intended, but the point remains). Coaches, players, and management as well as the enormous barely-hidden muscle of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes play a strong role in promoting anti-gay attitudes among players at every level. The FCA, as a stalking horse of the Christian Right, consider the recruitment and positioning of anti-gay athletic leaders to be a key part of their strategy. They consider themselves super bowl winners thanks to Tony Dungy's "these are Christian teams" remark, a kind of confirmation of what they've been working towards for decades.
The sad thing is, people don't realize how much better the teams would be if some players came out. Heck, just in the locker room. Just being vulnerable with each other even to the point of telling the truth about their sexual orientation would give the athletes a powerful boost of trust-- which is the foundation of solid teams. If they could just trust each other, their teams would become so powerful.
But the anti-gay elements, in sealing up the coaching staffs of the nation, have ensured that not even the locker room is safe for non-straight athletes. In Vince Lombardi's day, there were gay athletes on his teams. He knew it, and it was known in the locker rooms. His brother was gay, and Coach Lombardi forbid the hazing and/or maltreatment of his gay team members. His teams remain legendary examples of team-based achievement (they named the greatest trophy for him! sure, Vince had some family problems, I'm not going to hide that. but his teams, man they were great).
Never mind the field, where a gay football players would be a complete and total target in an already hyperviolent atmosphere, now even the locker rooms are unsafe.
This will bear bitter fruit for decades to come.
Tim Hardaway says "I hate gays." (Hardaway is also retired)
Well. No. Shit.
Neither of these things is anything like a surprise to any of you, right? I mean, that an athlete feels he can't come out until after retirement and a bigot feels he can be bigoted pretty much... well, anytime? The truth is, many, if not most, pro sports athletes are homophobic in the extreme and this attitude is encouraged from the top down and the bottom up (pun intended, but the point remains). Coaches, players, and management as well as the enormous barely-hidden muscle of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes play a strong role in promoting anti-gay attitudes among players at every level. The FCA, as a stalking horse of the Christian Right, consider the recruitment and positioning of anti-gay athletic leaders to be a key part of their strategy. They consider themselves super bowl winners thanks to Tony Dungy's "these are Christian teams" remark, a kind of confirmation of what they've been working towards for decades.
The sad thing is, people don't realize how much better the teams would be if some players came out. Heck, just in the locker room. Just being vulnerable with each other even to the point of telling the truth about their sexual orientation would give the athletes a powerful boost of trust-- which is the foundation of solid teams. If they could just trust each other, their teams would become so powerful.
But the anti-gay elements, in sealing up the coaching staffs of the nation, have ensured that not even the locker room is safe for non-straight athletes. In Vince Lombardi's day, there were gay athletes on his teams. He knew it, and it was known in the locker rooms. His brother was gay, and Coach Lombardi forbid the hazing and/or maltreatment of his gay team members. His teams remain legendary examples of team-based achievement (they named the greatest trophy for him! sure, Vince had some family problems, I'm not going to hide that. but his teams, man they were great).
Never mind the field, where a gay football players would be a complete and total target in an already hyperviolent atmosphere, now even the locker rooms are unsafe.
This will bear bitter fruit for decades to come.