In Tuesday's class we discussed the topic homosexuality. We talked about if it was a good thing for players who are homosexual to come out of the closet during their playing career. Most homosexual athletes are too scared to publicly confess their sexuality and often wait until their playing career is over. My firm belief on sexuality has always been to be honest and express yourself. I believe athlete or not, if you are homosexual you shouldn't be afraid to let everyone know it because that is who you are. When it comes to sports however I have a different opinion. I believe if you are a professional athlete it may not be the best idea to come out of the closet. With all the media attention surrounding sports today it would just become a huge distraction and controversy for the player and the team. I believe this can be a huge distraction for a team because of homosexual males are looked at in the sports community, and could make things awkward in the locker room and off the court. When baseball and football were polled about homosexuality only one team responded and gave their input. Former NBA player John Amaechi came out of the closet following his playing career which promoted criticism with some saying that was a cowardly act. Another former NBA player Tim Hardaway hit headlines when he commented on the issue by saying he "hates" gay people. Shaq however said he would protect Amaechi if he were on his team from outsiders. A statement that bothered me was how in class we talked about how many athletes believe being gay is worse than being a felon. That is an awful thing to say because someones sexuality shouldn't matter, and has nothing to do with being a felon. Breaking the law is one thing but your sexuality is another. I believe athletes need to accept homosexual teammates like the Corey Johnson situation is Massachusetts. It is embarrassing that Mike Piazza needed to call a press conferene to shoot down rumors he gay. The world of sports and athletes need to accept the fact that there are homosexual athletes all around them, just "Hiding In The Closet".
Nick, the fact that someone said being gay is worse than a felon is just ridiculous and ignorant. I'm not even going to comment on that. But I do agree that players should keep to themselves that they are gay as best as they can, if they can't then come out with it. I'm sure if a player is with a team for so long, the players will support that person who is coming out of the closet because being a teammate is like family and they'll support you. Rudy Rodriguez
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is anything that a player does, the team as a whole has to deal with. Whenever players get into to trouble it affects the team but coming out would be different because that's something that affects the team that they could turn into a positive and show their team unity and support. I also think this would open the door for other athletes to do so. I think that all these athletes that are hiding their sexuality and living in lies should stop being afraid and stand up for themselves!
ReplyDeleteA person's sexuality should have nothing to do with their participation in sport. The sad truth is that being a gay professional athlete seems like a huge taboo in this country, or probably any for that matter. For this reason I don't think gay athletes should come out while playing. The media attention an athlete would attract just from saying they are gay would be completely unnecessary and would just create controversy and criticism of the athlete. While this may be completely unfair and not seem right it may be the safest thing for the athlete to do to avoid the negative attention and criticism.
ReplyDeleteI agree Nick. Someones sexual PREFERENCE should not even be in the talks in the sports world. However, that is how brutal our society and media is today. Take a look at Tiger Woods and see what the media did to his life. Now clearly what Tiger did is completely irrelevent, but it is just an example of how brutal the media could be. I don't think we will ever see an athlete come out during his/her career simply because of the media. It is a shame how these athletes have to hide this throughout their career.
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