North Ameri's four biggt pro sports leagu have had only 2 openly gay active players | CNN

gay professional sportsmen

Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen has e out as gay. His announcement is a first for a male ach a major U.S.-based profsnal league.

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ATHLET WHO ARE GAY

Thanks to the proment athlet who are gay, the sports world is beg more and more acceptg of homosexual players. Whether the famo Olympians, ... * gay professional sportsmen *

Thanks to the proment athlet who are gay, the sports world is beg more and more acceptg of homosexual players. Football star Michael Sam ma headl 2014 when he beme the first openly gay athlete to be drafted to the NFL.

His announcement provoked mixed reactns om his fellow players and the you surprised that so many profsnal athlet are gay?

WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS

Two athlet recently g out has highlighted the arth of openly gay players the world of U.S. men's profsnal sports, often dubbed "the last closet" for s lack of LGBTQ reprentatn. * gay professional sportsmen *

Share your thoughts the ments Wikimedia Commons / CC-BYOlympic soccer player Megan Rapoe me out as gay 2012.

She has been a relatnship wh Atralian soccer player Sarah Walsh for three 38Natnaly: Uned Stat of AmeriBirthplace: Reddg, CaliforniaTeams: Chigo Red StarsTennis great Billie Jean Kg beme the first proment female profsnal athlete to e out as gay back 79Natnaly: Uned Stat of AmeriBirthplace: Long Beach, California, Uned Stat of AmeriOlympic diver Greg Louganis is openly gay.

EACH OF AMERI’S BIG 5 SPORTS CURRENTLY HAS AN OUT GAY MAN THE PROS. THAT’S NEVER HAPPENED

For the first time, pro baseball, basketball, football, hockey and soccer has an out gay male player unr ntract. * gay professional sportsmen *

He married his partner Johnny Chaillo 63Natnaly: Uned Stat of AmeriBirthplace: El Cajon, California, Uned Stat of AmeriWNBA player Sheryl Swoop announced that she was gay 2005. Age: 52Natnaly: Uned Stat of AmeriBirthplace: Brownfield, Texas, Uned Stat of AmeriTeams: Hoton Comets, Uned Stat women's natnal basketball team, Texas Tech Lady Rairs basketballNBA player Jason Colls me out as gay an terview wh Sports Illtrated magaze 2013.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH MAJOR MEN'S PRO SPORTS TO INTIFY AS GAY

* gay professional sportsmen *

His announcement provoked mixed reactns om his fellow players and the 44Natnaly: Uned Stat of AmeriBirthplace: Northridge, Los Angel, CaliforniaTeams: Boston Celtics, Atlanta Hawks, Washgton Wizards, Memphis Grizzli, Brooklyn NetsAmerin soccer player Abby Wambach is openly gay. In June 2021, NFL fensive end Carl Nassib me out as gay a vio posted to his Instagram, addg he donated  $100,000 to The Trevor Project, an anizatn that foc on suici preventn LGBTQ youth after he stggled wh his sexualy for 15 years.

Prokop, a prospect wh the Nashville Predators, wrote an Instagram post that he was "no longer sred to hi who I am."He add: "From a young age I have dreamed of beg an NHL player, and I believe that livg my thentic life will allow me to brg my whole self to the rk and improve my chanc of fulfillg my dreams."Acrdg to USA Today, no NHL player — active or retired — had e out as gay. "Sce Febary and my big announcement, this has been a whole [lot of] speculatn of the first openly gay football player, but you know what? The athlete quickly ma a name for herself a seri of TV terviews, where she voiced her support of women's rights and LGBTQ rights as an openly gay woman.

"I thk female athlet, general, are at the foreont of every prott general bee we're gay, we're women, we're women of lor, we're sort of everythg all at one time," Rapoe told NBC news 2019. The thgs you hear as a child—every time you hear someone say 'f----t' or talk bad about a gay guy, or see somethg on TV and make fun of that.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

Jaguars assistant Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's pro sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer. * gay professional sportsmen *

Amaechi first discsed his sexualy a memoir, "Man the Middle." He scribed hidg his sexualy while playg for the Utah Jazz, but said some teammat who spected he was gay were welg about .In a 2007 terview on "Outsi the L," Amaechi, who played five seasons the NBA, said he thought there were other gay players the league, but said 's "terrifyg" for some to e out."It's a ighteng prospect. Would I want to do terviews every day, where people are askg: 'So you're takg showers wh guys – how's that?'"But a few months later, he joed the Los Angel Galaxy team and beme the first openly gay man to play a major US profsnal league.

And I'm gay.""I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playg a major Amerin team sport. At the time, he said, "I have always been and always will be a proud gay man.""I don't want to hi any of my inti," he told ESPN at the time.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Out Magaze on gay fns and sports. Read about the openly gay athlet who are breakg barriers profsnal sports. * gay professional sportsmen *

But I also want kids who suffer om bullyg to know that you n be whoever you want to be life, cludg a profsnal boxer, that anythg is possible and that who you are or whom you love should not be impediment to achievg anythg life."In 2016, he dited a match to the victims of the gay nightclub shootg at Pulse Orlando, Florida. I showed jt bee I'm gay don't make me any different or ls of a person," Denson told the Milwkee Journal Sentel 2017. I was offend, bee beg gay is no way offensive, but more so bee was and always has been/felt very tsive.".

He beme the first openly gay Amerin to go to the Gam."One time, I was the fourth gra and somebody said, 'Oh, bee you skate, you're gay,'" Rippon told Today 2019.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN IS FIRST AMERIN MALE PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Jacksonville Jaguars’ assistant ach Kev Maxen has ma history by beg the first male ach profsnal sports the U.S. to publicly e out as gay. * gay professional sportsmen *

Greg Louganis won four gold medals and one silver medal at three Olympic Gam om 1976 to 1988 as a diver, but wasn't until 1994 that he me out as gay. She said the cisn to disclose her sexualy to the public "wasn't hard at all.""If I n show that I'm out and I'm fe, then hopefully the younger generatn will feel the same way," Grer said the terview.That same year, Grer recieved a multi-ln dollar al om Nike, and beme the first openly gay basketball player endorsed by the brand, acrdg to The Wrap.Grer married her wife, Cherelle, 2019.

When Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop me out this week, was the first time an active player unr ntract to an NHL team had ever publicly acknowledged they were gay. Overnight, Prokop's announcement doubled the number of out gay athlet currently playg the untry's four major men's sports — football, basketball, baseball and hockey.

9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY

In major league baseball only two players have publicly me out as gay other than that few of mor league players have done so. * gay professional sportsmen *

Though many retired former players have e out, is more unual for male profsnal athlet to say they are gay while still playg. Gay male athlet face cultural barriers Part of the reason for the lack of out gay players men's profsnal sports uld be that there are jt fewer of them the game.

Rory Magrath, a rearcher at Solent Universy England, has suggted that 's possible gay men are unrreprented profsnal sports. "Gay men are a fe rource, so they n't exist great numbers every quarter, " Magrath told "Gay men are overreprented some areas, and as a nsequence are gog to be unrreprented sports. That uld be due to the mascule culture at the center of the major sports, experts say, creatg an environment that is ls welg to gay athlet.

Magrath helped thor a study that found that male athlet who me out as gay while still playg sports were largely met wh acceptance by their teammat.

TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY

Let’s be clear right om the start. None of the athlet are nfirmed to be gay or anythg like that. The purpose of this list is to go a b more pth about some of the mors that are surro * gay professional sportsmen *

Robbie Rogers ma history 2013 when he took the field for the Los Angel Galaxy after as the first openly gay player profsnal U.

NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS

Carl Nassib is one of only two openly gay active players the history of the four biggt North Amerin sports leagu – the NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL. Experts say homophobia sports begs at the youth level. * gay professional sportsmen *

NBA player Jason Colls, who me out 2013 while he was still playg the league, later told NPR " went great" when he scribed the perd after announcg he was gay. After Michael Sam beme the first openly gay athlete to be drafted to the NFL 2014, then-Miami Dolphs safety Don Jon tweeted "horrible, " rultg penalti and a spensn. David Kopay, a former NFL nng back who me out 1975, was unable to land a profsnal achg job after he announced publicly that he was gay.

There are key differenc the cultur of men's and women's athletics While few active players the major men's sports leagu have e out, many female profsnal athlet have said publicly that they're gay, om U. Atralian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo me out as gay an October vio posted to his social media, beg hailed as the first current male top-flight profsnal soccer player to publicly do so."Hi, everyone," the 21-year-old left back and central midfielr for the Alai Uned soccer team said the vio. I'm a footballer and I'm gay."He ntued: "Growg up I always felt the need to hi myself, you know, bee I was ashamed, and ashamed I'll never be able to do what I love and be gay.

COLLEGE & PROFSNAL ATHLET WHO ARE OPENLY GAY

In a September terview wh USA Today, 25-year-old mor league baseball player beme the only active baseball profsnal to be out as gay!A member of the Salem-Keizer Volno team as well as an acplished untry mic sger-songwrer, Ruby told USA Today, "I kept thkg about the ltle 14-year-old me, who was sred bee I'm a baseball player who loved untry mic. Natnal Hockey League prospect Le Prokop me out as gay July, the first active player the league to e out.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

Selected the third round of the 2020 NHL Draft by the Nashville Predators, the big fenr has a good shot of makg the regular-season roster."I am proud to publicly tell everyone that I am gay," he wrote a heartfelt msage on social media. The 28-year-old Natnal Football League player and Rairs fensive leman ma history when he me out as gay on Instagram durg Pri Month, beg the first veteran NFL player to e out as gay while signed to a regular-season ntract."What's up people," Nassib said his Instagram post. I jt wanted to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay."He ntued: "I've been meang to do this for a while now but fally feel fortable gettg off my cht.

The Bachelor star and former football player (who was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted ee agent and was on the practice squad of the Oakland Rairs and the Philalphia Eagl) me out as gay April, sayg he had fally e to terms wh his sexualy and the "next step all of this was sort of lettg people know."He wanted everyone to know he was "still the same Colton everybody met on TV" and is "proud to be gay.".

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