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

homosexual professional athlete

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, ... * homosexual professional athlete *

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?

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. 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.

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. * homosexual professional athlete *

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. 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?

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay. * homosexual professional athlete *

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. 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.

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. * homosexual professional athlete *

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.".

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

Insir is highlightg out and proud athlet who intify as lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and more honor of pri month. * homosexual professional athlete *

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. 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.

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. * homosexual professional athlete *

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.

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

* homosexual professional athlete *

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

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.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* HOMOSEXUAL PROFESSIONAL ATHLETE

Why There Few Openly Gay Athlet In Men's Profsnal Sports : NPR .

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