Contents:
- CELEBRATG LGBTQ SPORTS HISTORY: MIKE PIAZZA ANNOUNC, ‘I’M NOT GAY. I’M HETEROSEXUAL.’
- BY THE WAY, MIKE PIAZZA STILL ISN'T GAY
- MIKE 'I'M NOT GAY' PIAZZA TO WRE TOBGRAPHY
- SPORTS STARS WHO BATTLED GAY RUMORS
- MIKE PIAZZA SAYS HE SERV HOF, TALKS PEDS, GAY MORS BOOK
- MIKE PIAZZA IS NOT GAY
CELEBRATG LGBTQ SPORTS HISTORY: MIKE PIAZZA ANNOUNC, ‘I’M NOT GAY. I’M HETEROSEXUAL.’
And 2002, Piazza held a news nference to clare, “I’m not gay. ” In dog so, he ma many thk he is, fact, gay.
In the June/July 2002 issue of Details magaze, then-New York Mets manager Bobby Valente said he believed baseball was ready for an openly gay player. There is a persistent mor around town that one Mets star who spends a lot of time wh pretty mols clubs is actually gay and has started to thk about clarg his sexual orientatn.
Amidst swirlg mors that the gay player is him, the next day New York Met tcher Mike Piazza held a prs nference to clare, “I’m not gay.
BY THE WAY, MIKE PIAZZA STILL ISN'T GAY
” And dog so ma many thk he is fact gay. He agreed wh Valente that baseball players, ne years ago, would accept a gay teammate:.
Yet many people, particularly gay people, took offense. Whether Piazza’s ments were supportive or not, the implitn to many was that beg lled gay was emed so bad that you had to clear up the mor. “He plays for the Mets” quickly beme shorthand for “he’s gay.
” And the Piazza-gay mors only tensified after the prs nference.
MIKE 'I'M NOT GAY' PIAZZA TO WRE TOBGRAPHY
To this day, many thk Piazza is gay based exclively on that prs nference; One mastream sports Web se said 2004: “When we thk of gay athlet, the first one who to md is Mike Piazza, then there is Olympic gold medalist diver, Greg Louganis.
“If I was gay, I’d be gay all the way. Back 2002, New York Mets legend Mike Piazza had to ll a prs nference to clare that he wasn't a homosexual and that the media were wrong to assume his sexualy. The prs nference end up makg more people believe that he was gay and didn't que work the favor of the Mets dugout.
A New York Post article om May 20th, 2002, started a mour that one of the members of the Mets dugout was gay and ready to e out to the public. Their belief was that when manager Bobby Valente remarked that baseball was then ready for gay players, he was referrg to one of his own players. "There is a persistent mor around town that one Mets star who spends a lot of time wh pretty mols clubs is actually gay and has started to thk about clarg his sexual orientatn.
SPORTS STARS WHO BATTLED GAY RUMORS
“I’m not gay. However, some people om the gay muny found to be offensive.
The implitn to many was that beg lled gay required a big jtifitn on Mike Piazza's part to clear out that he wasn't.
Mike Piazza's life after gay mours. ”Even though this was a very gross generalizatn of how gay people behave, to be fair to Mike, his sexualy was discsed the public eye wh neher his nsent nor proper jtifitn.
MIKE PIAZZA SAYS HE SERV HOF, TALKS PEDS, GAY MORS BOOK
When the New York Post implied that Piazza was gay, he held that ltle prs nference where he clared his heterosexualy. What if I was gay? What if one of my teammat is gay?
MIKE PIAZZA IS NOT GAY
What if one of YOU is gay?
" In a cy wh a huge gay populatn, that was an opportuny to show some real muny learship, and he totally sp the b. This was the wake of a Post gossip lumnist makg a (very) thly veiled suggtn that the Mets' roster clud a homosexual superstar, probably Piazza.