Wele to the 'Gay Gam,' an Olympics alternative, where activism is enuraged and everyone's an athlete | CNN

gay in 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.

Contents:

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. * gay in sports *

Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual.

Per Outsports, Maxen is the “first publicly out male ach a major Amerin men’s pro sports league, ” wh WNBA ach Curt Miller, who publicly me out to the media as gay 2015, also a publicly out male ach an Amerin profsnal sports league. -- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar 's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn.

Outsi lebacker Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay and to play a game Associated Prs ntributed to this report. Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen is believed to be the first openly gay male ach major North Amerin men's sports after g out publicly an terview wh Outsports. ”Maxen is believed to be the first openly gay male ach the NFL and all of major Amerin men's pro sports, acrdg to Outsports.

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

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 in sports *

" San Francis 49ers assistant Katie Sowers, a pneer among female ach the NFL, me out as the the league's first openly gay ach 2017, acrdg to Outsports.

He add that he reached out last year for advice on g out om former Las Vegas Rairs lebacker Carl Nassib, who beme the first active openly gay player NFL history 2021. 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’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS

Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen is believed to be the first openly gay male ach major North Amerin men's sports after g out publicly an terview wh Outsports. * gay in sports *

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.

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

* gay in 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.

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

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

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.

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

Rairs fensive end Carl Nassib publicly me out June 2021, makg him the first openly gay man to actively play the NFL. * gay in sports *

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.

WELE TO THE ‘GAY GAM,’ AN ALTERNATIVE TO THE OLYMPICS, WHERE ACTIVISM IS ENURAGED AND EVERYONE’S AN ATHLETE

Tom Wadll, an athlete the 1968 Olympics, created the Gay Gam first held 1982 to celebrate LGBTQ cln. The Gay Gam are still held to this day wh the next round schled for 2022 Hong Kong. * gay in sports *

Four athlet om the Uned Stat jo Canadian Prokop breakg down barriers for gay and bisexual athlet big-time sports. Prokop lled the ont office of the Nashville Predators to let them know he’s gay, then wh their support he me out to the world.

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. "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?

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

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. * gay in sports *

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.

" He scribed hidg his sexualy while playg for the Utah Jazz, but said some teammat who spected he was gay were welg about 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. '"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. 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.

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 in sports *

I was offend, bee beg gay is no way offensive, but more so bee was and always has been/felt very tsive. "One time, I was the fourth gra and somebody said, 'Oh, bee you skate, you're gay, '" Rippon told Today 2019.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

Jacksonville Jaguars ach Kev Maxen, who joed the team last year, me out publicly as gay an terview wh Outsports published on Thursday, beg the first ach a U.S. men’s profsnal league to do so" emprop="scriptn * gay in sports *

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. ""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 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 married her wife, Cherelle, 2019. 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.

"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. 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! Natnal Hockey League prospect Le Prokop me out as gay July, the first active player the league to e out.

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.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS

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 in sports *

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.

Hiltz had prevly e out as gay while llege and has been a visible and affirmg prence for gay athlet the past. Corey Walsh, the 27-year-old pro BMX rir and Vans spokperson, said he isn't normally the type of person to "let people " on his personal life, but felt was important to e out as gay a March Instagram post bee "there are a lot of people still stgglg wh the same suatns" and he "jt wanted to let people know that they are not alone. Champn long track speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy never hid beg gay om his fay, iends, and fellow athlet, but he also wasn't one to rate his locker wh rabow Pri flags eher.

He ially feared negative stereotyp about gay male athlet but threw those ncerns asi after his two-tle performance at the U. “The first time I ever admted to someone I was gay was ont of all 130 of my fellow teammat, ” one llege football player, who me out to teammat a ral area 2016, reported answerg the survey. “This reflects years of rearch that I have nducted on smaller sl, all showg athlet are more fortable wh gay teammat than most anyone thought possible, ” said Dr.

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

“Athlet across sports and across genrs love their gay teammat, and they support their gay teammat, and this go beyond differenc of sexual orientatn.

“There were other gay women on the team, and they very much helped my g out procs, and watched out for me, so to speak. “I have spent s achg at the hight levels of sports, the past 16 as an openly gay ach, ” said UCLA softball ach Kirk Walker.

“In later years, I realized this was bee several of my teammat were closeted gays themselv, and directed their ire toward me. “After I me out to them they were tolerant, sometim publicly supportive, of me, and reaed om g the homophobic slurs ont of me. Given the imprsn of rejectn this language reprents, ’s even more important that people across sports redouble their efforts to end language perceived to be homophobic.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY IN SPORTS

Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen out as gay a first for US-based pro leagu | AP News .

TOP