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

Contents:

• NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS
• BILL KENNEDY OUT AS SEND ACTIVE OPENLY GAY NBA OFFICIAL
• THE ONLY 3 OUT, GAY NBA PLAYERS IN HISTORY
• HERE ARE THE 6 GAY MEN WHO HAVE BEEN OUT PUBLICLY WHILE PETG PRO BASKETBALL
• JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE TO PLAY NBA, MAK U.S. SPORTS HISTORY
• FORMER NBA, KENTUCKY PLAYER ISAAC HUMPHRI OUT AS ONLY ACTIVE GAY PLAYER TOP-TIER MEN'S BASKETBALL
• JASON COLLS SAYS HE'S GAY
• PRO ATHLET WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY: SPORTS STARS WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ
• THE NBA HAS AN OPENLY GAY PLAYER: WHAT CHANG?

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

The Las Vegas Rairs fensive end is now jt one of two openly gay active players the history of the four biggt North Amerin sports leagu (the Natnal Football League, Natnal Basketball Associatn, Major League Baseball and the Natnal Hockey League). Homophobic language is still a regular feature of playg on a boys’ sports team the US and abroad, Denison’s rearch shows – one of his studi found that more than half of the ice hockey and gby players he terviewed said they’d ed slurs. Regular exposure to slurs or stereotyp eventually rerc among players that their succs as an athlete is tied to an ia of masculy that exclus gay men, he said.

BILL KENNEDY OUT AS SEND ACTIVE OPENLY GAY NBA OFFICIAL

Denison scribed what he lls a “cycle of excln” that begs when a boy hears ach or olr players e homophobic language and observ a “posive rponse” to that behavr – maybe they lgh at each other, or the ach don’t challenge them, he said. That sends the msage that homophobic language is harmls and OK to e – and cements the assumptn that all members of the team are heterosexual. Gay players on those teams may also e the language as a shield to hi their sexualy and nform wh their team, Denison said.

“We often fd that male ach ntue to e homophobic language and teach nformy to this tough mascule athlete inty that don’t really exist, ” he said. As a child, before Davis unrstood what meant to be LGBTQ, he was already absorbg the norms beg set around him durg practice – that “beg gay those walls was unsafe, that [he] would be danger. And by the time he was an NFL locker room, he said he didn’t hear homophobic slurs beg ed, but sexist on.

THE ONLY 3 OUT, GAY NBA PLAYERS IN HISTORY

Insert someone who’s gay … and you fely want to have domn over this gay person, and you actually don’t want them your space.

HERE ARE THE 6 GAY MEN WHO HAVE BEEN OUT PUBLICLY WHILE PETG PRO BASKETBALL

Quali players necsary for succs football – domance, aggrsn and, ocsnally, vlence – are often associated wh homophobia and sexism, too.

So whether or not a male athlete actually holds sexist or homophobic views, featur of both are often baked to his sport.

JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE TO PLAY NBA, MAK U.S. SPORTS HISTORY

He beme the first openly gay player an NBA game when he was signed to a 10-game ntract wh the Brooklyn Nets Febary 2014. Almost 50 years earlier, there was Glenn Burke, a buddg Los Angel Dodgers star whose reer was cut short by homophobia the 1970s, argu Andrew Maraniss, an thor and special projects ordator wh Vanrbilt Universy Athletics, his book on Burke.

FORMER NBA, KENTUCKY PLAYER ISAAC HUMPHRI OUT AS ONLY ACTIVE GAY PLAYER TOP-TIER MEN'S BASKETBALL

When his ach found out he was gay and offered him a sizable sum to marry a woman, he refed. The next season, Burke was trad to the Oakland A’s, where a ach lled him a homophobic slur and said he would “ntamate” the team, Maraniss wrote.

“He was a phenomenal athlete at the time when majory of straight sports fans the untry assumed that there’s no way there uld even be a gay player the game, let alone the most popular player on his team, ” Maraniss said.

Denison said that progrs mt start at the youth level by curbg the e of gay slurs by ach and players and emphasizg a narrow fn of masculy.

JASON COLLS SAYS HE'S GAY

Longtime NBA referee Bill Kennedy revealed to Yahoo Sports Sunday night that he is gay, makg him the send openly gay active NBA official after Vlet Palmer's announcement 2014. He's also the third active openly gay official pro sports along wh MLB umpire Dale Stt. "I am proud to be an NBA referee and I am proud to be a gay man, " Kennedy told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night.

Source: NBA referee Bill Kennedy reveals he is gay; Rajon Rondo ma alleged homosexual slur to him - Yahoo Sports. OutSports spoke wh an openly gay high school ach for his reactn, which summed up the announcement well:. "I thk any time someone n be out at the top of their profsn 's a w, " out gay high school basketball ach Anthony Nimo told Outsports.

Source: NBA referee Bill Kennedy out as gay after Rajon Rondo lled him gay slurs - Outsports.

PRO ATHLET WHO HAVE E OUT AS GAY: SPORTS STARS WHO INTIFY AS LGBTQ

Yahoo Sports reveals that Rondo's one-game spensn was the rult of a tira that clud the Kgs guard's e of homophobic slurs towards Kennedy.

Adam Silver said 2014 that he felt the league "fell behd" on the issue, even wh Jason Colls' announcement several years ago that he was an active gay NBA player. While there may be closeted gay nba players, there have only been three openly gay players. Jason CollsCareerComg OutJon AmaechiCareer Comg Out Isaac HumphriCareerComg OutAre There Closeted Gay NBA Players?

THE NBA HAS AN OPENLY GAY PLAYER: WHAT CHANG?

One ESPN mentator, Chris Brosard, exprsed both his admiratn for Colls’ bravery and his belief that Colls uld not be both gay and christian. Tennis great Marta Navratilova, who had somewhat unbelievably e out 1981, praised Colls and exprsed her hope that this would help end homophobia team sports and lead to more players g out. Colls beme the first, and still only, active gay NBA player when he signed wh the Broolyn Nets Febary of 2014.

John Amaechi was the first gay NBA player to e out, but he did so after he had retired om the league. The difference reactn between Ameachi’s and Colls’ statements is a sign of the growth acceptance of gay people between 2007 and 2013.