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

Contents:

• GAY ATHLET ARE MAKG HISTORY AT THE 2018 WTER OLYMPICS
• ‘ABOUT TIME': GAY ATHLET UNLEASH RABOW WAVE ON OLYMPICS
• Q: WHY DO GAY MEN LOVE THE OLYMPICS? A: ISN’T IT OBV?
• WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS

GAY ATHLET ARE MAKG HISTORY AT THE 2018 WTER OLYMPICS

At least 186 publicly out gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, queer and nonbary athlet were Tokyo for the Summer Olympic Gam, more than triple the number who participated at the 2016 R Gam.

“Competg at the Olympics as an openly gay athlete is pretty amazg, ” Canadian swimmer Mark Thormeyer told Outsports. Thormeyer was not out when he peted at the 2016 R Olympics and me out publicly as gay a 2020 say for Outsports. Elissa Alarie (Canada)#Brt Benn (Canada)#Kelly Brazier (New Zealand)Gayle Broughton (New Zealand)#Isadora Cello (Brazil) Lren Doyle (USA)#Mara Fravanti (Brazil)#Megan Jon (Bra)Alev Kelter (USA)Ghislae Landry (Canada)#Kaili Lan (Canada)#Celia Quansah (Bra)Kristen Thomas (USA)Ruby Tui (New Zealand)#Sharni Williams (Atralia)Portia Woodman (New Zealand).

‘ABOUT TIME': GAY ATHLET UNLEASH RABOW WAVE ON OLYMPICS

When, still damp om the pool after wng his long-awaed gold medal, Brish diver Tom Daley clared his pri at beg a gay man and also an Olympic champn, there were tears and full hearts across the while there was ltle shock – Daley has been a vol advote of LGBTQ+ rights for years – there was a joy and ease to his pronouncement that was new. Photograph: WPA/Getty Imag“When I heard – I’m gog to get emotnal here – when I heard Tom Daley talk the prs nference about beg a proud gay man, and an Olympic gold medalist, I jt thought: y, absolutely y. Photograph: Noah Graham/NBAE/Getty ImagWomen outnumber men on the list of out gay athlet by about an 8-1 marg, wh women’s football alone acuntg for more than 40 out players.

Other gay male petors clu the New Zealand diver Anton Down-Jenks, the equtrians Edward Gal and Hans Peter Mrhoud om the Netherlands and the US x Julian the openg ceremony, the US basketball star Sue Bird, engaged to footballg legend Megan Rapoe, beamed as she bore the US flag. Ziegler rells a gay footballer tellg him about speakg to the cur Iranian football team about his sexualy, bee their untry homosexualy was illegal and punishable by ath.

”While Daley’s post-swim terview was voured by an overwhelmgly supportive public, other athlet risk their liv to be publicly out at the the Polish rower Katarzyna Zillmann won silver the quadple sculls she thanked her girliend, explag that she wanted to e her platform to help the LGBTQ+ muny Poland where there has been a risg wave of homophobia. The Tongan swimmer Ami Fonua is openly gay and a natnal hero a untry were homosexualy is illegal, punishable by up to 10 years prison. To improve LGBTQ reprentatn profsnal sports, Schweighofer and Denison said, ach and lears youth sports should set a precent that homophobic language and discrimatn are unacceptable.

Q: WHY DO GAY MEN LOVE THE OLYMPICS? A: ISN’T IT OBV?

Sometim the Gam have taken place untri where homosexualy is not wily accepted or where legislatn impacts LGBTQ rints.

Denison’s rearch fds that most LGBTQ athlet leave their sports as young people, a parture driven by a culture of homophobic language and stereotyp. Daley has said that while he’s accepted his sport of divg, he often pet agast divers om untri where beg gay is crimalized.

And Rapoe 2018 said that, as a kid, she “would have loved to have more rmatn” about what meant to be gay and why g homophobic slurs was wrong.

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

“Anytime you hear somebody say, ‘Oh, that’s gay,’ or whatever, those thgs matter,” said Rapoe, who didn’t e out to her teammat until llege.

Homophobic slurs ntue to be prevalent sports – a 2020 study om Out on the Fields, which studi LGBTQ cln sports, found that more than 80% of gay participants had heard them ed while playg.