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:
- A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS
- CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY N.F.L. PLAYER, HAS BEEN A FOOTBALL EVERYMAN
- JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE TO PLAY NBA, MAK U.S. SPORTS HISTORY
- NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS
- JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS
- KEV MAXEN, JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH, OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE ACH NFL
- ADAM RIPPON IS U.S.'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN TO QUALIFY FOR WTER OLYMPICS
- KEV MAXEN BE THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE COACH THE NFL
- KEV MAXEN BREAKS BARRIERS AS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE PROFSNAL COACH MAJOR U.S. SPORTS
- JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
- JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS
- ROBBIE ROGERS TAK FIELD AS 1ST OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYER U.S. PRO SPORTS MATCH
- WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS
- GIANT MURAL ON NORWICH PUB HONOURS JT FASHANU, ENGLAND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER
A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS
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. * first openly gay male athlete *
Figure skater Adam Rippon will be one of two openly gay Amerins petg the 2018 Wter Olympics, a first for the U. But there’s one thg Rippon won’t be hidg – this year, he and etyle skier G Kenworthy will bee the first openly gay Amerin men to ever pete the Wter Olympics.
Even so, the last time that the Uned Stat sent an openly gay man to any Olympic Gam was 2004, when equtrians Guenter Seil and Robert Dover won bronze team drsage. It was Dover’s sixth time reprentg the Uned Stat at the Olympics; durg his send Gam, 1988, Dover me out, beg the first openly gay athlete to pete the morn Olympics. "I wish that all gay athlet would e out all discipl – football, baseball, the Olympics, whatever, " Dover has said.
CARL NASSIB, THE FIRST OPENLY GAY N.F.L. PLAYER, HAS BEEN A FOOTBALL EVERYMAN
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. * first openly gay male athlete *
Ined, by the time Dover me out on the ternatnal stage, was clear that gay athlet were petg and wng all levels of profsnal sports. ) And 1982, former Olympian Tom Wadll – who would die om AIDS at the height of the epimic five years later – helped found the first Gay Gam for LGBT athlet.
JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE TO PLAY NBA, MAK U.S. SPORTS HISTORY
Kev Maxen, an assistant strength and ndng ach for the Jaguars, publicly me out as gay Thursday, makg him the first known openly gay male ach the league. * first openly gay male athlete *
Curry acknowledged that the mors about his sexualy were te, but when journalists asked prient qutns betrayg the era’s misnceptns about homosexualy and masculy, Curry fought back: “I don’t thk I lack virily, and what other people thk of me don’t matter, ” he said.
There, a fiery, unflchg athletic spectacle, Curry abandoned his ual lively route of skips and hops for a stern technil masterpiece, makg him the first openly gay athlete to perform on the Olympic stage. LGBT journalists and historians, cludg Zeigler and Tony Scupham-Bilton, have talogued the many Olympians who were homosexual but peted a time before beg “out” was safe and acceptable.
NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS
Jacksonville Jaguars’ assistant ach Kev Maxen has ma history by beg the first male ach profsnal sports the U.S. to publicly e out as gay. * first openly gay male athlete *
German nner Otto Peltzer, for stance, peted the 1928 and 1932 Olympics, but was arrted by the Nazis 1934 for his homosexualy and was later sent to the ncentratn mps. Louganis was long mored to be gay, but didn’t e out publicly until the openg ceremoni of the 1994 Gay Gam: "Wele to the Gay Gam, ” Louganis said to the crowd.
Though the early history of openly gay Olympians is dotted wh male athlet, openly gay women have quietly gaed prevalence recent petns.
JAGUARS’ KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY US MEN’S PRO SPORTS
The Uned Stat has never sent an openly gay male athlete to the Wter Olympics. In Pyeongchang this year, Team USA may have two. * first openly gay male athlete *
At the 2008 Summer Olympics Beijg, 11 openly gay athlet peted, only one of whom – Atralian diver Matthew Mcham, who won gold and is a vol LGBT activist – was a man.
All six openly gay athlet at the 2010 Wter Olympics Vanuver were women, as were all seven of the openly gay athlet at the 2014 Wter Olympics Sochi.
KEV MAXEN, JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH, OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE ACH NFL
Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has publicly e out as gay, makg him the first openly gay male ach the NFL and all of… * first openly gay male athlete *
Both of the terveng Summer Olympics saw a greater turnout of openly gay athlet, but women still held the large majory. Wh this year’s Wter Gam Pyeongchang, Rippon and Kenworthy are the first openly gay Amerin men to pete the Olympics sce the legaly of same-sex marriage was tablished throughout the Uned Stat 2015, and the cultural shift is apparent. The summer before hostg the Wter Olympics, what many saw as an afont to gay rights activism, the Rsian ernment passed a law prohibg the promotn of “nontradnal” sexual relatnships to mors.
The Uned Stat ed the Olympic platform as an opportuny for subtle prott, cludg proment gay athlet Brian Boano, Billie Jean Kg and Cal Cahow s Olympic legatn, and protts were staged across the world. Rippon recently ma headl when he refed an offer to meet wh Vice Print Mike Pence due to disagreements wh his stanc on LGBT rights – which clu past statements that appear to support fundg gay nversn therapy. He om a football fay, was a standout at Penn State and has tght his teammat about personal Miller/Getty ImagPublished June 22, 2021Updated June 25, 2021Las Vegas Rairs fensive leman Carl Nassib walked outsi his home Wt Chter, Pa., looked directly to his phone and did somethg that he said he hoped would one day no longer be a few brief sentenc, the 28-year-old Nassib me out as gay.
ADAM RIPPON IS U.S.'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MAN TO QUALIFY FOR WTER OLYMPICS
Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen ma history by beg the first openly gay male profsnal ach major U.S. sports. Maxen's announcement has been met wh support and… * first openly gay male athlete *
L., his ach and his peers the league for their rpect and acceptance, and acknowledged that many gay people before him did not receive that same support. In 1976, Wadll and his partner Charl Deaton are the first gay men to be featured the "Coupl" sectn of People magaze. Gallagher says that before his suici attempt, he had bee unable to rencile his image of himself as an athlete wh gay urg.
KEV MAXEN BE THE FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE COACH THE NFL
Kev Maxen is now the first openly gay male ach the NFL. * first openly gay male athlete *
Bce Hay, an Olympic swimmer who won a gold medal 1984 as a member of the 800-meter etyle relay, out publicly at the Gay Gam and ws seven gold medals petn. Roy Simmons, an offensive guard for the New York Giants and the Washgton Redsks om 1979-83, reveals he is gay durg an appearance on The Phil Donahue Show.
KEV MAXEN BREAKS BARRIERS AS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE PROFSNAL COACH MAJOR U.S. SPORTS
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 * first openly gay male athlete *
Durg the same terview which he adms his homosexualy, Burke says he believ he was trad om the Dodgers bee management spected his was gay. Rudy Galdo, the natnal men's skatg champn, discs beg a gay man the book Insi Edge: A Revealg Journey Into the Secret World of Figure Skatg.
JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
Robbie Rogers was troduced as a member of the Los Angel Galaxy on Saturday, makg him the first openly gay male athlete to pete Major League Soccer. * first openly gay male athlete *
Greg Louganis, a special Goodwill Gam edn of New York 1 News' nightly sports program, says that several athlet profsnal team sports have asked him for advice about gog public wh their homosexualy.
Brian Orser, former world figure skatg champn and two-time Canadian Olympic silver medalist, is revealed November as gay an palimony su filed by an ex-boyiend.
In an affadav which he argued to keep the su's documents sealed, Orser says, "Other skaters, both Canadian and Amerin, guard their gayns closely bee of the likely impact of public disclosure on their reers.
JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS' KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE COACH TO COME OUT AS GAY MAJOR U.S. SPORTS
* first openly gay male athlete *
On Febary 23, 2014, Brooklyn Nets center Jason Colls be the first openly gay athlete to play a game the Uned Stat’ four major profsnal leagu.
The 35-year-old journeyman plays 10 srels mut, rerdg two rebounds and five fouls the Nets’ 108-102 victory over the Los Angel May 2013, Colls revealed he is gay a first-person say Sports Illtrated.
ROBBIE ROGERS TAK FIELD AS 1ST OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYER U.S. PRO SPORTS MATCH
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.
WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS
"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?
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.
GIANT MURAL ON NORWICH PUB HONOURS JT FASHANU, ENGLAND'S FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER
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. 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. 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.".