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

Contents:

• WHY THE FIRST GAY OLYMPICS WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT SPORTS
• A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS
• GAY ATHLET ARE MAKG HISTORY AT THE 2018 WTER OLYMPICS
• OPENLY GAY FIGURE SKATER MAK U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM AND HISTORY
• WTER OLYMPICS: THREE OPENLY GAY MEN PETE FOR A SPOT ON U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM
• WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS
• ADAM RIPPON MA HISTORY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY AMERIN MAN TO W AT THE WTER OLYMPICS
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS OPENLY GAY: I WANT TO LIVE AND NOT BE AAID
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

WHY THE FIRST GAY OLYMPICS WAS A WATERSHED MOMENT SPORTS

After g out as gay an Instagram post 2020, Bank hop to show younger athlet “that they n be whomever they are, or want to be, whout discrimatn. Radford ma history as the first petive figure skater to e out as gay while still petg for champnship tl 2014, pavg the way for future LGBTQ+ athlet to e out. Brish diver Tom Daley won gold the men’s synchronized 10 meter platform and said he felt “credibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champn” after not believg he uld “achieve anythg bee of who” he was as a child.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF OPENLY GAY OLYMPIANS

The Internatnal Olympic Commtee said was vtigatg gay Team USA shot put silver medallist Raven Snrs after she raised her hands a cross on the podium, a gture she said was a “shout out” to Black people, the LGBTQ+ muny and all people alg wh mental health. Many untri participatg crimalize homosexualy and beg transgenr—some wh the ath penalty or rporal punishment—and few perm same-sex marriage or allow people to legally change their genr.

GAY ATHLET ARE MAKG HISTORY AT THE 2018 WTER OLYMPICS

Tongan swimmer Ami Fonua, for example, is openly gay and reprents a untry where homosexualy n be punishable by a 10 year prison sentence.

OPENLY GAY FIGURE SKATER MAK U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM AND HISTORY

While Qatari officials have sisted everyone is wele, the cisn for Qatar to host was cricized by rights groups and there were lls 2010 for then-FIFA boss Sepp Blatter to rign after he joked that gay fans and players should jt “rea” om sex durg the tournament. Tom Daley and his divg partner, Matty Lee, brought home a gold medal for Team Great Bra Monday on the synchronized 10-meter platform dive, and the victory was pecially meangful for Daley his send Olympics as an openly gay man.Daley me out a YouTube vio 2013 shortly after he began datg his now-hband, Dt Lance Black. Acrdg to Outsports, there are 168 openly LGBTQ+ athlet petg at the Tokyo Gam, which is triple the then-rerd total om the 2016 Olympics (56)."I feel credibly proud to say that I’m a gay man and also an Olympic champn," Daley said via the Olympic News Service after wng gold.

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. 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).

LGBTQ+ reprentatn overall at the year’s Olympic Gam more than doubl that of the 2018 Wter Gam, wh at least 35 openly gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, queer, pansexual and nonbary petors. A total of 186 publicly out gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr, queer and nonbary athlet participated the Tokyo Gam, acrdg to Not only was that the most at any Olympics ever, but was also more than triple the number of LGBTQ athlet at the 2016 R Gam.

WTER OLYMPICS: THREE OPENLY GAY MEN PETE FOR A SPOT ON U.S. OLYMPIC TEAM

The 27-year-old Cizeron, who is gay, and 26-year-old Papadakis have formed a domant partnership, pturg four World Champnship tl, five European Champnship tl and seven natnal tl.

Radford and partner Meagan Duhamel skated to a first-place fish the team event, makg Radford the first openly gay man to w gold at a Wter Olympics. Peltzer ran at the 1928 Amsterdam and 1932 Los Angel Olympics before he was arrted and imprisoned by the Nazis for his homosexualy 1935.

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

It wasn’t until the 2018 Gam when Team USA featured s first openly gay Wter Olympians, as figure skater Adam Rippon, ekier G Kenworthy and speed skater Brtany Bowe peted PyeongChang. Sger Ta Turner was the ma draw at the openg ceremony San Francis for the first Gay Gam 1982, but cy supervisor Doris Ward may have received the biggt reactn om the crowd.

You uld have an Olympics for anythg, ” says Shamey Cramer, a swimmer who -led Team Los Angel the first Gam, “but heaven forbid you should be gay or lbian.

Succeed blockg the official e of the term "Olympic, " but the lawsu galvanized support for the Gam, pecially among the gay muny.

ADAM RIPPON MA HISTORY AS THE FIRST OPENLY GAY AMERIN MAN TO W AT THE WTER OLYMPICS

Olympian Helps Organize Gay GamAthlet wave to the crowd at the 1994 Gay Gam New openg ceremony at the 1994 Gay Gam New skatg petors at the 1994 Gay Gam New closg ceremony for the 1994 Gay Gam New York was held at Yankee men's softball fal at the 1994 Gay Gam was held Central Gay Gam clu a body-buildg the 2002 Gay Gam Sydney, Atralia, nners ngratulate each other at the 5, 000-meter fal. Like many other LGBT athlet, Wadll wanted to make a siar, powerful statement wh an event for gay MORE: 8 Memorable Protts by Amerin Athlet “You were eher a drag queen or the leather muny—those were the stereotyp that were prented to the public at that time, ” says Rick Thoman, a track and field athlete who peted the first Gay Gam. Still, many outlets for gay athlet, namely bowlg and billiards leagu, were still tied to the bars that had served as safe harbors for s.

“The Gam offer another place to ‘e out’ bis a dark bar, ” Jill Ramsay, the chair of swimmg and divg at the first Gam, told the Bay Area Reporter, one of the natn's first gay newspapers,  1982. READ MORE: Harvey Milk, in the gay munyLike the mpaigns of gay polician Harvey Milk, a well-known muny anizer, the first Gay Gam were a grassroots project.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS OPENLY GAY: I WANT TO LIVE AND NOT BE AAID

How the First Gam Play OutAnnie Wells/Los Angel Tim via Getty ImagShamey Cramer was stmental anizg Gay Gam followg the gural event Gay Gam I, teams were anized by cy, each signg their own uniforms. Charlie Carson, a swimmer who traveled to om New York for Gay Gam I 1982, rells meetg a young swimmer om Atralia who had never peted agast others.

READ MORE: Explore history of the LGBTQ movement AmeriIn addn to boxg, basketball, swimmg and a number of other tradnal Olympic sports, the Gay Gam featured billiards, bowlg and a physique petn held at the historic Castro Theater. Pneerg a New TradnPasl Ron/ALLSPORTGreg Louganis, one of the bt divers Olympic history, publicly revealed he was gay at the Gay Gam to the efforts of Cramer, Hahn, Carson, Thoman and many others, the Gay Gam have taken place every four years sce 1982, wh recent edns drawg parable numbers of athlet to the Olympics and Paralympics.

“People went back to their muni, and gay sports jt me out of the woodwork, ” says Thoman, who is still a member of a track club that formed the wake of the Gam. 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.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH AND NDNG ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

"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?