Why Are There No Openly Gay Athlet In Men’s Profsnal Tennis? • Instct Magaze

Contents:

• THERE ARE NO PUBLICLY OUT GAY PRO MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY
• THERE WILL BE NO OUT GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AT THE U.S. OPEN, YET AGA
• THE GAY TENNIS PLAYERS SMASHG DOWN BARRIERS AS WIMBLEDON 2023 GETS UNRWAY
• WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN'S TENNIS?
• FRZ SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER WOULD BE ACCEPTED ON ATP TOUR
• QUERREY: ‘THERE’S GOT TO BE SOMEONE WHO PLAYS TENNIS WHO IS GAY’
• IN SEARCH OF THE ELIVE GAY OR BISEXUAL MALE TENNIS PLAYER
• WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN’S PROFSNAL TENNIS?
• TENNIS' LAST TABOO: WHY NO OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS?
• 9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY

THERE ARE NO PUBLICLY OUT GAY PRO MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY

The purpose of this list is to go a b more pth about some of the mors that are surroundg the players, not to nvce the rear that the athlet are gay. In fact, as society is now much more open to people no matter their orientatn, we have seen a ton more athlet, both active and retired, e out and adm that they are homosexuals, and 's absolutely a great thg. This list will look at some of the most high profile exampl of pro athlet who have had mors about beg gay surroundg them, but aga, none of those are nfirmed and even if they were nfirmed, they would be somethg to celebrate.

Qutns about Aikman's sexual orientatn have been around for s and the mor was started by Skip Bayls, when, his book, he stated that Troy Aikman might be gay. As a former men’s llegiate tennis player and openly gay member of my team, this qutn nagged at me as I attend the monumental first ever Pri event at the U. After all of the homophobia I have personally experienced sports, the panelists and the packed dience gave me so much hope for the future of cln sports.

The trailblazer for gay visibily on the ATP tour scribed himself durg the panel discsn as “an anx guy and an anx tennis player, ” statg that his disfort wh his sexual orientatn throughout his life was a signifint ntributor to his anxiety.

THERE WILL BE NO OUT GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AT THE U.S. OPEN, YET AGA

The days, top players Roger Ferer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray have all publicly stated that they would wele an out gay man to the ATP. While we now celebrate Kg for her acplishments as a gay rights activist, the sacrific she had to make and terrors that she endured for wantg to be her thentic self after beg outed towards the end of her profsnal tennis reer – nearly 40 years ago – are unjtifiable. Combe that wh gay and bisexual men reprentg a signifintly smaller portn of the populatn than heterosexual men, and the odds of havg one of makg through the ranks growg up and currently beg a profsnal tennis player are slim, no matter how welg players such as Ferer, Djokovic and Murray are 2019.

There uld be someone makg their way up the rankgs junrs right now, who hopefully will not be terred om tennis for beg a gay or bisexual man, who will see events such as the U. The most tellg sign of the lack of out gay men profsnal tennis is that the only player wearg any rabow apparel this summer was a straight guy who had to apologize for g gay slurs durg the Olympics. Open starts s two-week n New York, I feel pelled to rehash this prsg statistic: There will once aga be no openly gay male players at one of the sport’s premier events.

THE GAY TENNIS PLAYERS SMASHG DOWN BARRIERS AS WIMBLEDON 2023 GETS UNRWAY

“To be hont, I’m somewhat surprised that there still hasn’t been an out active ATP Tour level player, ” said Nick Lee, a former llege tennis player at Vassar who is openly gay.

The absence of out male pro tennis players is noteworthy a summer that saw the first gay NFL player and gay NHL prospect e out and a rerd number of out LGBTQ Olympians, cludg the most men ever. “There are no out gay players on the ATP tour bee most players don’t pick up a racket hop to be a role mol for an entire margalized muny, ” Bradley said. But the fear that an out player would be hound by the media has been molished by how quickly the Carl Nassib story fad after the Las Vegas Rairs fensive leman me out as gay June.

WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN'S TENNIS?

I thk “gay male pro tennis player out” would be a story that quickly fas as an obssn a culture where “breakg news” gets old really fast.

FRZ SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER WOULD BE ACCEPTED ON ATP TOUR

Wimbledon 2023 is officially unrway – weather permtg – but spe the All England Club’s all-whe le, there are a handful of out gay players offerg some val rabow LGBTQ+ reprentatn at tennis’s most prtig tournament. Sce the days of trailblazg gay Grand Slam champns Billie Jean Kg and Marta Navratilova, women’s tennis has long provid some of the biggt LGBTQ+ nam sport – and there are currently several players Women’s Tennis Associatn (WTA) tour rryg that torch for a new generatn. However, the men’s Associatn of Tennis Profsnals (ATP) isn’t currently jt laggg behd, ’s yet to even cross the startg le: There are currently no out gay players on the men’s tour and no profsnal male tennis player has e out publicly the Open Era while still playg the game.

QUERREY: ‘THERE’S GOT TO BE SOMEONE WHO PLAYS TENNIS WHO IS GAY’

Amerin former world number 57 Brian Vahaly me out publicly as gay 2017, a after retirg om the sport, and shed light on some of the barriers faced by gay male players. In 2022, men’s top 10 player and former Wimbledon quarter-falist Taylor said he believed an out gay male player would be “accepted” on the tour, but as Wimbledon rolls around for another, the wa go on.

In the meantime, here’s a n-down of the out gay women’s players to look out for the Wimbledon 2023 ma draws – as well as a few others who aren’t makg an appearance at SW19 this year, but are still reprentg for the LGBTQ+ muny on the tour. In the year sce, Kasatka has been an outspoken cric of Rsia’s vasn of Ukrae and anti-gay polil culture – even if ’s e at great personal st. I wanted to say my posn on the war and my [sexualy], which was tough, g om a untry where beg gay is not accepted, but felt like I had a backpack of ston on my shoulrs and I jt had to throw off.

While several female tennis players have e out of the closet, there is no player the ATP Top 100 sgl recent years who has nfirmed he is gay (the last one beg Amerin Brian Vahaly, who peaked at No 64 sgl 2003 but me out only after he retired om the sport).

IN SEARCH OF THE ELIVE GAY OR BISEXUAL MALE TENNIS PLAYER

While there are many out women on the women’s tour, there are currently none on the ATP Tour on the men’s si, though var former pro tennis players — most notably Brian Vahaly — have e out as gay. Earlier this year two former profsnal soccer players — Iker Casillas and Carl Puyol — joked on social media about beg gay and a relatnship, drawg some lghs but mostly srn for (or so the accatns go) mockg the g-out experience of athlet.

There are no openly gay or bisexual male players petg at Wimbledon this year, highlightg a arth of LGBTQ+ players top-level men's tennis that ntrasts wh their growg visibily other major sports. An Associatn of Tennis Profsnals (ATP) Tour survey of players 2022 found that 75% had reported havg heard other players e homophobic slurs, leadg the tour to partner wh You Can Play, an anisatn mted to furtherg LGBTQ+ cln sports. - 2017 - Brian Vahaly, an Amerin former profsnal tennis player, me out as gay, 10 years after retirg - one of few male players to have done so.

WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN’S PROFSNAL TENNIS?

64 told Openly 2022 that gay players might be disuraged om beg open about their sexualy due to the possible impact on "sponsors, fans, fay and iendships".

Dec 25 (Rters) - Taylor Frz said that if a men's player on the ATP Tour me out as gay, he would be weled by his peers, the top-ranked Amerin told tennis publitn leadg players past and prent on the WTA Tour have e out as gay, no male player petg at the sport's top level has done the same so far. "Another reason may be that those players do not want to risk beg on the receivg end of abive language or beg alienated by their ATP Tour survey of players earlier this year found that 75% had reported havg heard other players e homophobic slurs, leadg the tour to partner wh You Can Play, an anizatn mted to furtherg LGBTQ+ cln survey also dited a "strong fear of rejectn, isolatn om others on tour, and lonels" as beg likely barriers to LGBTQ+ players' publicly disclosg their sexualy to also found overwhelmg support for ATP's takg actn to bat homophobia.

Querrey: ‘There’s got to be someone who plays tennis who is gay’“Whether they are on the tour now or up and g, I’m pletelIn terviews wh USA Today, var male players say they aren’t sure what the reactn would be if a guy on tour announced he was gay.

TENNIS' LAST TABOO: WHY NO OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS?

Basketball player Jason Colls recently announced he was gay to Sports Illtrated and received support om a number of tennis players, cludg Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, and the Bryan brothers.

But, believe or not, there is at least one creature tennis which is even rarer, ed almost mythil – the openly gay or bisexual male tennis player.

9 BASEBALL PLAYERS WHO CAME OUT AS GAY

In the long history of this genteel sport, there have been only two male tennis players of note who have been lked to homo- or bi-sexualy, and both had tragic personal stori.

Now, I will preface the rt of this article by sayg that I am not an ‘sir’ on the men’s tour, and don’t know of any gay or bisexual male players (nor am I gog to play the ‘is he or isn’t he’ game of speculatn – sorry). Wh at least 72 untri around the world still crimalisg homosexualy (and some of those only crimalisg male, rather than female, same-sex sexual terurse), the threat of havg to play a untry where you are nsired a crimal mt be a relevant nsiratn. Of urse, most players set their own schl, and none of the Grand Slams or pulsory Masters tournaments are held untri where homosexualy is crimalised.

For a player to e out, a world where more than one third of untri crimalise homosexualy, means potentially makg themselv unsaleable a large number of markets. This nsiratn is even more acute when you nsir that one way which ele players le their pockets durg the off-season is to play exhibn match, creasgly staged oil-rich Middle Eastern untri (often wh their own laws agast homosexualy). Contrast this wh the reactn of one of the then youngt players on tour, the UK’s Lra Robson, who a dignified yet steadfast manner supported the ‘rabow’-loured protts 2012 followg ments by notor homophobe, and one-time tennis player, Margaret Court*.