The U.S. Open hosted s very first Pri, and out tennis player Nick Lee was there to ask: where are the other gay men?
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
- TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY
- TOP NAM COME IN SUPPORT OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ON THE MEN’S TOUR
- "IF THERE'S A GAY PLAYER THE LOCKER ROOM, NOTHG HAPPENS" - DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN, THE LATT STAR TO SUPPORT THE LGBTQ MOVEMENT
- TIMELINE: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN’S TENNIS?
- TENNIS' LAST TABOO: WHY NO OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS?
- WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN’S PROFSNAL TENNIS?
- WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN'S TENNIS?
- WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS?
THERE ARE NO PUBLICLY OUT GAY PRO MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY
* gay men tennis players *
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.
THERE WILL BE NO OUT GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AT THE U.S. OPEN, YET AGA
Gay llege tennis players offer theori as to why no ele pro players are out, wh the solo nature of the sport beg a key. * gay men tennis players *
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. To me, the fact that Vahaly was even able to make on tour as a closeted gay man the 2000s mak him que an anomaly. 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.
THE GAY TENNIS PLAYERS SMASHG DOWN BARRIERS AS WIMBLEDON 2023 GETS UNRWAY
There are a handful of out gay tennis players offerg val LGBTQ+ reprentatn at Wimbledon 2023 - but the men's game still lags behd. * gay men tennis players *
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.
TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY
Fabien Reboul and Maxence Broville l up the ter wh their kissg photos. Are they actually gay and love? * gay men tennis players *
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 lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and other non-cisgenr or non-heterosexual (LGBTQ+) muny is prent wh sports worldwi. Many well-known players are openly gay and lbian and have bee champns proudly, makg themselv known to the world.
Mart Navratilova me out as homosexual 1981, makg her one of the few tennis players to do so (Source: Getty Imag). 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.
TOP NAM COME IN SUPPORT OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ON THE MEN’S TOUR
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. “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.
"IF THERE'S A GAY PLAYER THE LOCKER ROOM, NOTHG HAPPENS" - DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN, THE LATT STAR TO SUPPORT THE LGBTQ MOVEMENT
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.
C., foced on the dividual nature of the sport when tellg Outsports why he thks gay pro tennis players stay closeted.
TIMELINE: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN’S TENNIS?
“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. 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.
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.
TENNIS' LAST TABOO: WHY NO OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS?
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.
WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN’S PROFSNAL TENNIS?
Rsian tennis star Daria Kasatka beme the hight-profile out gay tennis star on the WTA tour when she me out publicly July 2022. 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.
Schuurs me out as gay as a teenager and has stated her sire to be a role mol for young LGBTQ+ people. 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.
The other possibily that volv a big “g out” is that one of them is gay and the other is playg along or supportg him. 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.
WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN'S TENNIS?
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.
WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS?
His ex-wife has acced him of beg gay and that Dunn’s lover om llege actually lived wh them for the first few years of their marriage. 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. The sportg world hasn't been ignorant of the discsn, and many athlet the recent past have found themselv fortable enough to e out as gay or lbian.