"If there's a gay player the locker room, nothg happens" - Diego Schwartzman, the latt star to support the LGBTQ movement

Contents:

• THERE ARE NO PUBLICLY OUT GAY PRO MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY
• TOP NAM COME IN SUPPORT OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ON THE MEN’S TOUR
• THERE WILL BE NO OUT GAY MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AT THE U.S. OPEN, YET AGA
• "IF THERE'S A GAY PLAYER THE LOCKER ROOM, NOTHG HAPPENS" - DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN, THE LATT STAR TO SUPPORT THE LGBTQ MOVEMENT
• QUERREY: ‘THERE’S GOT TO BE SOMEONE WHO PLAYS TENNIS WHO IS GAY’
• TIMELINE: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN’S TENNIS?
• THE GAY TENNIS PLAYERS SMASHG DOWN BARRIERS AS WIMBLEDON 2023 GETS UNRWAY
• ATHLETE’S GOAL IS TO REACH THE TOP AS AN OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL TENNIS PLAYER
• TENNIS' LAST TABOO: WHY NO OPENLY GAY MALE PLAYERS?
• FRZ SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER WOULD BE ACCEPTED ON ATP TOUR
• WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN’S PROFSNAL TENNIS?

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

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.

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.

TOP NAM COME IN SUPPORT OF OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ON THE MEN’S TOUR

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 lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, queer, and other non-cisgenr or non-heterosexual (LGBTQ+) muny is prent wh sports worldwi.

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

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).

Earlier this year an terview wh UbiTennis, he relled hearg var homophobic jok on the Tour durg his time as a player. “The reason we don’t have openly gay players on the ATP Tour, I’m not sure of the reason, but I feel me, as a player, would be very open, very wele. -based group whose webse says works “to challenge homophobia, biphobia and transphobia sport and improve accs to sport for LGBT+ people.

“I don’t thk anyone’s nyg that homophobia is a problem tennis, jt like is any sport, ” Denison said. “I don’t know how many straight guys wake up, ” he said, “and, while they’re bshg their teeth, thk: ‘I wonr if gay people are all right tennis? The ATP qutnnaire clus lks to rearch om the Internatnal Olympic Commtee and the Amerin Medil Society for Sports Medice that, the survey says, “found everyone’s mental health and sport performance n be negatively impacted if a sport culture is not welg to gay and bisexual people.

"IF THERE'S A GAY PLAYER THE LOCKER ROOM, NOTHG HAPPENS" - DIEGO SCHWARTZMAN, THE LATT STAR TO SUPPORT THE LGBTQ MOVEMENT

Other topics clud what factors ntribute the most to there beg no openly gay active profsnal male tennis players, whether the rponnt agre wh the ATP’s sire “to bat homophobia sport” and whether he “would publicly support a gay or bisexual tennis player. 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. “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.

QUERREY: ‘THERE’S GOT TO BE SOMEONE WHO PLAYS TENNIS WHO IS 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. C., foced on the dividual nature of the sport when tellg Outsports why he thks gay pro tennis players stay closeted. “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.

TIMELINE: WHY ARE THERE NO OPENLY GAY PLAYERS ELE MEN’S TENNIS?

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.

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

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. 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.

Unlike several other sports, where homosexual athlet have received ser backlash and threats, tennis has been largely open and non-homophobic.

Raymond has been quoted as sayg: "I me out bee I knew that there would be life after tennis, and beg gay and playg tennis is not a big al. 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.

ATHLETE’S GOAL IS TO REACH THE TOP AS AN OPENLY GAY PROFSNAL TENNIS PLAYER

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.

Butone aspect of diversy that is yet to be seen the tennis world is an active player on the ATP tour g out as gay. After Billie Jean Kg and Marta Navratilova, several top female players have intified themselv as gay over the years. Schwartzman went on to extend the nversatn to sexual orientatn, and asserted that a fellow petor g out as gay would be a plete non-issue for him.

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

"There are also sports which they beg to wonr if there are gay players or not, and the tth is that is not unrstood, " the Argente said. 20-time Grand Slam wner Roger Ferer, wily regard as one of the greatt players of all time, had claimed back 2013 that a player g out as gay wouldn't be a big al for him personally. "I knew they weren't really gog to unrstand" - Brian Vahaly on his journey as a gay player on the ATP tour.

One player who has spoken about his first-hand experience of beg gay and petg on the ATP tour is former World No. The 41-year-old, currently a member of the USTA’s Board of Directors, is among the very few former male tennis pros who have e out as gay. But several barriers have been broken over the years thanks to the efforts of Arthur Ashe, Billie Jean Kg, the Williams sisters and many other champns, who have emerged om every nook and rner of the world to show that nothg is clive of a fellow male gay player is among the few major barriers that still hasn't been overe.

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.

FRZ SAYS OPENLY GAY PLAYER WOULD BE ACCEPTED ON ATP TOUR

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. ”Fish and Roddick are first two male tennis players to jo Athlete Ally, an anizatn dited to endg homophobia sports. “I don’t know how an openly gay male tennis player would be received but my ey nothg would change, ” Fish said.

-based group whose webse says works "to challenge homophobia, biphobia and transphobia sport and improve accs to sport for LGBT+ people. ""I don't thk anyone's nyg that homophobia is a problem tennis, jt like is any sport, " Denison is rare for male athlet on U.

"I don't know how many straight guys wake up, " he said, "and, while they're bshg their teeth, thk: ‘I wonr if gay people are all right tennis?

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

'"The ATP qutnnaire clus lks to rearch om the Internatnal Olympic Commtee and the Amerin Medil Society for Sports Medice that, the survey says, "found everyone's mental health and sport performance n be negatively impacted if a sport culture is not welg to gay and bisexual people. Please be topics clud what factors ntribute the most to there beg no openly gay active profsnal male tennis players, whether the rponnt agre wh the ATP's sire "to bat homophobia sport" and whether he "would publicly support a gay or bisexual tennis player. There are no openly gay or bisexual male players petg for the Grand Slam tle, highlightg a arth of LGBTQ+ players top-level men’s tennis that ntrasts wh their growg visibily other major sports.

Brian Vahaly, an Amerin former profsnal tennis player who me out as gay 2017, 10 years after retirg, is one of few male players to have done so. 64 said gay players may be disuraged om beg open about their sexualy due to the possible impact on “sponsors, fans, fay and iendships”. He told the Thomson Rters Foundatn “ was impossible to go a week” whout hearg homophobic language when he played the ATP Tour.

“When I was petg the mid-2000s, I would not scribe tennis as a very welg environment for gay players, ” he said, addg he was hopeful that more gay, male players at the ele level would e out as acceptance grows sport. GAY TIMES and Openly/Thomson Rters Foundatn are workg together to liver leadg LGBTQ+ news to a global dience.