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

Contents:

• TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY
• THE GAY VERSN OF SI'S SWIMSU ISSUE
• A NVERSATN WH T.J. CALLAN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF GAY BLACK MEN G OUT SPORTS
• GAY HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYER OMTED FROM TEAM’S YEARBOOK PAGE
• GAY TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OUT TO TEAM AND STARTS A GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANCE
• WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS

TOP 10 ATHLET WHO ARE RUMORED TO BE GAY

Atralian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo me out as gay an October vio posted to his social media, beg hailed as the first current male top-flight profsnal soccer player to publicly do so.

"He ntued: "Growg up I always felt the need to hi myself, you know, bee I was ashamed, and ashamed I'll never be able to do what I love and be gay. In a September terview wh USA Today, 25-year-old mor league baseball player beme the only active baseball profsnal to be out as gay! Natnal Hockey League prospect Le Prokop me out as gay July, the first active player the league to e out.

"I am proud to publicly tell everyone that I am gay, " he wrote a heartfelt msage on social media. The 28-year-old Natnal Football League player and Rairs fensive leman ma history when he me out as gay on Instagram durg Pri Month, beg the first veteran NFL player to e out as gay while signed to a regular-season ntract.

THE GAY VERSN OF SI'S SWIMSU ISSUE

I jt wanted to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay. The Bachelor star and former football player (who was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted ee agent and was on the practice squad of the Oakland Rairs and the Philalphia Eagl) me out as gay April, sayg he had fally e to terms wh his sexualy and the "next step all of this was sort of lettg people know. "He wanted everyone to know he was "still the same Colton everybody met on TV" and is "proud to be gay.

A NVERSATN WH T.J. CALLAN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF GAY BLACK MEN G OUT SPORTS

Hiltz had prevly e out as gay while llege and has been a visible and affirmg prence for gay athlet the past. Corey Walsh, the 27-year-old pro BMX rir and Vans spokperson, said he isn't normally the type of person to "let people " on his personal life, but felt was important to e out as gay a March Instagram post bee "there are a lot of people still stgglg wh the same suatns" and he "jt wanted to let people know that they are not alone. Champn long track speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy never hid beg gay om his fay, iends, and fellow athlet, but he also wasn't one to rate his locker wh rabow Pri flags eher.

He ially feared negative stereotyp about gay male athlet but threw those ncerns asi after his two-tle performance at the U. Ma Margraf, a bisexual gymnast, said she heard an anti-gay slur at BYU for the first time the summer of 2021, when she was a newly enrolled hman at the Mormon school Provo, Utah, and  a r wh two BYU baseball drove past a church where people were wavg the pri flag and holdg posters support of gay rights, acrdg to Margraf, who said the scene prompted one of the baseball players to act. I love gay people, but ’s so funny to make fun of them.

GAY HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL PLAYER OMTED FROM TEAM’S YEARBOOK PAGE

’ ”Margraf, now a 19-year-old sophomore who had e out as bisexual earlier that year, said at least one of the baseball players also ed the N-word. ”Sce the cint, Margraf said, she has heard another BYU athlete e an anti-gay slur public. BYU said s vtigatn unvered no evince rroboratg the allegatns, but about five weeks later, members of the Universy of Southern California women's soccer team ma siar than two weeks after the volleyball match, BYU stunts were among protters who yelled homophobic slurs at LGBTQ stunts durg an off-mp gatherg, acrdg to an Associated Prs report and other media outlets.

“BYU is a place where any sort of margalizatn jt gets exacerbated, ’’ said Charlie Siraga, a gay volleyball player who played at BYU om 2017 to 2019. Siraga, who after his sophomore year transferred to the Universy of California, San Diego, and has graduated, also told USA TODAY Sports, "So much of what occurs (at BYU) is jt like vert homophobia or racism. In addn to Margraf, three gay former BYU athlet spoke to USA TODAY her hman year, Margraf said, she had "full fah'' the athletic partment was tryg to foster change when held trag that addrsed cln and diversy.

But on the day the vio was rerd, Margraf said, a school official told her she uldn’t say the word “gay. "It’s te that this vio did not end up gettg posted, but was not bee of the e of the word 'gay, ' " BYU Athletics said a rpond to the dichotomy of a mp where LGBTQ romantic behavr is forbidn but Margraf was asked to rerd a vio about the clive environment at the school, sayg  a statement, "All stunts at BYU have a shared primary inty as sons and dghters of God. ”Siraga, the former BYU volleyball player, said when Olmstead objected to Stanley's cloth Olmstead also mentned cloth worn by Benjam Patch, a gay volleyball player who was an All-Amerin at BYU and graduated 2017.

GAY TEXAS HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETE OUT TO TEAM AND STARTS A GAY STRAIGHT ALLIANCE

’’ Patch said he never was subjected to homophobic behavr at BYU and thks he was protected by his star stat. None of the athlet are nfirmed to be gay or anythg like that.

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.

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

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.

In 2011, mors began swirlg that Selby was gay, or at least bi-cur.