UMass' Derrick Gordon: First Openly Gay NCAA Men's Basketball Player | Time

derrick gordon gay

The UMass guard be Divisn I's first active, openly gay player.

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OPENLY GAY PLAYER DERRICK GORDON TRANSFERRG OM UMASS

A work of mentors helped UMass starter Derrick Gordon his journey to beg the first openly gay male player Divisn I basketball. * derrick gordon gay *

Beg an out gay man hasn’t held back Derrick Gordon’s basketball reer. Gordon playg there reaffirmed the notn you n be an out gay man and play ele team sports.

For the first time this year, each of Ameri’s five big sports currently has an out gay man. Gordon ma history himself seven years ago, when he beme the first ever active out gay player Divisn 1 basketball. After a year of isolatn, gay UMass basketball player Derrick Gordon disvered the strength to share his tth wh fay and teammat.

Last Wednday, at the requt of redshirt sophomore shootg guard Derrick Gordon, Universy of Massachetts men’s basketball head ach Derek Kellogg lled a team meetg.

GAY LLEGE BASKETBALL STAR DERRICK GORDON DATG CSI ACTOR GERALD MCCULLOUCH

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Two weeks after his team’s upset loss to Tennsee the NCAA tournament, Gordon had a secret he wanted to share wh them, one that a week’s time he would share wh the world: He’s gay. “I jt wanted you all to know, ” Kellogg said, “I’m gay. But the last month, spendg time wh other gay people sports, somethg different had sudnly driven him to share his secret: Hope.

DERRICK GORDON BE FIRST OPENLY GAY DIVISN I BASKETBALL PLAYER

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That was all nearly railed when Gordon’s then-boyiend last summer posted a photograph on Instagram of the two of them ont of a gay bar on the New Jersey ast. Gordon was wary of the post but figured there was ltle chance someone would stumble across the photo on a random Instagram acunt and intify him and said gay bar. Wh hours, some of his teammat asked him if he were gay.

The “gay” label lgered.

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” Darryl hasn’t seen his brother play basketball sce his sophomore year high school. “I was jt aaid that if I was to go to a party or a gay club Boston, someone might spot me. Gordon did feel safe New York Cy, where he would venture out to gay clubs.

He spent this past New Year’s Eve the gay clubs of Manhattan – gettg no sleep and takg two tras to get there – simply to be an environment where he felt he uld be himself, anonymoly. A uple tim the last year someone did regnize him a gay bar, drivg him eper to the closet and prsn. The first cracks the straight faça me last year when a mutual iend troduced Gordon to Davis, a gay former NFL Player and You Can Play project executive director.

NCAA PLAYER DERRICK GORDON OUT AS GAY

Universy of Massachetts guard Derrick Gordon announced this week that he is gay, makg him the first active male athlete all of D-1 to publicly e out * derrick gordon gay *

I don’t thk he had that on his team, and he hadn’t met other gay mal whom he uld nnect wh.

GAY LLEGE PLAYER DERRICK GORDON THRIVG AFTER G OUT OFFSEASON

The first openly gay Divisn I men's basketball player was embraced by fay and teammat after g out at UMass. But after transferrg to Seton Hall, he walked away om the attentn. * derrick gordon gay *

In that time he has gotten a unique glimpse to the liv of gay men sports who are livg life openly. Jog them were former ESPN rad host Jared Max and Snrs High School basketball ach Anthony Nimo, who had e out as gay himself a year earlier. Sudnly Gordon found himself surround by openly gay men var rners of sports, all of whom were publicly out.

UMASS GUARD DERRICK GORDON COM OUT AS GAY

The openly gay former UMass guard, who'll play at Seton Hall, says he saw what he believ was homophobia while nsirg other schools. * derrick gordon gay *

While Gordon said he had read about gay athlet on Outsports for years, meetg the people – talkg wh them and lghg wh them over the last month – has been a revelatn.

As soon as he arrived at his parents’ home om Philalphia the eveng of Sunday, March 30, he told his fay that he’s gay. “Mom says I had gay tennci growg up. Last Wednday, after ach Kellogg broke the ice wh the team, Gordon stood before them and revealed that he’s gay.

HOW ONE GAY ATHLETE'S COMG OUT LED TO AN ACTIVISTS' WAR

While had been easy for some of the young men to tease someone they thought was gay – and someone who nied – the impact of their actns h home when Gordon revealed the speculatn was te, and that the teasg nearly drove him om the team. They didn’t know how to talk wh Gordon about their assumptn that he was gay, so they relied on locker room teasg. Dancg at Indtry, a gay bar Hell’s Kchen, Saturday well past midnight, Gordon said he had found somethg scribable.

They should return three starters pl key rerve Trey Davis, a sophomore.

UMASS' DERRICK GORDON SAYS HE'S GAY

Off the urt, Gordon feels he now has a rponsibily to other young gay athlet. One of the areas he is takg aim at is stereotyp often saddled on gay men. “People thk gay men are soft, ” Gordon said.

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NCAA player Derrick Gordon out as gay .

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