The 2021 WNBA All-Star Game Is The Gayt Profsnal Basketball Game Ever | Autostraddle

Contents:

• WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS
• FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: SPORTS IS SO GAYBASKETBALL IS SO GAY: ARE THERE GAY PRO BASKETBALL PLAYERS?
• HERE ARE THE 6 GAY MEN WHO HAVE BEEN OUT PUBLICLY WHILE PETG PRO BASKETBALL
• THE 2021 WNBA ALL-STAR GAME IS THE GAYT PROFSNAL BASKETBALL GAME EVER
• CHARL BARKLEY FENDS LGBTQIA+ MUNY, BUD LIGHT EXPLETIVE-FILLED RANT: ‘IF YOU’RE GAY, GOD BLS YOU’
• A GAY NBA FAN FOUND 78 HOMOPHOBIC TWEETS BY 40 PLAYERS ON 23 TEAMS
• ‘I’M SENTIALLY STARTG A NEW LIFE,’ SAYS ISAAC HUMPHRI AS HE BE THE ONLY OPENLY GAY MAN PLAYG TOP-FLIGHT BASKETBALL
• BASKETBALL’S GAY PARAGON
• BEG GAY AND PLAYG BASKETBALL
• JASON COLLS SAYS HE'S GAY
• THE LIST OF GAY BASKETBALL PLAYERS NTU TO GROW WH ANOTHER G OUT
• RUDY GAY OPENS UP ABOUT BEG RACIALLY PROFILED, NBA RETURN

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

When Nashville Predators prospect Le Prokop me out this week, was the first time an active player unr ntract to an NHL team had ever publicly acknowledged they were gay. Overnight, Prokop's announcement doubled the number of out gay athlet currently playg the untry's four major men's sports — football, basketball, baseball and hockey. Though many retired former players have e out, is more unual for male profsnal athlet to say they are gay while still playg.

Gay male athlet face cultural barriers Part of the reason for the lack of out gay players men's profsnal sports uld be that there are jt fewer of them the game. Rory Magrath, a rearcher at Solent Universy England, has suggted that 's possible gay men are unrreprented profsnal sports. "Gay men are a fe rource, so they n't exist great numbers every quarter, " Magrath told "Gay men are overreprented some areas, and as a nsequence are gog to be unrreprented sports.

That uld be due to the mascule culture at the center of the major sports, experts say, creatg an environment that is ls welg to gay athlet.

FAMEWATCHER SEARCH PRIMARY MENU SKIP TO NTENT HOMECELEBRY HAIR TRANSPLANTCELEBRY PLASTIC SURGERYCELEBRY LEATHER JACKETBODY SHAPER SEARCH FOR: SPORTS IS SO GAYBASKETBALL IS SO GAY: ARE THERE GAY PRO BASKETBALL PLAYERS?

Magrath helped thor a study that found that male athlet who me out as gay while still playg sports were largely met wh acceptance by their teammat. Robbie Rogers ma history 2013 when he took the field for the Los Angel Galaxy after as the first openly gay player profsnal U. NBA player Jason Colls, who me out 2013 while he was still playg the league, later told NPR " went great" when he scribed the perd after announcg he was gay.

After Michael Sam beme the first openly gay athlete to be drafted to the NFL 2014, then-Miami Dolphs safety Don Jon tweeted "horrible, " rultg penalti and a spensn. David Kopay, a former NFL nng back who me out 1975, was unable to land a profsnal achg job after he announced publicly that he was gay.

HERE ARE THE 6 GAY MEN WHO HAVE BEEN OUT PUBLICLY WHILE PETG PRO BASKETBALL

There are key differenc the cultur of men's and women's athletics While few active players the major men's sports leagu have e out, many female profsnal athlet have said publicly that they're gay, om U. 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! 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 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.

THE 2021 WNBA ALL-STAR GAME IS THE GAYT PROFSNAL BASKETBALL GAME EVER

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.

CHARL BARKLEY FENDS LGBTQIA+ MUNY, BUD LIGHT EXPLETIVE-FILLED RANT: ‘IF YOU’RE GAY, GOD BLS YOU’

He ially feared negative stereotyp about gay male athlet but threw those ncerns asi after his two-tle performance at the U. When John Amaechi me out publicly 2007, he was ahead of his time, sharg that he’s gay and a former profsnal basketball player.

Sce Colls showed the world you uld be a gay man profsnal basketball, there has been a trickle of gay athlet to follow, most recently former NBA player and current Atralian pro basketball player Isaac Humphri. I remember how the league forced the players to takg Femy class and how they kept the spotlight on as many straight, feme players as possible… now look at this roster…filled not jt wh gay players but wh married gay players (some wh children even). For the young kids to have , and to have so many players be openly gay, and to have the WNBA jt be so eakg ol — to be such trend-setters — mak me really emotnal, hontly.

There’s even been this shift the past few years where — like, for most of the WNBA’s days, there’s been a “stigma” that everyone’s gay.

A GAY NBA FAN FOUND 78 HOMOPHOBIC TWEETS BY 40 PLAYERS ON 23 TEAMS

Heather: She also said that the lbians tried to basilly doctrate her, which was jt the wilst thg the world to me, bee most queer players at that pot were probably terrified of beg known as The Gay Player. I read an terview durg Pri wh Candace Dupree and Amanda Zahui B and Dupree was sayg two of her teammat didn’t show up for the Pri para wh the rt of the team, and they said was bee they didn’t want people to thk they were gay, and Dupree said, “First of all, you play the WNBA, so everybody already thks you’re gay.

The LGBT movement emerged as early as the 1870s, but homosexual rights groups didn't appear until after World War II September 1945. Homophobia is somethg that shouldn't have a place sports bee LGBT folks n be fans, media members, employe and executiv too.

" We, as a untry, need to une and not jt bee of the tragic gay nightclub shootg Orlando, Florida, that occurred last summer.

‘I’M SENTIALLY STARTG A NEW LIFE,’ SAYS ISAAC HUMPHRI AS HE BE THE ONLY OPENLY GAY MAN PLAYG TOP-FLIGHT BASKETBALL

His fay reportedly had mixed emotns towards the announcement, but he still changed the game, beg the first Divisn I men's basketball player to e out as gay and play gam. When then-Phoenix Suns print and CEO Rick Welts me out as gay May 2011, former NBA pot guard Steve Nash pledged his support favor of the LGBT muny.

Nash said the vio, "A growg number of profsnal athlet are speakg out support of gay and lbian upl gettg married, I'm proud to be one of them. Asi om his open support for gay rights, he also ns the Steve Nash Foundatn, which helps children who are affected by poverty, illns, abe or neglect, and creat opportuny for tn, play, and empowerment, Phoenix, Arizona, and Brish Columbia, Canada.

BASKETBALL’S GAY PARAGON

In his hman year at Villanova, he first me out as gay to his teammate and roommate Mike Villa before nfsg to his parents three months later. Last year, the NBA moved s 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carola, due to the state's law that lims anti-discrimatn protectns for lbian, gay and transgenr people. In the 2019 Women’s World Cup, there were more than 40 openly gay players and ach; however, there were no openly gay athlet or ach at the 2018 Men’s World Cup.

The imbalance remas stark throughout profsnal team sports: The WNBA is led by multiple out stars, cludg Sue Bird and Elena Delle Donne, while Jason Colls has been the only openly gay active player NBA history. Michael Sam was out to his teammat at the Universy of Missouri, and selected the 2014 NFL Draft (there were a rerd-settg eight openly gay or bi llege football players 2019). More recently, pro soccer player Coll Mart’s teammat forfeed a match after he was lled a gay slur, stg themselv a playoff berth.

A uple of months ago, three amic rearchers studied 60 g-out stori published on Outsports, and found gay male athlet are almost universally accepted by their teammat — though they’re ually aaid to e out. The ments are among 78 tweets om 36 current and active NBA players on teams that are homophobic language, nature or even tent (four other players were on a roster when the list was piled last month, but they are no longer on an NBA team). The players clu CJ McCollum, the print of the Natnal Basketball Players Assn., who tweeted “no homo, ” as well as superstar Kev Durant, who tweeted “shut up fag boy.

BEG GAY AND PLAYG BASKETBALL

“I don’t re how long ago was, shows the person’s character, my opn, ” said Derrick Gordon, who me out publicly as gay while playg basketball at UMass and who now plays profsnally Germany. The Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz each have four players on the list of NBA athlet who created anti-gay tweets, while the Chigo Bulls currently have three players who tweeted homophobic msag. Not cintally, Jason Colls beme the first active NBA player to e out as gay 2013, raisg signifint awarens of LGBTQ issu — and the prence of gay players — the NBA.

JASON COLLS SAYS HE'S GAY

“Culture as a whole has changed, ” said Anthony Nimo, a succsful high school basketball ach New York who me out publicly as gay several years ago. Colls — who played as an openly gay player the last uple regular-season months and then playoffs of the 2013-14 season — has been speakg to NBA rooki at the league’s annual symposium sce 2015.

THE LIST OF GAY BASKETBALL PLAYERS NTU TO GROW WH ANOTHER G OUT

Readg [the tweets] remd me a lot of my journal that I kept, and I stopped after two weeks, bee was jt … you hear , but you don’t really realize how much sual homophobia there was.

Speakg om my experience, there is a disnnect sometim between someone who sual homophobia, and then once you show them who you are, they will step up and have your back. One mon slur ed var tweets was “no homo, ” which me to vogue over 10 years ago as a way for a man to pliment another man whout beg taken “the wrong way.

RUDY GAY OPENS UP ABOUT BEG RACIALLY PROFILED, NBA RETURN

As a ach and tor, Nimo said he still hears “no homo” around teenagers — even beg out as a gay man — though the culture basketball has improved. The onle prence of the tweets 2022, even though wrten years ago, pots to a cultural problem wh athlet and anti-gay language. Pl Reed“Bch be gay today, bi tommorow, and pregnant sunday ha”/2014 “Why is so many niggas drs up like girls and putt on wigs tryna be funny.