Beyond 'Gay Tennis': On Orlando and the GLTA |

Contents:

• THERE ARE NO PUBLICLY OUT GAY PRO MALE TENNIS PLAYERS AND NOBODY REALLY KNOWS WHY
• WHAT DO MEAN TO BE AN OPENLY GAY ATHLETE?
• BEYOND 'GAY TENNIS': ON ORLANDO AND THE GLTA
• SUP? LOOKG? PARTY? A GUI TO GAY APP LGO
• IS YOUR CHILD GAY?

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

Who do you thk is a gay male tennis player currently playg the ATP? 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. As a former llegiate tennis player and gay man, this event stck a particularly sensive chord for me.

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. 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. Statistilly speakg, there mt be a man the top 100, 200, 500 or even 1, 000 who is gay, right?

WHAT DO MEAN TO BE AN OPENLY GAY ATHLETE?

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.

As Rippon highlighted, g out and beg labeled as “that gay athlete” is not easy to al wh. She posted this picture for the NOH8 (No Hate) Campaign March and has clud the word "equaly" her Twter b almost sce the day she joed the medium December on Wednday night, the dience of people the know grew exponentially when released a vio which Grer mak a sual reference to beg "open" while answerg a qutn about gay athlet sports. Her ments beme an immediate news story, spreadg and beg lked to across the Inter and amed as a kd of g out by of which begs the qutn: What exactly do mean to be an openly gay athlete?

In fact, a few hours before Grer was drafted by the Phoenix Mercury on Monday, the 6-foot-8 center spoke ndidly to USA Today about her sexualy and the bullyg she endured when she was USA Today didn't ame as a g-out story -- the headle was "WNBA's Grer ready to evoke change, tt NBA waters" -- so the article didn't bee a separate news about that for a moment, bee there are lsons to be learned here when to changg the dialogue around gay athlet Colas said Grer never planned on a g-out announcement once she left Baylor bee she believed that livg openly and answerg qutns hontly would, self, rerce her tth.

BEYOND 'GAY TENNIS': ON ORLANDO AND THE GLTA

(Keep md that Baylor is not exactly a gay-iendly stutn. The school has stunt polici agast homosexualy, and universy print Ken Starr was the legal mastermd behd California's Prop 8, the ballot iative that overturned gay marriage.

SUP? LOOKG? PARTY? A GUI TO GAY APP LGO

"The thg is, gay people often feel like we're g out over and over aga, long after the first time we acknowledge to ourselv and to other people that we're gay. She will also be asked to weigh on most gay issu om now until gay issu stop beg a thg all openly gay athlet mt weigh do gay athlet need to acknowledge their sexual inty to a news anizatn to officially be nsired gay? Bee -- and here's another news flash -- there are plenty of gay athlet who live their liv openly on a daily basis.

They jt haven't said on mera or held a news nference to announce, as the number of openly gay athlet grows, and as more are willg to acknowledge their sexual inty wh the same sense of ease that Grer do, the more they will all help create an acceptg environment. " wrten sarstic font) and splashy headl that still acpany the n bet other gay athlet are watchg the nversatn around Grer and weighg the posiv agast the negativ cidg about their own potential g recent months, all ey have been turned to the NFL, thanks to stori that a gay player -- or group of players -- will soon step forward publicly.

As Grer learned this week, we haven't yet reached the pot where livg your life openly as a gay athlete spar you the headl. 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.

IS YOUR CHILD GAY?

Tennis is arguably one of the world’s most gay-iendly sports. Many former champns are openly gay, and those clu the greatt of champns.