Kirk Walker, the longtime Oregon State softball ach, is possibly the only publicly gay man achg a Divisn I sport.
Contents:
- COLLEGE BASKETBALL ACH OUT AS GAY, BEE ‘I DON’T WANT TO DIE WH THE LIE’
- HOW THIS MEN’S LLEGE BASKETBALL ACH TOLD HIS NEW TEAM HE WAS GAY
- FIVE GAY LLEGE BASKETBALL ACH SPEAK OM THE CLOSET
- MATT LYNCH IS FIRST OUT GAY HEAD ACH MEN’S LLEGE BASKETBALL
- HOMOPHOBIA IS ELEPHANT ROOM WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, GAY FAL FOUR ASSISTANT SAYS
- OPENLY GAY COLLEGE COACH MAK A LOW-PROFILE ROLE MOL
- THREAD: FIVE GAY COLLEGE BASKETBALL COACH SPEAK "FROM THE CLOSET"
COLLEGE BASKETBALL ACH OUT AS GAY, BEE ‘I DON’T WANT TO DIE WH THE LIE’
Over the past few years, has bee more and more mon for lbian and gay ach to clu the nam of spo and partners their bs. Dr. Pat Griff, profsor emera of tn at Universy of Massachetts Amherst and longtime advote for equaly sports, scrib as a sea change, notg that today’s athlet and ach are g out to a much more supportive environment than existed 20 years ago. * gay college basketball coaches *
I don’t know if I will be able to get another llege basketball job as an openly gay ach, but I refe to take any job where I am not my thentic self. “Havg to ‘e out’ n sometim be a daily occurrence, ” said Lynch, who had been publicly out as a gay basketball ach sce April 2020. I uld jt wa and let them fd out on their own, but beg gay and sports, bed wh my own personaly, sometim n take a while to get the pot across.
HOW THIS MEN’S LLEGE BASKETBALL ACH TOLD HIS NEW TEAM HE WAS GAY
And wh that Lynch, 30, began his new job as assistant ach at Divisn II Chowan and head ach of the velopment team, makg him the only publicly out gay men’s basketball ach the NCAA (Layne Ingram, who is transgenr, starts his third season as ach of the Lansg Communy College women’s team Michigan). When Lynch told him he was gay at a Carola Ale Hoe 2019, Burke nonchalantly told him that nothg would shake their iendship. Turner ed a ntroversy the 2019 NCAA tournament by g “queen” towards an opponent, a ment that was sexist and homophobic and sparked a backlash.
Late Saturday night at the Men's Fal Four, hours after the natnal semifals, I was at Metro, a gay bar Indianapolis, wh gay high school basketball ach Anthony Nimo and UMass guard Derrick Gordon. While sports enti and rporatns were quick to lash out at the state hostg the Fal Four, they have been perennially silent about the tac and overt discrimatn beg levied agast gay people basketball on a daily basis. Yet they say that lie has been mandated by ach, admistrators and school polici that at bt turn a bld eye to homophobia and at worst promote .
FIVE GAY LLEGE BASKETBALL ACH SPEAK OM THE CLOSET
2 school he was prented wh a choice: If he wanted the job, he had to sign a ‘liftyle ntract' sayg he was agast homosexualy.
The school is eply mted to s versn of Christiany - Even as gay rights are expandg rapidly across the untry, this school is beg more outwardly anti-gay. All told, Michael said he knows about a dozen gay llege basketball ach all livg by the same mantra for the same reason: job secury.
He was gettg ready for a night on the town when some of the ach ma terrible ments about gay people and the very gay bars they had no ia Pl was head to. One particular assistant mak anti-gay ments and gay slurs on a regular basis, even on the bench the middle of gam.
MATT LYNCH IS FIRST OUT GAY HEAD ACH MEN’S LLEGE BASKETBALL
What had driven Jim to the rock bottom was a team atmosphere built around years of anti-gay ments by ach and team members. Far beyond overt heterosexism, his team - as wh so many others - were engaged homophobia so rampant that drove him to that brk of suici.
Some of the men who had ma the most homophobic ments and were the most boistero about their homophobia were the most apologetic for havg led to an uneasy environment for Jim.
HOMOPHOBIA IS ELEPHANT ROOM WOMEN’S BASKETBALL, GAY FAL FOUR ASSISTANT SAYS
It the form of talkg about women or sexual nquts, tryg to set each other up wh women they know si or outsi of basketball - nversatns which the closeted gay men have no abily to engage. His achg staff and about half of the players on the team this past year knew he's gay, though Jim keeps most of the tails of his personal life private. 1 program - he has explored iendships the gay muny all the while keepg his achg aterny far away om his personal life.
OPENLY GAY COLLEGE COACH MAK A LOW-PROFILE ROLE MOL
While he said his head ach is "empathetic" about his suatn, sce their nversatn he has heard the ach e gay slurs and mean gay people while he has been wh recs. Jt as his own head ach has engaged homophobic banter wh recs, other ach will jump at the chance to brand his team "the gay team" to drive away talent. It's gog to take some head ach and admistrators proactively hirg people who are gay before people start to realize 's OK.
And she said that om her personal experienc, she believ somewhere over 50% of female llege basketball ach are gay. Two male iends of his had cid to get hched, somethg not long ago thought to be as impossible as havg a gay llege basketball ach. "When I get to be around the gay muny and my iends, and when I'm home wh my iends, that feelg is jt beg way more important to me than holdg onto this job.
Sce g out as gay an Outsports article 2020, Lynch has ached the past two seasons as an assistant at Chowan Universy, an NCAA Divisn II program North Carola, where he ach unr his bt iend, Rob Burke. Lynch me out publicly as gay at the start of the panmic after jt losg his job at the Universy of North Carola Wilmgton when the staff was fired. Lynch’s hire is historic that he’s believed to be the first out gay male to be hired as the head ach of a men’s llege basketball team at any level.
THREAD: FIVE GAY COLLEGE BASKETBALL COACH SPEAK "FROM THE CLOSET"
Derek Schell, Hillsdale When Schell me out as an NCAA Divisn II gay athlete 2013, he did so at a Michigan school that’s still on the Camp Pri Worst List for LGBTQ stunts. Jason Jaralo, Sarah Lawrence and ClarkThe longtime lear the Natnal Gay Basketball Associatn has also been a women’s basketball assistant ach for Sarah Lawrence College New York.
An openly gay assistant women’s basketball ach at the Universy of South Carola says homophobia is one reason the number of female ach women’s llege sports is clg.
The arrt me jt six weeks after Huggs ed an anti-gay slur a rad terview, which rulted a three-game spensn and a $1 ln salary rctn. "Regardls of the su's oute, the se has stirred lgerg qutns about homophobia llege athletics and the specific challeng lbian ach face. "There is still a lot of fear out there among lbian ach about g out and sufferg profsnal nsequenc as a rult, " said Pat Griff, a Massachetts Amherst profsor who has studied and wrten about homophobia and sports.