Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Protesters who stood behind the jubilant crowds of Friday’s Brown Bag Drag held signs, captured by photographer Collin Johnson, with messages such as “Fags are Lawless” and “Gay Hawk” in bold letters. Draped on one man’s right side was an American flag.
Whether one thinks the protesters might have a worthy argument, or thinks that they are compiled of mostly irrational bigots, the fact is that gays and lesbians are still widely viewed as unequal to heterosexuals. And nowhere is this struggle more hidden and pervasive than in the world of sports.
Ohio State football coach Jim Tressel knew this and took a stand.
Tressel, who tightly knots his tie under a sweater vest for every game, is heterosexual and as conservative as they come. Fresh off a Rose Bowl victory against Oregon, he took some time out of his recruiting process to pioneer change. Last month Tressel conducted the first published interview between a Division-I football head coach and a gay/lesbian magazine, Outlook: Columbus.
The words from “The Vest,” as Tressel is called, speak for themselves.
“When I think of the diversity we’ve had on our team the past few years, it goes way beyond just a racial, sexual or ethnic mix. We’ve had players who had different religions, players who came from different economic backgrounds, players who are parents, who are spouses, who are caring for ailing parents, who are wheelchair-bound, who are battling cancer, and on and on,” Tressel said. “Whatever a young man feels called to express, I hope we will help him do it in a supportive environment. Everybody is important, and maturity is learning to find and appreciate those differences in others.”
Tressel’s message is the most recent in a thin yet profound chain of recognition for gay history in sports.
In the ’80s, we saw tennis star and proud lesbian Martina Navratilova come out of the closet and encourage other athletes to do the same.
In February of 2007, John Amaechi became the first former professional basketball player to openly distinguish himself as gay. He later wrote the book “Man in the Middle,” explaining his life story and how he initially concealed his sexual preferences in the NBA.
Amaechi’s book describes his surprise at the atmosphere of teams off the court.
“The pro locker room was the most flamboyant place I’d ever been this side of a swanky club full of martini-drinking gay men ... The guys flaunted their perfect bodies. They bragged of their sexual exploits. They checked out each other’s cocks. They primped in front of the mirror, applying cologne and hair gel by the bucketful,” Amaechi wrote.
There are undoubtedly numerous gay and lesbian athletes who keep quiet in the clutches of societal and personal pressures. Someday, it might not have to be a ground-breaking revelation to simply state one’s sexual preference. Someday, it might just be the next link in the chain.
Sources: Outsports.com, ESPN.com
— Edited by Katie Blankenau
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