Full article hereQuote:
Originally Posted by Sports Illustrated
The United States finally has an openly gay athlete in one of the four major professional sports leagues. What an incredible moment in history!
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Full article hereQuote:
Originally Posted by Sports Illustrated
The United States finally has an openly gay athlete in one of the four major professional sports leagues. What an incredible moment in history!
Seriously? The first?
I hope all goes well for him.
I was going to post this but I felt like I'd be infringing on froznlite :f3:
Awesome, good for him.
It's good that a player has come out who hasn't already retired.
That's cool and all, but
Why? Are athletes super homophobic or something? I honestly am asking, I have no clue, I don't watch any sports whatsoever or know any of the players.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrozNlite
openly gay people weren't allowed to be professional athletes until recently when legislation was passed that you couldn't fire someone based on their sexuality, i think.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flonne
Plus a bit of positive publicity is good.
Someone that people have admired has admitted he's gay, which means it could change some peoples opinions.
Like the man said, he's the first major-league player to come out.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flonne
Whether it's because athletes are homophobic, or (more likely) because sports fans are homophobic, I don't know. Either way, when someone finally dares come out, it's an important moment.
Unfortunately, a 34 year-old center isn't far from retirement. While I applaud him for his initiative I can't help but think his free agency status might have a little to do with this decision. The cynic in me tells me that either, he won't be signed (not because he is gay, but due to age and production) and the experiment with an openly gay teammate in the locker room will effectively be over or he is only using this as a ploy to have a team sign him in some capacity in order to put out a message of tolerance. Sorry, the sports guy in me just can't see past that. Let's see someone in the middle-of-a-contract do it, I really hope they do.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razmos
Yeah, I was kinda thinking the same thing.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chilly
It's not like a major player would do this. While this is still a good thing, it ultimately won't change much. It's only the people who's careers are already over or nearly over who will actually come out, which says a lot about what this kind of thing would do to their career. From WHO is not clear, the sports itself? the fans? the public?
At least this will be interesting to see how much longer this guy stays in American Sports before he retires, because honestly, I know this sounds bad but I don't think he will be in it much longer. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised, but i'm not counting on it.
Reporter: Jason Collins, why did you decide to play basketball?
Jason Collins: I just love balls, I like to be able to get my hands around it, I'm a hands kind of guy, not so much with feet!
:f3: I'm not the only announcer of all things LGBT. You should post the news next time!Quote:
Originally Posted by KhainiWest
In the United States, the culture of major league sports, being an enormous bastion of heteronormativity and the perpetuation of hyper masculinity, has often found itself at tense odds with LGBT people, especially homosexual men, given generalized, stereotypical perceptions of gay men as the antithesis of these phenomena. Additionally, the LGBT civil rights movement seeks to dismantle such rigid boundaries of identity, so it's likely many may view "the gays" as a threat to the fabric of machoism, for lack of a better term, that dominates major league sports.Quote:
Originally Posted by Flonne
As such, Collins' coming out not only demonstrates that, no, gay men in major league sports will not ruin any element of the sport itself, but also sets a precedent for others to do the same, allowing further understanding between sports players, fans, and their community, and the LGBT community.
I mean yes, especially since he's the first in the U.S. realm of major league sports, but don't say that like he's the first in general. Many LGBT people have come out in quickening succession over recent years as general societal consensus becomes more favorable and accepting of diverse sexualities. For example, plenty have already had their opinions changed with the announcements of people like Ellen Degeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, and Anderson Cooper.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razmos
You guys need to shelve your cynicism on this one, because this announcement was bound to happen soon anyways, if not is grossly overdue. I mean even Law & Order: SVU covered the topic in an episode 5-6 years ago. Point is, regardless of who it is, the first person to set the precedent makes waves and, ultimately, does change a lot. Sure, Collins is towards the end of his career and isn't a star athlete, but by opening the door he allows other players, maybe some big names in professional sports, to finally summon the confidence to cross the threshold as well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Razmos
In short, this is really great news with a promising effect on the future of the LGBT civil rights movement in this country and around the world, so don't be to quick to judge with such a narrow focus.
Of course he isn't :PQuote:
Originally Posted by FrozNlite
I was just saying that well known and well liked people coming out is obviously a good thing, because people will think "Oh, I still admire them even though they are gay, guess it doesn't mean that much"
Him being in sports, and an American national one at that definitely will get a lot of people thinking. "this guy isn't what I expected", "this guy has had to hide his sexuality" and other stuff.
most of the comments I've seen about this have been along the lines of "Why is this news? he's gay? so what?" which is good in it's own right, but clearly shows that some people don't understand some of the issues LGBT people face.
I do agree with this, it's definitely a starting point anyway. My point was simply that I don't believe it will affect other more "in focus" athletes, and that it speaks badly for the LGBT athletes that they have to come out after they are retired or when their career has run it's course. Which could possibly scare athletes from coming out if it could mean the end of their career.Quote:
Point is, regardless of who it is, the first person to set the precedent makes waves and, ultimately, does change a lot. Sure, Collins is towards the end of his career and isn't a star athlete, but by opening the door he allows other players, maybe some big names in professional sports, to finally summon the confidence to cross the threshold as well.
Still though, he hasn't retired yet. So it's definitely a step in the right direction, and I hope you are right that it does cause waves and make a change.
I wouldn't call it a narrow focus by the way, we were looking away from the obvious benefits of this and how it relates to LGBT people in sports as a whole, what's narrow about that?
Wasn't that the official abolishment of the don't ask, don't tell policy in the military?Quote:
Originally Posted by MuscleWizard
Time to step up your game, football, baseball, and hockey? Who wants to be known as the last major sports league to have openly gay players.Quote:
Originally Posted by FrozNlite
It's important because Collins risked losing possible endorsements and potential sponsors that could potentially be run by single-minded bigots or by owners who are afraid that they the player they are endorsing is a liability to their consumer base which they believe to be homophobic. How he's treated consequently will serves as a metric marker for players to view how he's treated and accepted not only by the ambiguous public, but by sponsors and companies that depend on the ambiguous public for cash revenue.
For people who don't really care/mind homosexuality, I don't think that this seems like a major issue. However, it is a game changer towards business managers and endorsers to how they gauge public response and consequently choose how to market to the public. Given that the players themselves are the advertised product, there is going to be an interesting interaction potentially in future marketing and advertisement, as well as how the public adapts and responds to the feedback.