Salon.com > outsports

Debunking “unfair advantage” myths about trans athletes

Sun, 30 Jun 2013 19:00:00 +0000

I had the immense honor of being invited to participate in the Nike LGBT Sports Summit earlier this June. Seeing how this conference has grown from about thirty people last year to over one hundred people this year gave me a feeling that you only get after winning a race-I thought "Wow, we are doing it, we are actually changing the institution of athletics across the country."

This feeling was quickly knocked out of me after I had heard Fallon Fox's moving speech which kicked off the conference on Friday morning. She reminded us that although the sports world has become safe for many lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) athletes, the trans community has been left behind.

I know all too well that sickening feeling of isolation and alienation, and how that pain can be unbearable to the point that makes people want to leave the sport they love. The fact that I am reaping the benefits today of dedicated LGBT individuals over the years, I felt that it is my duty to continue that advocacy for every L-G-B-and especially T.

“Drop Dead Diva” to feature gay professional athlete

Fri, 14 Jun 2013 21:10:00 +0000

The fifth season of Lifetime's hit show Drop Dead Diva will not only showcase a hunky new (sometimes shirtless) guardian angel, but it will feature a one-episode storyline involving a gay professional athlete.

"Certainly nothing is more topical right now than gays in major league sports," said show creator and executive producer Josh Berman. "Given the competitive nature of sports and how much money pro athletes make, it's ripe for a legal storyline."

The story of the gay-athlete episode will revolve around the pro athlete's perceived need to keep his sexual orientation a secret from the public. While the story was developed and written before Jason Collins came out publicly, only one sentence needed to be changed following Collins' announcement.

Rating the best and worst athlete apologies for gay slurs

Mon, 10 Jun 2013 17:37:00 +0000

When Roy Hibbert of the Indiana Pacers used "no homo" at a press conference while discussing LeBron James, it set off what has become a predictable chain of events. Athlete makes gay slur. Outcry ensues. Athlete apologizes or sort-of apologizes. League punishes athlete or not. Repeat.

Not all apologies are created equal. I thought Hibbert's was a model. It was direct and unequivocal and he said he would accept any fine, which turned out to be $75,000 from the NBA. In addition, after Jason Collins came out in April, Hibbert said some very supportive things.

In looking back at athlete gay slurs since 1999, the apologies come in all flavors, from sincere to "non-apology apologies." Years ago, we used a "Rocker Scale" to categorize anti-gay comments, named in honor of the patron saints of gay slurs, former Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker, who made headlines with his 1999 comments about "queers." I am dusting off the scale to rate apologies in looking back at 21 examples of gay slurs and their aftermath.

Don’t blame gay advocacy for roster cuts

Tue, 14 May 2013 16:47:00 +0000

Nnamdi Asomugha was dubbed one of the best cornerbacks in football two years ago.

In 2011, Ryan Fitzpatrick signed a big, long-term contract extension with the Buffalo Bills.

DeAngelo Hall started every game for the Washington Redskins last season and was tied for 11th in the NFL with four interceptions.

What do these guys all have in common? They were cut this year by their teams.

What else do they have in common? No one is asking if off-field issues are the reason for their release.

179 pro athletes’ reactions to Jason Collins

Mon, 06 May 2013 18:50:00 +0000

We'd been told for years that professional athletes are Neanderthals who hate gay people. Yet when asked about the coming out of NBA player Jason Collins last week, the overwhelming majority of pro athletes had not just tolerant, but welcoming, comments.

We've compiled a list of all the pro-athlete reactions we could find. If you find some we haven't yet included, please send them my way at cydzeiglerjr@gmail.com

NBA

Tony Allen: Ain't no problem with it. You are what you are.

John Amaechi: Congratulations to Jason - society couldn't hope for a more eloquent & positive role model

Chris Andersen: "he's going to have a tough road, but you know what, I think he's in the right part of a state of mind that he's going to be ... a tough leader."

I cried when Jason Collins came out

Tue, 30 Apr 2013 20:45:00 +0000

I'm not afraid to admit it: I cried Monday. A couple times.

It's not that the coming out of Jason Collins is somehow the answer to all of our prayers or that those who continue to perpetuate homophobia in sports will now silence their quieting roar. I just kept getting emotional thinking about how far we'd come -- those of us who've been fighting this battle for so many years -- to now see something that many thought was impossible.

I thought about Dave Kopay. The former NFL player was the first former professional athlete to come out publicly when he shared his story in 1975. At the time, he expected a wave of athletes to follow, yet he hasn't even seen a trickle of men take his lead.

I thought about Pat Griffin and Helen Carroll and Sue Rankin and all the women who have pushed the sports world for so many years, long before I even came out, to accept them for who they are.

NFL prospect comes out kicking

Tue, 23 Apr 2013 19:35:00 +0000

It had been months since Alan Gendreau put on a pair of cleats and stood three yards behind a football. The former Middle Tennessee State placekicker had all but left the game behind when he graduated a year ago.

Yet there he was on a Saturday morning in early April lining up for a kick, the sun beating down on the bright green field as the wind swirled around him. A half-hearted attempt to make it to the NFL was in his past; the crush of a disappointing senior season, punctuating a stellar college career, had been put in his distant memory. Now with renewed purpose, Gendreau had made a potentially game-changing decision: It’s time for him to shoot for the stars again.

After a brief instruction on how I should hold the ball for him, Gendreau looked up from his backward steps and focused downfield.

"I always focus on a spot past the goal post," he said as he readied for his first kick. "Gotta aim further than I’m trying to go."

Phil Jackson: I’ve never seen homosexuality in the NBA

Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:27:00 +0000

In honor of the Los Angeles Lakers retiring Shaquille O'Neal's No. 34 tonight, HuffPost Live hosted a conversation today with Shaquille O'Neal, Kurt Rambis and The Big Aristotle himself. About halfway through the conversation, a viewer posed a question about homosexuality in sports:

"I'm wondering if you think that organizations and players and athletes could be or need to be more inclusive of gay athletes and more welcoming to the gay community in general."

Host Marc Lamont Hill, best known for playing Bill O'Reilly's foil on Fox News, tried to distance himself from the question with a dismissive, "Who wants to take that one?"

Jackson responded:

There will never be a “gay Jackie Robinson”

Sun, 31 Mar 2013 14:00:00 +0000

For years we've heard about the mythical coming out of the "gay Jackie Robinson": The first publicly out male athlete in one of the big pro leagues. In one fell swoop he's going to change the face of professional sports and open the floodgates for other gay athletes, just like Robinson did for black players.

The problem is, the first out athlete won't be the gay Jackie Robinson. He can't be.

Robinson was a very particular man at a very particular time in history. When we talk about the "gay Jackie Robinson," I'm afraid we diminish both of those pieces. In the process, we set a measuring stick so high we inadvertently push gay pro athletes deeper in the closet.

Robinson first swung a bat in Major League Baseball in 1947. That was eight years before Rosa Parks sat in the "wrong" seat. It was 15 years before the University of Mississippi was forcibly desegregated. The Civil Rights Act wasn't signed until 1964 ... eight years after Robinson retired.

Does it get better for LGBTQ college athletes?

Tue, 19 Mar 2013 11:46:00 +0000

Campus Pride, the nation's largest LGBT college group, has re-issued its comprehensive study of LGBT athletes that shows a continued environment of homophobia and transphobia in sports. Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer pointed to the study as evidence of a failure to tackle the problems facing LGBT athletes.

"What is consistently missing from the national discussion is the LGBT voice as well as formal research about the systemic issues faced by LGBT young adult athletes today," Windmeyer said. "In order to address homophobia, biphobia and transphobia in sports, we need to take action based on research which informs us about the LGBTQ athletes experience in the locker room and on the field."

Windmyer said recent videos of support from sports teams are good steps forward, but they are not enough to combat systemic problems.

Among the key findings of the study: