“No, we don't got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do… Can't be with that sweet stuff. Nah… can't be… in the locker room man. Nah.”
Those were the highly publicized words of San Francisco 49ers’ cornerback Chris Culliver during media day in the lead-up to this year’s Super Bowl. Now, multiple players are revealing that team representatives are questioning players’ sexual orientation during the interview process at the NFL Scouting Combine. Besides being extremely unethical, this practice is also highly illegal- and it is part of a disturbing trend in our culture.
In the four major American sports- football, basketball, baseball, and hockey- not a single active player has come out as being anything other than heterosexual. In our society it is difficult for even the average Joe to come out, much less someone in the national spotlight who knows they will face unlimited scrutiny by doing so. Yet this barrier is being broken down in many other areas of entertainment that were formerly thought to exclude homosexuals- Frank Ocean, for instance, coming out as bisexual in the formerly hardcore, masculine world of rap and hip-hop.
So are we really expected to believe that of the thousands, if not millions, of professional athletes, not a single one has been gay? Considering most studies conservatively estimate that around 3.5 percent of the population (over 11 million Americans) identify as part of the LGBT community, it would be quite remarkable for this percentage to drop to zero for professional athletes.
Could it be that there is something intrinsically different about homosexuals, which prevents them from making it to the highest level of athletic competition? Could Culliver have been on to something with his reference to “that sweet stuff”? Some may argue that being homosexual makes one too soft to compete in such aggressive activities. An easy cop-out, but fundamentally flawed- as anyone who has ever competed with or against a gay player can attest to.
In my playing career I have faced off against only one opponent who I would later discover to be gay- and he put on perhaps the most amazing performance I have ever witnessed first-hand. On muddy turf that played more like an ice rink than a football field, this kid not only rushed for over 200 yards, but created a personal highlight film most players couldn’t compile in an entire season- including a Reggie Bush-like cross field cut-back and a play in which he stiff-armed one defender in the backfield before leaping over another, in stride, like an Olympic hurdler. In short, no, one’s sexual orientation does not hinder their athletic performance.
Unfortunately, the LGBT community will never be fully accepted as a part of mainstream culture until they are accepted as part of the sports culture. It is no coincidence that the Civil Rights movement of the mid-1900’s coincided with the integration of African-Americans to the sporting world. Sports both affect and reflect the views of our society, whether we like it or not- lest we forget that many African-Americans were once thought to lack the intellectual capabilities necessary to compete with the “superior” white athletes. These views of intellectual inferiority in the general population began to diminish around the same time they were being exploited as ludicrous in the sphere of sports. Now, thanks to the immaculate contributions of pioneers like Jackie Robinson, it would be ridiculous to question the ability of a player like LeBron James or Adrian Peterson simply because of the color of his skin.
Hopefully, one day soon, the LGBT community will have their own Jackie Robinson, and no player will ever have their ability questioned or face exclusion from participating due to their sexual orientation again.
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I hope you enjoyed reading! If you have any questions, comments, or other suggestions on how to improve the column or any other topic feel free to contact me at my email address [email protected], on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/adam.colman.9 or on Twitter @AdamRColman.
Thanks for the support!
Those were the highly publicized words of San Francisco 49ers’ cornerback Chris Culliver during media day in the lead-up to this year’s Super Bowl. Now, multiple players are revealing that team representatives are questioning players’ sexual orientation during the interview process at the NFL Scouting Combine. Besides being extremely unethical, this practice is also highly illegal- and it is part of a disturbing trend in our culture.
In the four major American sports- football, basketball, baseball, and hockey- not a single active player has come out as being anything other than heterosexual. In our society it is difficult for even the average Joe to come out, much less someone in the national spotlight who knows they will face unlimited scrutiny by doing so. Yet this barrier is being broken down in many other areas of entertainment that were formerly thought to exclude homosexuals- Frank Ocean, for instance, coming out as bisexual in the formerly hardcore, masculine world of rap and hip-hop.
So are we really expected to believe that of the thousands, if not millions, of professional athletes, not a single one has been gay? Considering most studies conservatively estimate that around 3.5 percent of the population (over 11 million Americans) identify as part of the LGBT community, it would be quite remarkable for this percentage to drop to zero for professional athletes.
Could it be that there is something intrinsically different about homosexuals, which prevents them from making it to the highest level of athletic competition? Could Culliver have been on to something with his reference to “that sweet stuff”? Some may argue that being homosexual makes one too soft to compete in such aggressive activities. An easy cop-out, but fundamentally flawed- as anyone who has ever competed with or against a gay player can attest to.
In my playing career I have faced off against only one opponent who I would later discover to be gay- and he put on perhaps the most amazing performance I have ever witnessed first-hand. On muddy turf that played more like an ice rink than a football field, this kid not only rushed for over 200 yards, but created a personal highlight film most players couldn’t compile in an entire season- including a Reggie Bush-like cross field cut-back and a play in which he stiff-armed one defender in the backfield before leaping over another, in stride, like an Olympic hurdler. In short, no, one’s sexual orientation does not hinder their athletic performance.
Unfortunately, the LGBT community will never be fully accepted as a part of mainstream culture until they are accepted as part of the sports culture. It is no coincidence that the Civil Rights movement of the mid-1900’s coincided with the integration of African-Americans to the sporting world. Sports both affect and reflect the views of our society, whether we like it or not- lest we forget that many African-Americans were once thought to lack the intellectual capabilities necessary to compete with the “superior” white athletes. These views of intellectual inferiority in the general population began to diminish around the same time they were being exploited as ludicrous in the sphere of sports. Now, thanks to the immaculate contributions of pioneers like Jackie Robinson, it would be ridiculous to question the ability of a player like LeBron James or Adrian Peterson simply because of the color of his skin.
Hopefully, one day soon, the LGBT community will have their own Jackie Robinson, and no player will ever have their ability questioned or face exclusion from participating due to their sexual orientation again.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I hope you enjoyed reading! If you have any questions, comments, or other suggestions on how to improve the column or any other topic feel free to contact me at my email address [email protected], on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/adam.colman.9 or on Twitter @AdamRColman.
Thanks for the support!
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