Letters to the Editor
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Where is the gay Jackie Robinson?
Does everyone in the league and the fans have to publicly express their OK with gay players before active players come out? I'm sure there are gay superstars that don't want to jeopardize money and comfort. The thing is, Jackie couldn't hide his minority status and had to face intolerance, which still exists today. A gay star will certainly face taunts and etc., but will probably ease the road for later gay stars and lessen the abuse they will deal with. It will take more than a J. Amaechi to change minds and language. By the way, is it acceptable for female stars to be gay, don't really follow their leagues. I know more than a few have been open about it.
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accent
I think it's tough to be the spokesman for the masculine gay NBA athlete with a British accent. I know that's probably horribly insulting to say, but I would imagine most of the neanderthals who actually care whether someone is gay or not wouldn't be impressed with someone with good diction and a funny way of talking.
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They aren't so tough, are they
It always amazes me that the supposedly tough guys, athletes and military men, are the most afraid of gay men.
What it boils down to is they're afraid that they might be treated the way they treat women. The pro sports leagues have a problem regarding respect for gay people, and it mirrors the problem they have with respect for women. Both problems should be dealt with in tandem.
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Shavlik Randolph
I'll be seriously disappointed in the NBA if Shavlik Randolph isn't suspended for saying that.
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The Jackie Robinson analogy is a bit flawed
Blacks were denied employment in baseball based on their race whereas closeted gays are employed but don't feel they would be accepted if they came out. I think a better comparison would be with other entertainers - like closeted singers and actors.
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Does Rene know?
An irony about the Amaechi story is that he played his college ball at Penn State, also the home of notoriously homophobic women's basketball coach Rene Portland. I just wonder if Rene knew, and what she thought. On second, I have no desire to hear what Rene Portland thinks about this - as a Penn State alum, I just wish she didn't represent my alma mater.
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Gay Jackie? There can be no such thing.
Sometimes these race analogies work and sometimes they don't. In the marriage context it works because there's no rational basis for denying either a bi-racial or homosexual couple the right to get married. Here, the analogy fails because Jackie did nothing to make race an issue. he simply wanted to play ball. In contrast, the "gay Jackie" would have to want to play ball and go on the offense to make homosexuality an issue, thereby making it more about just whether he can play. I fail to see how that advances the cause of gay equality.
Is it possible that there are more openly gay people in sports than we realize. After all, the public doesn't have the right to know someone's sexual orientation. I suspect there are some gay athletes who are known to their family, friends and teammates to be gay, but don't feel the need to talk to the press about it.
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Grow up, Shavlik
What's puzzling about this is that while Shavlik Randolph played at Duke, there was a big story in the papers about how he and Nick Horvath were seen on campus wearing GLBT giveaway t-shirts that read, "Gay? Fine by me."
Maybe he thinks gay is okay when it comes to women because "that's hot," so he wore the shirt as a little wink-wink to other Maxim-reading homophobes. It's probably more likely that he just wanted a free t-shirt, and that he really didn't care about civil rights. But until this, I believed that he was taking a stand as a public figure at a big-name school; that he'd tried opening his mind, as you do when you go to college. Maybe he did try, in that moment, but the attempt obviously failed.
Randolph's comments should be unacceptable in the NBA, if for no other reason than that they create a hostile working environment. This is the issue that Stern's weak stance doesn't address. So the NBA only asks that you have game? Well, what can its players ask of the NBA in return for good play? Just a paycheck? How about the promise of protection from harassment? How about fair treatment?
If the league stood up to comments like Randolph's, and showed its support for all employees regardless of sexuality, that would create an environment in which gay players and coaches might feel secure enough to come out.
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Why the Jackie Analogy Works
All analogies break down at some point because they are only an analogy or:
1 inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will probably agree in others
2 a : resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike
No one is saying that they are identical situations. The analogy is there because there is obvious hostility towards gays in the general public and from yesterday's comments from players, inside the league.
The first openly gay NBA player will have to deal with a lot of hate mail from fans and hostility from players. I hope he will also make it such that future players decisions to come out of the closet (or stay in the closet) are not based on fear of how the team/league will respond.
I think some of the comments are a bit naive in the sense that atheletes (especially in the NBA) are very public figures. They can't just be in the closet at work; they don't have the level of privacy necessary for that.
Also, someone said that being the first openly gay player would have to be someone aggressively outing himself. However, being openly gay is not aggressive. My co-workers know I am married, and know my wife's name and have even met her. No one thinks I am being aggressive in this. Would a gay person who mentions the name of his boyfriend/partner be aggressive? Or just honest and comfortable? I don't get the aggressive, agenda pushing angle on this.