Sports in Seconds: Homophobia present in sports world
“You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known,” former NBA All-Star Tim Hardaway said on a south Florida radio station in late February.
“I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States,” Hardaway said.
Those hateful words by Hardaway, a former National Basketball Association (NBA) All-star were said in the wake of the announcement by another former NBA player John Amaechi who confirmed that he was a homosexual.
The ‘coming out' by Amaechi and the comments by Hardaway made me wonder about the presence of homophobia in men's professional sports in North America.
Amaechi is subsequently the first NBA player past or present to ‘come out of the closet' and publicly announce that he was gay.
Reporters asked many current NBA players about their reaction to Amaechi's announcement, along with the NBA's commissioner David Stern.
The responses were generally the same and along the lines of surprise that Amaechi was in fact gay, and a reoccurring theme that was mentioned by many players was that an individuals sexual orientation is not a factor in terms of acceptance by teammates in the league.
Way to go guys, your public relations department did a good job in training you to say the ‘right' thing.
However, when analyzing the comments by Hardaway in retrospect, it is hard to believe that everyone in the league would be so accepting of an openly gay teammate.
To a certain extent, I am sure that there are some NBA players that would agree with Hardaway, although they would not be as idiotic as Hardaway and discuss their views in a public forum.
The views of Hardaway, and anyone who believes that gay people are not on the exact same level as every other human being on the planet are in my opinion ignorant, hateful, unintelligent and down-right embarrassing to the human race.
But unfortunately, homophobia has to be present in the sports world today, otherwise more athletes would be more open about their sexual orientation and it would not even be an issue once an athlete did in fact ‘come out'.
In professional sports history only a handful of individuals have confirmed that they were not straight and all did so after their playing career.
I have to continually ask myself ‘why?' in regards to this issue. Why don't more athletes simply announce that they are gay, it would in all likelihood make them feel better about themselves, a certain amount of weight would undoubtedly be lifted off their shoulders, wouldn't it?
To a certain extent I think it would, however when looking at Amaechi's comments in a few articles I read, he was fearful of announcing his homosexuality while he was still playing. He thought it would ruin his career and that the NBA, more specifically his teammates, would not accept him and his way of life, thus putting his lucrative NBA career in jeopardy.
I thought it was very interesting and a very good point that was made by Amaechi in an article I read. He said David Stern continuously praises his league for being diverse and open to all minority groups, however the league is 80 per cent black and 0 per cent openly gay.
Although a lot of athletes will not admit it, homophobia is obviously present in the sports world today. I hope the homosexual athletes that are in the NBA, and any professional sport will follow John Amaechi's lead and come forward with their sexual orientation, tackle this issue, and make the sports world a better, more accepting, and less-hateful place.
“I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States,” Hardaway said.
Those hateful words by Hardaway, a former National Basketball Association (NBA) All-star were said in the wake of the announcement by another former NBA player John Amaechi who confirmed that he was a homosexual.
The ‘coming out' by Amaechi and the comments by Hardaway made me wonder about the presence of homophobia in men's professional sports in North America.
Amaechi is subsequently the first NBA player past or present to ‘come out of the closet' and publicly announce that he was gay.
Reporters asked many current NBA players about their reaction to Amaechi's announcement, along with the NBA's commissioner David Stern.
The responses were generally the same and along the lines of surprise that Amaechi was in fact gay, and a reoccurring theme that was mentioned by many players was that an individuals sexual orientation is not a factor in terms of acceptance by teammates in the league.
Way to go guys, your public relations department did a good job in training you to say the ‘right' thing.
However, when analyzing the comments by Hardaway in retrospect, it is hard to believe that everyone in the league would be so accepting of an openly gay teammate.
To a certain extent, I am sure that there are some NBA players that would agree with Hardaway, although they would not be as idiotic as Hardaway and discuss their views in a public forum.
The views of Hardaway, and anyone who believes that gay people are not on the exact same level as every other human being on the planet are in my opinion ignorant, hateful, unintelligent and down-right embarrassing to the human race.
But unfortunately, homophobia has to be present in the sports world today, otherwise more athletes would be more open about their sexual orientation and it would not even be an issue once an athlete did in fact ‘come out'.
In professional sports history only a handful of individuals have confirmed that they were not straight and all did so after their playing career.
I have to continually ask myself ‘why?' in regards to this issue. Why don't more athletes simply announce that they are gay, it would in all likelihood make them feel better about themselves, a certain amount of weight would undoubtedly be lifted off their shoulders, wouldn't it?
To a certain extent I think it would, however when looking at Amaechi's comments in a few articles I read, he was fearful of announcing his homosexuality while he was still playing. He thought it would ruin his career and that the NBA, more specifically his teammates, would not accept him and his way of life, thus putting his lucrative NBA career in jeopardy.
I thought it was very interesting and a very good point that was made by Amaechi in an article I read. He said David Stern continuously praises his league for being diverse and open to all minority groups, however the league is 80 per cent black and 0 per cent openly gay.
Although a lot of athletes will not admit it, homophobia is obviously present in the sports world today. I hope the homosexual athletes that are in the NBA, and any professional sport will follow John Amaechi's lead and come forward with their sexual orientation, tackle this issue, and make the sports world a better, more accepting, and less-hateful place.
