For this blog, I watched a recent ESPN interview with Michael Sams. The video can be seen HERE . Before I talk about Michael Sams, let's first start with Rene Portland and the movie Training. The hardest thing about that movie is the respect that Rene Portland receives throughout the Women's Basketball community. The fact that she spends the majority of her life teaching and mentoring these young women who are on the forefront of bringing womens sports to the mainstream, all while kicking a lesbian women off the team sounds utterly ridiculous. She is helping to empower these women and bring publicity to their sport, yet how she acts towards gay people is astounding.
After hearing about Rene's depressing past, it is touching to hear about current athletes breaking the barrier and coming out to the public. Michael Sams story is especially touching, as he is a popular division-1 football player who was recently come out. What he may not know, is that his actions have permeated the public and are starting a revolution. Every time an athlete decides to come out to their team and the public, it bridges the gap between being gay and being an athlete closer. Watching this interview, Michael Sams made it clear that from the moment he came out, the whole team was behind him. He had all of the support he could have asked for, and that support can help blur out the few opposing opinions. I believe it is becoming a lot safer to be gay in sports. Yes, everyone might not accept you, but it seems that if you can gain the respect from your teammates, which is ideal in any sporting situation, you will have enough athletes who stand with you and defend you. As time goes on, the public and players will only become more open to LGBT, as they have. Hopefully in 30 years being gay will not be an issue that anyone will worry about.
Ben, your writing was very cohesive and very engaging. I wrote in my blog that I did not think that sports was a safe place for people who were gay or lesbian, but you have a more optimistic view. I do think that Michael Sams is setting a precedent for other athletes who are struggling with coming out as gay or lesbian in sports. He is a good role model, and the fact that his team was open and supportive to his coming out is so fantastic, and shows others that they could potentially have the same support Michael Sams had, and not the potential backlash and outrage that they fear of facing. Thank you for your insight. Hopefully this homophobic BS will be behind us soon. It is so sad to think of all of the athletes who are oppressed due to their sexual orientation.
ReplyDeleteOh, and the above comment was by me: Jessica Michel
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