The Fifth Evangelist
God's messenger to the modern world, Mark Morford of San Francisco, on gay athletes, or the public lack thereof
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It is, of course, the last cultural frontier. The modern psychosexual threshold demarcating where we as a homophobic sports-lovin' culture simply refuse to allow ourselves to go, given how pro sports is a multi-gazillion-dollar industry and no way in hell male sports fans (or team owners or sponsors) would stand for a gay sports hero. No. Freaking. Way. If it happened, there would be fear and hate and mistrust. Other players would shun and recoil and cry. Sponsors would flee. Alabama would implode. The red states would spontaneously combust. Just the way it is.Hmm. Per usual, the man's onto something.
Sure, WNBA MVP and three-time Olympian Sheryl Swoopes can come out and admit she's a lesbian and no one really gasps all that loudly because, well, it's the WNBA, and she's a woman, and it wasn't much of a secret anyway and -- perhaps the biggest reason of all that her coming-out story is a nonstarter -- it's not about manhood.
Think about it. No male fan in his sticky armchair is right now saying, gul-dangit, my image of the WNBA is totally shattered, shattered, I tell you, my manhood's threatened and my Budweiser supply is endangered and what the hell is happening with the sports that define my beer-bellied soul? It just ain't happening.
But it does bring up the bigger, more sticky, fascinating issue of gay male pro athletes and why it's still such a viciously loaded topic and when it will finally be cracked. (It's inevitable, of course. Not if, but when. And, of course, who. And how soon thereafter he will be shot.)
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posted by Rocco Palmo at 02:03
3 Comments:
Yeah, I'm with Jeff. Two weeks ago Mark Morford penned this piece of heterophobic, progenophobic trash:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/gate/archive/2005/10/19/notes101905.DTL
There was a time when we saw children as a blessing. Now, a la Mr Morford, it is "oh my freaking God, stop it, stop it now, you thoughtless, selfish, baby-drunk people".
Hmm yes Rocco, "per usual, the man's onto something" ... onto his next column singing the praises of the culture of death I suspect.
Morford is a self-important, hateful, obnoxious ninny, whose hateful screeds otherwises obscures some important points. Someone cited Greg Louganis. People forget that (a) Louganis never publicly discussed his homosexuality or the fact that he was HIV positive until long after his career was over, (b) Louganis' homosexuality was known to his Olympic teammates and he was shunned as a result, and (c) Louganis did not receive endorsement offers that one would expect one of the greatest Olympic champions to receive because of the gay rumors, including appearing on a Wheaties cereal box. Louganis' experience is why so few athletes who are homosexual ever disclose the fact until after their careers are over - that is if they ever do so. And who can blame them?
I think its safe to say that open gays in team sports like football, basketball, or baseball would fare even worse with their teammates and fans. Just imagine the abuse someone on the Redskins or the Ravens stated that he was homosexual in an interview from - say - Philadelphia Eagles fans. Not only would the taunts be deplorably hateful, but bottle caps, ice, and other objects would be thrown at him throughout the game. I'm sure, of course, that such fans would have their defenders in the Catholic blogosphere.
The time will come, however, when some male pro-athlete will make such a disclosure, and the leagues and players' unions need to be prepared to handle the fallout.
It is interesting th atSwoopes came out publicly about the same time Penn State's women's coach is coming under scrutiny for her long-standing no-lesbians policy. Okay, not a written policy, but one most people were aware of.
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