Tim Joyce writes about ending sports’ Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy for Real Clear Sports. While people talk about sports leading to cultural change in racial equality in the ’40s and ’50s, Joyce points out that it was the military, not sports, that lead the way; And hopefully sports will follow the military’s (hopefully) impending end of DADT:
So if the military indeed follows through and abolishes DADT, will team sports follow suit and allow their athletes to feel free and liberated if they do decide to live openly? After all, the armed forces has played a leading role in advancing the abolishment of discrimination before. After blacks and whites fought alongside each other in the battlefield, the specter of segregated baseball seemed ridiculous and inane following World War II. This helped pave the way for Jackie Robinson’s heroic and historic entrance with the Brooklyn Dodgers.
Afterall, if the macho guys in the military can sleep in the same bunk as a gay guy, surely macho athletes can shower with one.
You might quibble that sports doesn’t have a codified policy on gays that can be overturned; But when not a single commissioner of the Big Four sports leagues will talk openly about welcoming gay athletes and coaches, I would disagree.
on Mar 10th, 2010 at 9:28 PM
Sports, the military and the boardroom are all regimental and tradition-bound.
I expect they will all follow suit.
on Mar 10th, 2010 at 11:35 PM
Yes and no. Yes some will be comfortable with gay teammates, but no, since some in the military won’t be comfortable with gay servicemen/woman.
on Mar 11th, 2010 at 8:22 AM
Some gay athlete needs to do it or it’s never gonna happen. We can rely on Scott Fujita all we want, but until the MLB, NBA, NFL or NHL gets its own Gareth Thomas or Chris Morgan, no one is going to care because we can’t stand up for ourselves.
on Mar 11th, 2010 at 3:54 PM
I think OutSports needs to out a big fish. Look I hate Perez Hilton as much as anyone but he’s right when he says he doesn’t “out” people, he just reports on their love lives same as he would a straight star, which is how he got Neil Patrick Harris, Clay Aiken and Meredith Baxter, etc. to all come out, maybe if you guys got the ball rolling we’d see a similar effect….
on Mar 11th, 2010 at 7:23 PM
Do we really wanna see Outsports become a gossip rag?!?