Editor’s note: After a dialogue with Our Group treasurer Jenelle DeVits, I invited her to express her concerns about the gay-sports community on our blog. Her entries will appear from time to time.
Coming across Outsports early in my collegiate career opened my eyes to gay media. Dominated by white masculinity I was bothered by the [...]
Posts under ‘Coming out’
Activist: Bring more minority voices to Outsports
Reactions to Gareth Thomas’ coming out
The coming out of rugby star Gareth Thomas has, as does every major coming out in sports, generated plenty of discussion about gays in sports. John Amaechi, the last major “Big Four” athlete to come out, talked with the BBC over the weekend.
Society in America is not where we are in Britain or in Europe [...]
Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas comes out
Imagine if Michael Phelps or Lance Armstrong came out of the closet. The Welsh version (give or take) of those sports legends has come out of the closet with the announcement from Rugby star Gareth Thomas that he is gay.
One of the many fascinating angles to this story is that he came out to his [...]
St. Joseph’s basketball player comes out
St. Joseph’s women’s basketball player Lauren Robinson has come out publicly in a wonderful article in The Hawk, the student newspaper at St. Joe’s. Robinson talks candidly about being gay and Catholic at a Catholic university.
It’s hard to go to Mass and sit there sometimes and listen to people talk about the founding principles of [...]
Burke story yields strong media coverage
As we talked about on our last podcast, one of the big benefits of people in sports coming out of the closet is the excuse it gives the media to talk about gays in sports and ask athletes questions about the issue. Brendan Burke’s coming out is no different. Since the son of the Toronto [...]
Brian Sims speaks to college athletes
The Daily Local News of Chester County (Penn.) recently ran a lengthy update on out former college football captain Brian Sims, whom Outsports introduced to the world this past spring. Sims, a lawyer, has become an advocate for gay rights and has been speaking at various college athletic departments since our article came out. Those [...]
MTV wants athletes’ coming out stories
MTV is looking for LGBT athletes who want to tell their coming out stories for its “True Life” show. Here is the pitch we received:
TRUE LIFE: I’M COMING OUT TO MY TEAM
Are you planning to come out to your teammates? Have you been afraid or hesitant to come out to your sports team as gay, [...]
Famed Gaelic hurler comes out
Irish hurler Donal Og Cosack, one of the most goalkeepers in the history of the sport, has declared that he is gay in his new autobiography, Come What May. From the book:
I tried to go out with women to make sure, to see what kind of feeling it gave me…. I went out with nice [...]
A Gay Athlete’s Life: Ballplayer calling it quits
I have been meaning to write about one of my favorite blogs, A Gay Athlete’s Life, which details the story of a closeted Major League Baseball player. His announcement Tuesday that he is likely calling it quits for his career is as good a time as any.
The blog, which is four years old, deals with [...]
Poll: Many college players have gay teammates
In the upcoming college football issue for ESPN the Magazine, there is a poll of 85 current players. Among the tidbits was this:
Do you have any gay teammates?
Almost half of those surveyed (49.4%, to be exact) said yes, they believe they have at least one gay teammate. In the Pac-10, 70% of those surveyed said [...]
Is the NFL ready for a gay player?
The League, an NFL blog run by the Washington Post, has a terrific debate going on about whether the NFL is ready for an openly gay player. I was one of nine voices the Post sought for comment, along with other writers and three former players — Roman Oben, Ken Hutcherson and David Kopay (who [...]
A former Yankee is gay
In his interview with AfterElton, TV star Wesley Eure (Land of the Lost) came out of the closet this week. He also said he has a partner, Richard, and that Richard played for the New York Yankees. AfterElton even used a picture of Richard (right). We’ve been in touch with Richard, who seems like a [...]
Gay high school swimmer’s lust for teammate
Thanks to a reader for this head’s-up of an entertaining call on a Podcast (Episode 136) by Dan Savage (“Savage Love”).
The caller: A self-described totally out high school swimmer and water polo player in California. His whole team knows he’s gay and has no problem with it.
The problem: He has no boyfriend and his hormones [...]
Dana White: UFC would embrace gay fighter
Dana White, the head of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, says that fighters and fans of the sport would embrace an openly gay fighter. This is the same Dana White who apologized recently for using an anti-gay slur. In an interview (video below) following the May 23 UFC card, White was asked about how an openly [...]
Gay runner to be featured in documentary
Brenner Green, a freshman cross-country runner from Connecticut College, is among athletes featured in “Out for the Long Run,” a documentary about high school and college gay athletes to be released next year. Connecticut College, a small liberal arts school, is so proud of Green that they highlight his involvement in the film on the [...]
