The Gay Thread

[Alex]

Ha ha ha. Girls who do boy things are gay.

[Gn2Dlnd]

Out of curiosity, as someone who pays almost no attention to professional sports (possibly related to being called faggot and being beat up regularly by people who played sports, maybe just because I'm gay. Who can really tell?), are there any professional female athletes who are out? Or do you suppose they suffer the same fears of public/lockerroom/professional backlash as male athletes?

I feel a rant coming on that involves things like "of course everyone knows that queers don't play sports, but they can decorate the sh!t out of your house, and real women stay out of sports and car repair, because, well, dykes" but I'm going to bite my tongue because I know and love Kevy and I know he was just making a joke, but JESUS CHRIST.

BTW, not something I would ever, EVER post on FB.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Originally Posted by Gn2Dlnd

are there any professional female athletes who are out?

Yes. Not a ton, but certainly more than the guys.

Wikipedia's Lesbian Sportswomen

from MotherJones.com

Jason Collins Is Not the First Out Gay Pro Athlete
—By Kate Sheppard

Although his coming out in Sports Illustrated is big news, NBA star Jason Collins is not the "first openly gay athlete in professional North American team sports," as some have claimed. Claiming as much implies that either women's sports don't matter as much (or don't exist at all), or that coming out is somehow less of a big deal for professional athletes who happen to be women. Here are just a few of them:

• Retired WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes, who came out in 2005 when she played for the Houston Comets. (She later married a man.)
• Brittney Griner of the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury.
• Chamique Holdsclaw, former WNBA player most recently with the San Antonio Silver Stars.
• Megan Rapinoe, member of the US Women's National Team, now playing soccer professionally in France.
• Lori Lindsey, USWNT member in the 2012 Olympics who currently plays for the Washington Spirit in the National Women's Soccer League.

There have also been a number of out stars in individual sports—including Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova in tennis and Orlando Cruz, a professional boxer.

There have also been other male professional athletes in team sports who have come out, even if they're not in the "big four" professional sports—like Andrew Goldstein, the goalie for Major League Lacrosse's Long Island Lizards.

[alphabassettgrrl]

I think it's more that women's sports don't get the attention that men's sports do, so fewer people cared that some of them were gay. It's also the idea that male athletes are the macho-est of the macho, and that is somehow perceived by the masses as incompatible with being gay. Of course, both of those assumptions are stupid, but you know. Women don't have quite the same problems with the macho nonsense.

I think other than the initial sensationalism, nobody will care who's gay so long as they play well. And that is how it should be.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

In regards to a female athlete coming out, I think there is a common assumption that all women athletes are lesbians, so when one actually does come out, it's regarded as a "no sh¡t" event. That assumption is incorrect, of course, but is exists nonetheless.

Originally Posted by alphabassettgrrl

Women don't have quite the same problems with the macho nonsense.

hear hear!

Originally Posted by alphabassettgrrl

I think other than the initial sensationalism, nobody will care who's gay so long as they play well. And that is how it should be.

That's definitely how it should be, but we're so very far away from that right now. I don't know how long it will take, but I am certain the more guys (and yes, unfortunately I specifically mean dudes) who come out, the sooner that will happen. The fundies will continue to get their knickers in a twist, like they always have, but the rest of the word will move on without them.

[SzczerbiakManiac]

Why We Shouldn't Let Gay People Play Basketball

[Kevy Baby]

Originally Posted by Alex

Ha ha ha. Girls who do boy things are gay.

If we can't parody the ridiculous stereotypes, then the terrorists have won. Can't we think about the children people?

[Alex]

I'll go back and try to find some parody.

[Strangler Lewis]

Of course, he was drawn to the sport by the outfits.

[lashbear]

So, New Zealand's legalised Gay Marriage. Now maybe Sam & Frodo have a chance.