Sexual Orientation

America seems to have come a long way in its acceptability of gay men and women. Some of these individuals now maintain influential positions in today's society. Two of these areas are entertainment and politics. Some reasons homosexuality may have become more acceptable in today's society are the acceptance of gays in television shows, movies, and books. However, in most cases it is still unacceptable to be homosexual in the arena of sports; especially in team and contact sports such as basketball, football, and hockey. These two sports are comparatively seen as some of the most masculine sports.

Most gay athletes come out after retirement from their sport. Gay athletes should not alienate themselves by having to come out after they retire. In the sports world today, being a gay female athlete seems to be more acceptable than being a gay male athlete. Lesbian athletes are usually overlooked in terms of receiving big media attention. More focus and attention is spent on gay male athletes because of their masculinity in sports. It is unusual to find out that a 260 pound hard hitting linebacker is gay .Homosexual athletes seem odd to the public eye because of the aggression and killer mentality a lot of them carry on the field. Gay athletes find it easy to come out after they retire because it questions their manhood; and most gay athletes know media functions will hound them for the rest of their careers if they were to come out during playing years.

When an athlete comes out it also makes it easier for the fans and spectators to get involved. Fans can easily affect an athlete's performance by taunting and abusing them during competition. This is something that is not easy to play through. So obviously the reason why so many athletes come out after they retire is because they want to avoid the media /fan abuse that's involved. When Glenn Burke, former outfielder with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Oakland A's came out publicly during an interview he was released from his contract with the A's in 1979, ending his career at age 26. During the same interview in which he admits his homosexuality, Burke says he believes he was traded from the Dodgers because management because they suspected his was gay. This is an illustration of how serious gay athletes are taken in the sports world. Without the stresses of the media, burke may have still been living and involved in the sports world today.

In our society today, gay athletes are more acceptable than they were 10 to 20 years ago. In the past, the media has shown a strong desire to cover gay athletes because of public uncertainty. However now, the media cover these types of stories just for entertainment and dramatic controversy. Athletes are not getting fired nowadays for being openly gay. It has become a phenomenon behind closed doors. John Amaechi who is a former pro basketball player recently came out of the closet in one of his books. According