Quote:
Originally Posted by Itse
Just did a little math, and depending on what kind of assumptions you make, there's a pretty good chance there are almost no gays in the NHL.
The first number to look for is the percentage of gays in general population. The numbers vary wildly, but wikipedia gives a recent survey of a rather low percentage of self-identifying homo- and bisexuals of 3,5%
The NHLPA has about 1000 members. That would make 35 gays or bisexual, if you assumed a random distribution. However, that would be a very unlikely assumption IMO, since we all know there is at least a history of homophobia in male team sports.
If we assume that about 9 out of 10 of potential gay NHL players either quit early, never started playing hockey or refused to self-identify as gay because of rampant homophobia surrounding hockey, that would leave only about 3-4 self-identifying gay and bisexual players in the whole NHL. That's a pretty small club.
Now I pulled that 9 out 10 number out of thin air, but I think the assumption is reasonable enough. I wouldn't be surprised if the number was even higher. If say 95% of potential top gay hockey players never reach that level or refuse to think of themselves as gay, that would only leave about 1 or 2 guys who are either gay or bisexual in the whole of NHL.
Also, if you're a top athlete with insecurities about his sexual identity, I would imagine that life as a celebrity athlete could sound like a nightmare. Propably one of the harder professions to be in if you want to live "in the closet".
I'm too lazy to look up the number of players on all major sports combined, but if you make the same assumption of self-identifying gays rarely reaching a top level in a male team sport, it could easily mean that in the whole of NA there could be fewer than a dozen self-identifying gays playing in all major team sports combined.
Also, top athletes are known to get some pretty good poon, and I'm sure more than a few straight guys have been partially motivated by that.
|
I think your 9-out-of-10 number is a really flawed guess. For an elite young athlete who struggles with sexual identity, sports likely becomes a environment where they'll be assumed to be straight and will be respected for their achievements. Let's say you're the best hockey-player in your community, and in your early teens you become aware of your differences... are you going to quit on your childhood friends and teammates and suffer everyone asking you why you're quitting? Or are you going to use your athletics as a way of blending in, probably even joining in with the homophobic bravado that goes on in locker rooms? Some of those kids probably end up forcing themselves to live a straight life (as Collins did at one point) just to fit in.
The best I can do, like you, is a guess, but I'd expect the number of gay athletes in any sport is within a percentage point or two of what it is in the general population, because I just don't see any convincing reason for it to be different. Some of those guys are probably aware that they're gay and have either made the decision to keep it private or are still contemplating outing themselves, some of them are probably living a conflicted life, and some of them won't really be able to admit it to themselves and others until they step away from the game.