gay college athlete speaks

[octothorp]

Great article on ESPN about a gay lacrosse player's decision to come out, and the reaction from his teammates. It's quite an uplifting article.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/news/story?id=2069239

[Cheese]

Sorry to sound insensitive...but who really cares except other Gay athletes? I really believe its becoming way overblown....pun not intended.

[octothorp]

I don't know if you read the article, but that's kinda the point: it ended up not being that big a deal. It would be great if we could get to a point where sexual orientation was a non-issue in the same way that it would be great if race was a non-issue. This article suggests that sports are, infact, moving in the right direction towards becoming more accepting.

[StoneCole]

Originally posted by Cheese@May 27 2005, 07:07 PM
Sorry to sound insensitive...but who really cares except other Gay athletes? I really believe its becoming way overblown....pun not intended.

you @$$hole...just kidding, I totally agree.

about sexual orientation and race being a non-issue:

I don't think this will ever be the case. People want to be treated equally but they also want to be recognized because they are unique. Kind of counter-intuitive. The part that really got me was all the stuff about "gay all-american". Sure, the guy's gay, but this has nothing to do with all american. If people want acceptance they need to stop making these distinctions where they have no relevance. Being an all-american has to do with performance, so just leave it at that.

[Radically Red]

Agreed. Your gay that's fine. Ccan you play Lacross. Yes great.
Isnt that enough.

Your not unigue your just one of the crowd who is good at what you do. Isnt that True equality...

[Five-hole]

Originally posted by Cheese@May 27 2005, 12:07 PM
Sorry to sound insensitive...but who really cares except other Gay athletes?

You may be surprised to learn that a great deal of people that have nothing to do in particular with gay marriages involve themselves quite seriously with them.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally posted by Five-hole+May 27 2005, 09:09 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (Five-hole @ May 27 2005, 09:09 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Cheese@May 27 2005, 12:07 PM
Sorry to sound insensitive...but who really cares except other Gay athletes?

You may be surprised to learn that a great deal of people that have nothing to do in particular with gay marriages involve themselves quite seriously with them. [/b][/quote]
And to some of us, sexual orientation and race are such non-issues for us that we don't even think about them....until someone else brings it up anyway. And then we think, why the hell are we STILL talking about this stuff?

BTW....isn't being involved with something quite seriously pretty much the same thing as having a lot to do with something?

[RougeUnderoos]

Originally posted by Displaced Flames fan@May 27 2005, 05:37 PM
And to some of us, sexual orientation and race are such non-issues for us that we don't even think about them....until someone else brings it up anyway.

I'd like to think I'm in that crowd as well, but you gotta admit that an awful lot of people aren't.

I thought it was an interesting story and newsworthy to boot. You and I may think "well who cares if he's gay"? but it is kind of a big deal. Not like he's Jackie Robinson or even Martina Navratilova, but still.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Agreed...but to me, and this may be way off base, the more people point differences out the more steps we take back as a society. Bigots see the attention and it fuels more bigotry. If we suddenly have a black President for example....or maybe a better example....an MVP black QB in the NFL and nobody says "Hey, he's black or hey, he's gay" then the bigots lose. That's my theory anyway.

[Five-hole]

Originally posted by Displaced Flames fan@May 27 2005, 05:13 PM
Agreed...but to me, and this may be way off base, the more people point differences out the more steps we take back as a society. Bigots see the attention and it fuels more bigotry. If we suddenly have a black President for example....or maybe a better example....an MVP black QB in the NFL and nobody says "Hey, he's black or hey, he's gay" then the bigots lose. That's my theory anyway.

I totally agree. The absence of bigotry is when it is as though there is no separation whatsoever. When we don't have to have these kinds of stories anymore is because there is no audience for them...when the entire population of North America (or wherever) goes..."so?"

However, we're clearly, as a species and as a demographic, not at that point. Until that point comes I think these stories serve a purpose; as you increasingly show the tolerance of the average population, I think tolerance amongst the intolerant starts to increase as well.

[octothorp]

I'm kinda bemused by the backlash to this story. I just thought it was interesting how we always hear that most team athletes would never accept a gay within their ranks, but in the instance of this athlete coming out, the opposite was the case. Would the same happen in the major leagues? I would hope so.

It would be great if everyone in our society said "Don't bother talking about your sexual orientation because it's a non-issue." The far more common sentiment is "Don't bother talking about your sexual orientation because people don't want to hear that you're gay." As long as elements of our society create a situation where gays are ashamed, it can only be a positive thing to counter that with tolerance and acceptance.

[TheCommodoreAfro]

Originally posted by Displaced Flames fan@May 28 2005, 09:13 AM
Agreed...but to me, and this may be way off base, the more people point differences out the more steps we take back as a society. Bigots see the attention and it fuels more bigotry. If we suddenly have a black President for example....or maybe a better example....an MVP black QB in the NFL and nobody says "Hey, he's black or hey, he's gay" then the bigots lose. That's my theory anyway.

People who are biggotted exist in a different world. To them their world is the only one that exisits and as those who were previously biggotted learn more about other lifestyles and cultures they move towards being a more caring understanding, person. It's the same thing with culture - most people either identify in very small ways with other cultures (use of chopsticks) or not at all (neo cultural superiority). The more these stories are out there, the more positive exposure it brings, which helps those who didn't know about it before. And sometimes there are stories because there are issues behind the race/struggle to get to their position.