Homophobia in sport

[Graeme]

For those who participated in the Out on the Fields survey, the first results have been reported.

 

Study shows gay athletes face rampant homophobia

 

While the newspaper article's headline is stating the bleeding obvious, the details are more interesting. I had to cringe when I read about the eighteen-year-old who was voted off his rugby team by his so-called teammates....

 

What I'm waiting for is to see how much things have changed over time. That survey was looking at any homophobia at any time. Has it gotten better recently? Still waiting, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[Bill W]

I find it sad that so many men are so insecure with their own sexuality that they feel they have to 'attack' gays, either physically or verbally,. to prove their manhood.  Maybe it's an extension of the old childhood axiom that 'my dad can beat up your dad' has evolved into.  Now, it's 'I'm more manly than you because you're gay.'  Many women like to complain that most men never grow up, so hopefully this is one area that they'll eventually reach maturity. 

[TetRefine]

Locker room culture is all about establishing dominance and bravado. Homophobia and gay-bashing is just one tool used for this, among many other things. I could seriously probably write an entire sociology/psychology textbook on my experience on my high school football team and how the dynamics of the locker room worked out. 

[Ashi]

Locker room culture is all about establishing dominance and bravado. Homophobia and gay-bashing is just one tool used for this, among many other things. I could seriously probably write an entire sociology/psychology textbook on my experience on my high school football team and how the dynamics of the locker room worked out. 

 

Oh, please write it.  And make it juicy to read....

[TetRefine]

Oh, please write it.  And make it juicy to read....

 

Oh I could definitely make it juicy. Especially after learning in the years since high school that some of them were total homos with secrets. 

[Y_B]

Not surprising and it probably won't get better.

 

You're talking about a group of adolescent boys who are at the height of their egos. High school major sports athletes aren't coincidentally some of the cockiest and potentially mean spirited people you will encounter because at that age, they have no sense of real humanity or social responsibility but rather just inflated senses of self-importance based strictly on the fact that they are young, hot, talented and have their whole lives ahead of them. One of the most intimate ways teenage boys bond is by sharing a love of girls or girl-chasing. Not much else will seal the deal better for good camaraderie than a shared love for the sport they play and girls they like. Sometimes the sport itself will be significant enough where nothing else really matters but more often than not, this won't be the case, at least not when you're talking about a team of 17-18 year olds. I don't see how many people at that life stage can really accept an openly gay person into their inner circle when so much is enabling them to think they don't need to. The verbal/physical abuse is kinda sad though.