Homophobia in sports :: the search for a gay quarterback
Holding out for a hero?
Other sources interviewed for this story agreed that athletes may be reluctant to serve as the "poster boy" for battling homophobia in sport, particularly given that so many unknowns remain in how that athlete would be treated.
Despite the signs of acceptance in polling data, most polls also find that "gay-friendly" respondents doubt their neighbors would be equally supportive of an openly gay "sports hero." Seventy-two percent of respondents to the Harris/Witeck & Combs poll felt others would be less likely to support a gay athlete, revealing the potential of a third-person effect - respondents may not be as open to the idea as they’d like researchers to believe.
In a study of sports journalists released earlier this year by Hardin, 80 percent of the sampling group of 300 felt a gay professional men’s athlete would not be accepted upon coming out. Sixty-five percent acknowledged they felt homophobia was "a problem" in men’s sports and three of four respondents felt it was never appropriate to question an athlete regarding their sexual orientation.
"It’s a bit of a circular situation," Hardin commented. "If reporters help athletes stay in the closet, then nothing ever gets solved, and it perpetuates the idea that they should remain closeted. That said, I don’t think it’s a reporter’s place to out gay athletes."
And the idea of a hero opening the floodgates to many other athletes coming out of the closet feels like a short-sighted prediction to some.
"There’s a sense that having someone openly gay in a major, high-profile sport would serve as a role model, but I think the idea’s a little far-fetched," Buzinski said. "But I think the visibility would definitely help and the fact that no one feels comfortable enough to come out is telling of the whole situation."
