Gay former basketball star John Amaechi
The issue of homophobia in US sport has long been overlooked, but Huffington Post writer Peter Dreier argues that baseball should be doing more to tackle the issue.
Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color line. Marvin Miller and Curt Flood helped baseball eliminate the last vestiges of economic feudalism. Who will bring baseball out of the closet? In other words, is baseball ready to have an openly gay player?
According to conventional wisdom, a gay teammate would threaten the macho camaraderie that involves constant butt-slapping and the close physical proximity of the locker room.
So while there are no doubt homosexuals currently playing in the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and Major League Baseball, they are deep in the closet.
Some players have come out after they retired. These include NFL players David Kopay, Roy Simmons, and Esera Tuaolo and NBA player John Amaechi. Only two gay former major league baseball players, Glenn Burke and Billy Bean, have come out of the closet.
'Probably ready'
A few years ago, Details magazine quoted Bobby Valentine, then manager of the New York Mets, saying that professional baseball is "probably ready for an openly gay player," adding, "the players are diverse enough now that I think they could handle it."
In 2001, ESPN conducted a poll, asking: "If a player on your favorite professional sports team announced he or she was gay or lesbian, how would this affect your attitude towards that player?"
Only 17 percent said they would turn against the player, 63 percent said it would make no difference, and 20 percent said they would become a bigger fan.
In 2004, the Chicago Tribune conducted a survey of 476 major league players. It discovered that three quarters of the players said that they wouldn't be bothered by having a gay teammate.
In light of changing societal attitudes, it is likely that if a similar survey were done today, that number would be considerably higher.
Support
Almost a decade ago, asked about the likelihood of a gay player coming out of the closet, Philadelphia Phillies manager Larry Bowa told the Associated Press: "If it was me, I'd probably wait until my career was over. I'm sure it would depend on who the player was. If he hits .340, it probably would be easier than if he hits .220.''
Baseball executives certainly recognize that there are plenty of gay--or otherwise sympathetic--baseball fans who would spin the turnstiles to cheer for a homosexual player. Lesbians now constitute a significant segment of the audience for women's pro basketball.
Last year MLB reached a milestone when the Rickets family purchased the Chicago Cubs from the Tribune Company. The family includes Laura Rickets, who not only became MLB's first openly gay owner, but who is also active in the gay rights movement.
No doubt a few of MLB's gay players have considered coming out publicly while still in uniform. Certainly there are gay players in college or in the minor leagues who fantasize about being the gay Jackie Robinson.
But so far they have calculated that the personal or financial costs outweigh the benefits. They fear being ostracized by fellow players, harassed by fans, and perhaps traded--or dropped entirely--by their team's management.
Uncomfortable
There is a strong fundamentalist Christian current within major league baseball, which could make life uncomfortable for the first "out" player. That, in turn, could affect his ability to play to his potential. And, initially at least, an openly gay player might lose some of his commercial endorsements.
Of course, if several gay ballplayers came out simultaneously, no single player would have to confront the abuse (as well as bask in the cheers) on his own, as Robinson did.
In 2003, I wrote an article predicting that we can "expect to see an openly gay major league baseball player by the end of the first decade of the 21st century." That prediction was wrong, of course. But how off base was it?
Sometimes baseball is ahead of society when it comes to social change, and sometimes it lags behind. Americans' attitudes toward homosexuality have changed dramatically in the past decade. Can baseball be too far behind?
Excerpt from the Huffington Post, to read this article in full, please click here.
