Homosexuality in sports in the United States

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The homosexual sports community in the United States, like the LGBT rights in the United States, enjoys one of the highest levels of acceptance and support in the world.[1][2][3] A vibrant and rapidly growing community, it is enjoying an exponential growth.[4][5] The public opinion and jurisprudence has changed significantly since the late 1980s;[6][7] by the early 2020s, an overwhelming majority of Americans approved of the legality of same-sex marriages.[6]

Researcher Eric Anderson found "more openly gay runners and swimmers than football and baseball players."[8] He then hypothesized that this occurred because gay men likely abandoned the more macho sports in favor of sports that were more accepting of homosexuality.[8] In 2006, a Sports Illustrated poll of roughly 1,400 professional athletes found that a majority would be willing to accept a gay teammate. Although an aggressive and often violent sport, professional ice hockey (NHL) athletes seemed to be the most accepting of such teammates as 80% of its players approved of having a gay teammate.[8]

Individual sports[edit]

A member of the United States women's national soccer team, Megan Rapinoe, came out in 2012. Several other members and alumni of the team, including Adrianna Franch, Tierna Davidson, Abby Wambach, Sarah Huffman, Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger, are also openly homosexual. Harris and Krieger are a couple; Wambach and Huffman were once married but have since divorced.

In 2013, soccer's Robbie Rogers and basketball's Jason Collins publicly came out as gay.[9] Several athletes[who?] declared their support for both Rogers and Collins; also President Barack Obama contacted both athletes offering his support.[10] Thierry Henry, at the time playing in Major League Soccer, was quoted in a column for New York Daily News as saying "he (Rogers) is a human being, first of all. And that’s good enough."[10] Rogers then made his historic debut for the Los Angeles Galaxy in May 2013 and became the first openly gay male athlete to compete on a professional sporting team in North America.[10] In basketball, Sheryl Swoopes came out in 2005, Brittney Griner came out in 2013, and Elena Delle Donne came out in 2016.[11]

In 2014, Michael Sam, an openly gay college football player, was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in the 2014 NFL Draft, becoming both the first openly gay National Football League athlete and the first athlete in any sport to be drafted into a major league while already openly gay (rather than coming out after they were already playing in the league). In June 2021, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out as gay via Instagram.[12]

In 2002, the National Gay Flag Football League was founded.[13]

Golf[edit]

In 1996, Muffin Spencer-Devlin became the first LPGA player to come out as gay.[14]

In 2018, Tadd Fujikawa came out as gay, becoming the first male professional golfer to do so.[15][16]

Pool[edit]

In 1974, the LA Union Thursday Pool League was established as the first gay competitive pool league in the United States.[citation needed]

Squash[edit]

In 2018, Todd Harrity came out as gay, thus becoming the first openly gay professional male squash player in the world. At the time he was ranked No. 1 in the United States out of all male squash players.[17][18]

Tennis[edit]

American tennis player Billie Jean King acknowledged her relationship with Marilyn Barnett when it became public in a May 1981 palimony lawsuit filed by Barnett, making Billie Jean the first prominent female professional athlete in the world to come out.[19]

Naturalized U.S. citizen Martina Navratilova was openly lesbian while still playing tennis, as was Billie Jean King, though previously married.

Wrestling[edit]

In 1982, the West Hollywood Wrestling Club was organized as the first gay competitive wrestling team in the United States.[citation needed]

Team sports[edit]

See also: Homosexuality in American football

Basketball[edit]

In 2002, Sue Wicks came out as gay, making her the first openly gay person playing in the WNBA.[20]

In 2014, openly gay basketball player Jason Collins played for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA, making him the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues.[21][22][23]

Flag football[edit]

In 2002, the National Gay Flag Football League was founded.[13]

Football[edit]

See also: Homosexuality in American football

In 1975, former football player David Kopay became the first professional athlete from a major team to come out.[24]

Football player Alissa Wykes of the Philadelphia Liberty Belles became one of the first active American athletes to publicly come out as gay when she announced that she was a lesbian in an article in the December 2001/January 2002 edition of Sports Illustrated for Women.[25][26][27]

In 2021, Carl Nassib came out as gay, making him the first openly gay player in the National Football League.[28]

Hockey[edit]

In 1985, the Los Angeles Blades was organized as the first gay hockey team in the United States.[29]

In 2021, Canadian Luke Prokop, who was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, became the first active player signed to a National Hockey League contract to come out as gay.[30][31][32]

Rugby[edit]

In 1998, the Washington Renegades RFC was formed as the first gay rugby team in the United States.[33]

Soccer[edit]

In 2013, Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay man to compete in a top North American professional sports league when he played his first match for the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer.[34][35][36]

Many female professional soccer players have been openly gay while actively playing for American teams, such as superstars Joanna Lohman[37][38] and Megan Rapinoe.[39][40][41]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Each of America’s big 5 sports currently has an out gay man in the pros. That’s never happened before
  2. ^ Meet the LGBTQ+ Athletes Participating in the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games
  3. ^ Meet the openly LGBT athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games, from Asya Miller and Monique Matthews to Laurie Williams
  4. ^ Derks, Marco; van den Berg, Mariecke (2020). Public Discourses About Homosexuality and Religion in Europe and Beyond. Springer International Publishing. p. 338. ISBN 9783030563264. ...(the United States and [Western] Europe) as "already in crisis" for their permissive attitudes toward nonnormative sexualities...
  5. ^ Leveille, Dan (December 4, 2009). "LGBT Equality Index: The most LGBT-friendly countries in the world". Equaldex. Retrieved January 26, 2023. 13.) United States
  6. ^ a b Garretson, Jeremiah (2018). "A Transformed Society: LGBT Rights in the United States". The Path to Gay Rights: How Activism and Coming Out Changed Public Opinion. New York University Press. ISBN 9781479850075. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a dramatic wave began to form in the waters of public opinion: American attitudes involving homosexuality began to change... The transformation of America's response to homosexuality has been — and continues to be — one of the most rapid and sustained shifts in mass attitudes since the start of public polling.
  7. ^ McCarthy, Justin (June 1, 2022). "Same-Sex Marriage Support Inches Up to New High of 71%". Gallup, Inc. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
  8. ^ a b c Anderson, E. (2011). "Masculinities and Sexualities in Sport and Physical Cultures: Three Decades of Evolving Research". Journal of Homosexuality. 58 (5): 565–578. doi:10.1080/00918369.2011.563652. PMID 21534070.
  9. ^ Slater, J. (2013-09-17). "Openly Gay Male Athletes Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers, and Orlando Cruz struggling for impact". Huffington Post.
  10. ^ a b c Bondy, Stefan (2013-05-18). "Landon Donovan says Robbie Rogers' decision to go public with his sexuality 'must have been overwhelmingly good for him". New York Daily.
  11. ^ Hine, Chris; Thompson, Phil (August 3, 2016). "Elena Delle Donne engaged, comes out: 'I'm not at all going to hide anything'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  12. ^ Belson, Ken (June 21, 2021). "Raiders' Carl Nassib Announces He's Gay, an N.F.L. First". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  13. ^ a b Sastre, Sole (2016-06-28). "South Africa's rugby team Jozi Cats defy gay stereotypes". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
  14. ^ Garrity, John; Nutt, Amy (March 18, 1996). "No More Disguises - Muffin Spencer-Devlin stands tall in her chosen role: the first LPGA player to declare she's gay". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
  15. ^ Rudolph, Christopher (September 12, 2018). "Pro Golfer Tadd Fujiwaka Comes Out as Gay". NewNowNext.
  16. ^ Dethier, Dylan (2018-09-12). "Tadd Fujikawa becomes first male pro golfer to come out as gay". Golf. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
  17. ^ Buzinski, Jim (April 30, 2018). "Top American pro squash player Todd Harrity comes out as gay". Outsports.
  18. ^ Todd Harrity (2018-04-28). "Todd Harrity on Twitter: "‌ "". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
  19. ^ Hingston, Sandy (June 17, 2011). "Billie Jean King: Racquet Revolutionary – Page 4 of 5 – Philadelphia Magazine". Philadelphia Magazine. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
  20. ^ II, Howard Nixon (July 24, 2015). Sport in a Changing World. Routledge. ISBN 9781317383789 – via Google Books.
  21. ^ Pincus, Eric (February 23, 2014). "Lakers' rally falls short in 108–102 loss to Nets". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
  22. ^ "Openly gay basketballer Jason Collins signs landmark NBA deal with Brooklyn Nets". The Sydney Morning Herald. AFP. February 24, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014.
  23. ^ Mazzeo, Mike (February 23, 2014). "Rapid Reaction: Nets 108, Lakers 102". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014.
  24. ^ Naito, Jon (December 2008). "Husky legend and gay icon David Kopay is at peace and at home". University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  25. ^ Bonham, Mark S. (2017). Lesbian Football/Soccer Players. Bonham & Company. pp. 96–97. ISBN 978-0993960031. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
  26. ^ DuLong, Jessica (19 February 2002). "Out in the field: pro footballer Alissa Wykes talks about breaking new ground for out lesbian athletes--and the flak she's gotten along the way". The Advocate. pp. 32–35. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
  27. ^ Rothaus, Steve (April 28, 2003). "Ex-Padre shows pride out of the closet". The Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. ^ Middlehurst-Schwartz, Michael. "Raiders' Carl Nassib comes out as first openly gay active NFL player". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  29. ^ “About Us.” Los Angeles Blades, 2020, www.bladeshockey.com/.
  30. ^ Kaplan, Emily (19 July 2021). "Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop says he is gay, hopes living 'authentic life' helps NHL career". ESPN. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
  31. ^ Kaplan, Emily (July 19, 2021). "Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop says he is gay, hopes living 'authentic life' helps NHL career". ESPN. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  32. ^ Hernandez, Joe (2021-07-19). "NHL Prospect Luke Prokop Makes History As League's First Gay Player". NPR. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
  33. ^ Majores, Kevin. “Nice and Rough.” Washington Blade, 15 Feb. 2013, www.washingtonblade.com/2013/02/15/nice-and-rough/.
  34. ^ Witz, Billy (May 27, 2013). "Milestone for Gay Athletes as Rogers Plays for Galaxy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
  35. ^ Lalas, Greg; Firchau, Nick (May 25, 2013). "It's official: Robbie Rogers joins LA Galaxy; Chicago Fire get postseason hero Mike Magee in exchange". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
  36. ^ "Los Angeles Galaxy (1996–present)". Sports E-cyclopedia. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
  37. ^ "Joanna".
  38. ^ Pittman, Sam (June 17, 2022). "Washington Spirit Signs Six National Team Replacement Players » Washington Spirit".
  39. ^ "Soccer star Megan Rapinoe comes out - Windy City Times News". Windy City Times. July 3, 2012.
  40. ^ "Reign's Megan Rapinoe voted NWSL player of week". News Tribune. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
  41. ^ "China and Seattle Reign FC played on the cusp of a women's soccer revival". May 28, 2015.
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