FA+
Shop
Michael Sam
11 years ago
I don't post journals much, and clearly I'm way behind on this one. But a guy who's GOING to get drafted in the next NFL draft just came out of the closet. And appropriately, it got a lot of fanfare. But a lot of that attention ended up being the usual negative bullshit, both inside and outside of the gay community. The "why is this a big deal" and "ugh, I don't wanna hear about it" and "who cares, it's just sports". Or my personal favorite: "This guy sucks dick and gets lavish praise?!"
Guess what: it's a BIG FUCKING DEAL.
If you don't like football, or sports in general, that's totally your prerogative. But a lot of people do.The NFL is a multi BILLION dollar industry that influences a huge portion of your everyday life whether you like it or not. Advertising decisions, city planning issues relating to stadium construction and transportation...hell, the medical research being done on CTE relating to concussions in the NFL has the potential to have a tremendous impact on how we treat other neurological diseases like Alzheimer's. So when something big happens in America's overwhelmingly largest sport, it's going to make news. No one is forcing you to read every article and memorize every detail. There won't be a test later. But it's going to be on the news. People are going to talk about it. There are entire sites dedicated to Apple product news, or Magic the Gathering, or, ya know, people who dress up in animal costumes. Go read those instead.
Why is it a big deal? Because gay people aren't treated as equals. We've made huge strides, absolutely, but we have a long fucking way to go. I was born and raised in Virginia. My boss came out of a sexual harassment training meeting once and told me "You know what i learned? I can't fire anyone for being who they are, except for you [Dusk]*!" Cause we don't have protections for firing someone just for being gay in the Commonwealth. The Olympics are happening in a nation where it is illegal to be, or to talk about being, gay.
The only way that is really going to change is if people's perceptions of gays and lesbians change. We can pass all the legislation and enjoy the benefits of all the court rulings that we want, but gays and lesbians will continue to be discriminated against until people's individual views on them start changing. When politicians like Harvey Milk and Bernie Frank started coming out of the closet, it very slowly started to normalize the idea of gays and lesbians serving as elected leaders in our country. When Will and Grace started becoming a hugely popular show, it normalized the idea of having a gay and lesbian character be more than just a stereotype on the side. You had old women in the heartlands watching that show every week laughing and saying "Those f-gg-ts are funny!" until it stopped being about the fact that two of the characters were gay and became about the relationships they had, whatever bits they happened to hide under their pants.
Having an openly gay player in the NFL has the potential to make that change in a whole new area of our culture: professional sports.
Sports are a drug. People are addicted to it in this country. For about 22 weeks, we spend every Sunday, and Monday Night and occasionally a Thursday, obsessing over football. We turn it into a game ourselves through fantasy, which some of us spend hours researching stat lines and news for. We spend hundreds of dollars on tickets, and fake jerseys, and hats, and cable packages so that we can see all the games we want to see. Hell, do you think I'd have cable if it weren't for sports? I can get dramas and comedy and news from 19,000 sources: watching football involves either cable/satellite TV or going to a bar that has...cable/satellite TV.
And a whole bunch of drug addicted sports fans are going to have to deal with the fact that a kid who happens to be gay is playing their sport. And for about 1/32th of that population**, they're going to have to deal with the fact that a kid who happens to be gay is playing on THEIR team. Do you think a Seahawks fan is going to disown the team because they drafted a gay player? How about a Packers fan? Cowboys? Saints? Falcons? I freaking doubt it. That loyalty runs deep. So they're gonna cheer. And suddenly this "gay player" could become "that player who got us a huge win by sacking Drew Brees late on a crucial 4th down conversion."
Homophobia isn't going to go away. Just like racism and sexism and religious persecution aren't going anywhere. But when a major cultural contributor like the NFL gets it's first gay player who is willing to come out and talk about who he is, it paves the way for more folks to do the same, and it helps make it less of a big deal in the future.
And as Matt Ufford said: If you can't recognize a civil rights movement, than at least have the good sense to shut up.
</rant>
*For the record, he was kidding. He was as pro-gay as you get and he was saying it as a joke.
**Yes, I know there are more fans of some football teams than others, I'm not doing that math...
Guess what: it's a BIG FUCKING DEAL.
If you don't like football, or sports in general, that's totally your prerogative. But a lot of people do.The NFL is a multi BILLION dollar industry that influences a huge portion of your everyday life whether you like it or not. Advertising decisions, city planning issues relating to stadium construction and transportation...hell, the medical research being done on CTE relating to concussions in the NFL has the potential to have a tremendous impact on how we treat other neurological diseases like Alzheimer's. So when something big happens in America's overwhelmingly largest sport, it's going to make news. No one is forcing you to read every article and memorize every detail. There won't be a test later. But it's going to be on the news. People are going to talk about it. There are entire sites dedicated to Apple product news, or Magic the Gathering, or, ya know, people who dress up in animal costumes. Go read those instead.
Why is it a big deal? Because gay people aren't treated as equals. We've made huge strides, absolutely, but we have a long fucking way to go. I was born and raised in Virginia. My boss came out of a sexual harassment training meeting once and told me "You know what i learned? I can't fire anyone for being who they are, except for you [Dusk]*!" Cause we don't have protections for firing someone just for being gay in the Commonwealth. The Olympics are happening in a nation where it is illegal to be, or to talk about being, gay.
The only way that is really going to change is if people's perceptions of gays and lesbians change. We can pass all the legislation and enjoy the benefits of all the court rulings that we want, but gays and lesbians will continue to be discriminated against until people's individual views on them start changing. When politicians like Harvey Milk and Bernie Frank started coming out of the closet, it very slowly started to normalize the idea of gays and lesbians serving as elected leaders in our country. When Will and Grace started becoming a hugely popular show, it normalized the idea of having a gay and lesbian character be more than just a stereotype on the side. You had old women in the heartlands watching that show every week laughing and saying "Those f-gg-ts are funny!" until it stopped being about the fact that two of the characters were gay and became about the relationships they had, whatever bits they happened to hide under their pants.
Having an openly gay player in the NFL has the potential to make that change in a whole new area of our culture: professional sports.
Sports are a drug. People are addicted to it in this country. For about 22 weeks, we spend every Sunday, and Monday Night and occasionally a Thursday, obsessing over football. We turn it into a game ourselves through fantasy, which some of us spend hours researching stat lines and news for. We spend hundreds of dollars on tickets, and fake jerseys, and hats, and cable packages so that we can see all the games we want to see. Hell, do you think I'd have cable if it weren't for sports? I can get dramas and comedy and news from 19,000 sources: watching football involves either cable/satellite TV or going to a bar that has...cable/satellite TV.
And a whole bunch of drug addicted sports fans are going to have to deal with the fact that a kid who happens to be gay is playing their sport. And for about 1/32th of that population**, they're going to have to deal with the fact that a kid who happens to be gay is playing on THEIR team. Do you think a Seahawks fan is going to disown the team because they drafted a gay player? How about a Packers fan? Cowboys? Saints? Falcons? I freaking doubt it. That loyalty runs deep. So they're gonna cheer. And suddenly this "gay player" could become "that player who got us a huge win by sacking Drew Brees late on a crucial 4th down conversion."
Homophobia isn't going to go away. Just like racism and sexism and religious persecution aren't going anywhere. But when a major cultural contributor like the NFL gets it's first gay player who is willing to come out and talk about who he is, it paves the way for more folks to do the same, and it helps make it less of a big deal in the future.
And as Matt Ufford said: If you can't recognize a civil rights movement, than at least have the good sense to shut up.
</rant>
*For the record, he was kidding. He was as pro-gay as you get and he was saying it as a joke.
**Yes, I know there are more fans of some football teams than others, I'm not doing that math...
That thing you retweeted this morning about Ellen Page, about her announcement being for all the "lonely queer kids" is just as true of Sam's statement for all the kids who might not think they can play football, or any other sport. It's hugely liberating for teens in the locker room that are realizing things about themselves and are scared to show it because they're afraid of being unwelcome. I was one of those kids. Hell, I'm still in the closet, so I still am. But it's emboldening to see other people show that courage and show that it's ok, and it's going to open doors for a lot of kids who thought they were locked.