Athletes/Pro Sports Personnel Who Have Come Out

[HarleyQuinn]

So we've had a few "big" names come out lately (e.g. the last couple years) in NBA Player Jason Collins and NFL Hopeful Michael Sam.

Interesting that more players are coming out albeit 'after' their careers have ended. It's always disappointing seeing these athletes say, "I wish I had come out from day one," only to come out after they've retired/ended their careers signaling to other athletes that they should continue that precedent.

Retired Minor League Baseball Player Jason Burch Comes Out

"Looking back, I wish I had told the whole world that I'm gay from day one. That feeling of being relied upon, that people must turn to you as a closer to make things right, to have that role - and to have people have that feeling about me in that role - as a gay man, I think that would have been a powerful message. If we are talking about changing people's opinions, I do think that would have been a powerful message. But I wasn't really thinking about that at the time."

Burch quit baseball in 2008 and received a law degree a few years later. He's now practicing law in Chicago and has been with his partner since 2012.

Also umpire Dale Scott came out recently and will be the first openly gay umpire in baseball.

Not necessarily an outing but the Detroit Red Wings are hosting the Boston Bruins on their 2nd ever LGBT Pride Night on 4/2/2015

 

[devo]

Glenn Burke, who (if the Atlantic is to be believed) was out while he played in MLB from '76 to '79.

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/05/actually-jason-collins-isnt-the-first-openly-gay-man-in-a-major-pro-sport/275523/

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Umass' SG Derrick Gordon Came Out in 2014

Worth noting as he's playing as a RS Senior this year.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, and Tampa Bay Rays are among 400 corporations to sign an amicus supporting gay marriage nationwide.

Erskine College (in South Carolinan) Issued a Policy/Statement denouncing homosexuality under the 'veil' of sexual relations outside of marriage. This a year after two athletes came out as gay.

Last year we featured the stories of Drew Davis and Juan Varona, two gay Erskine College volleyball players who had found acceptance from their teammates in the small school in rural South Carolina. After we wrote about them the team went on to the NCAA tournament, one of only six teams in the country to appear in the postseason.

 

[Angle-plex]

What is the ETA on Aaron Rodgers coming out?

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Shannon Miller, coach of 5 National Championships in Women's Hockey at Minnesota-Duluth is claiming that she encountered homophobia (along with other lesbian coaches) that partly led to her ousting. Interesting read.

Craig James, the guy who led Mike Leach's ousting at Texas Tech, said Patriots signing the bill was "work of Satan"... wow.

if I were a current player in that locker room and my livelihood depended on me being quiet or losing it (livelihood) because of my belief system, I worry, I wonder. So, that’s Satan working on us.

 

[MFer]

http://www.outsports.com/2015/4/1/8316867/dalton-maldonado-gay-basketball-kentucky

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Shame to see that story but not at all surprising given it is Kentucky. And people wonder why pro athletes don't come out/LGBT come out and fear for their lives when they come out to family let alone strangers.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Pretty Damning Article about Lack of Prominent Out Athletes

Two years ago, on April 29, 2013, Jason Collins came out as an openly gay NBA player and it seemed as if sports had changed for good.

For those keeping score, here are the totals of openly gay male athletes in pro team sports as of today (4/29/15):
NBA: 0
MLB: 0
NFL: 0
NHL: 0
MLS: 1 (Robbie Rogers)

Pretty sad article about an athlete facing repercussions coming out at a Christian college

Every time I talked with him over the last week there was a pep in his voice, a joy in his instant messages. He carries himself on social media with incredible dignity and courage. He even calls me "sir." He had found so much acceptance among his fellow students at the school that the initial fear of their reaction - of anyone's reaction - to his coming out faded. He was ready to share his joy with the world.

"I'm excited for the outcome," he messaged me on Facebook Monday morning.

On Monday afternoon, 36 hours before the story was to run, I got a very different phone call from the athlete. He was crying. He was apologetic. He was shaken. The reality that his devoutly Christian school might pull his scholarship or kick him out of school had gotten to him and his family. He had been looking forward to today for the last two weeks, but suddenly he had to request we not run his story or mention his name for fear of retaliation from his school.

"I don't know what the school will do," he said, his voice quivering. All of the joy was gone. "I have no control over how the school will react.

 

[Mickey Massuco]

Good links, posting them lets people know (including myself) that we take certain 'milestones' for granted and that there's still a long way to go.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Pretty damning article from a minor league pitcher drafted in 2014 who quit due to clubroom homophobia: http://www.outsports.com/2016/3/16/11243142/gay-baseball-cardinals-tyler-dunnington

Entire article is worth the read but here's a choice passage.

Then his career took off at Division II Colorado Mesa College. Keeping his sexual orientation from his teams, he heard homophobic language in the locker room, the members of the teams having no idea there was a gay man in their midst. While his overall experiences with each team were positive, the anti-gay comments didn't help.

It was comments from a member of one of the coaching staffs - yes, a coach - that have lingered with him the longest. Somehow chatter one day brewed about gay people, and the coach made a bragging reference to the brutal murder of Matthew Shepard.

"We kill gay people in Wyoming," the college coach said.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Ryan O'Callaghan, former offensive lineman in the NFL, came out to OutSports

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Kansas State OL Scott Frantz Comes Out joining Arizona's DE My-King Johnson as two current gay CFB players.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Old thread but notable given the recent coming out of Carl Nassib.

Luke Prokop, Nashville Predators NHL Prospect, Comes Out as Gay