Yeah, I was gonna say, that's really not a good analogy.

1/4/2013 4:43:13 PM

Don't forget the public schools and water fountains that segregate based on sexual orientation.

1/4/2013 6:23:27 PM

Remember those days when police would use fire hoses and German shepards on the gays

1/4/2013 6:30:58 PM

Owning gays as slaves is wrong. I'll come out and say it.

1/4/2013 6:46:56 PM

I just mean being a social hero has never been a reason not to do something in professional sports.

1/4/2013 7:28:50 PM

49ers cornerback Chris Culliver:

Quote :

""I don't do the gay guys man," said Culliver, whose team face the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at Super Bowl XLVII. "I don't do that. No, we don't got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do. Can't be with that sweet stuff. Nah … can't be with that sweet stuff in the locker room man. Nah""

And after he got called out on it he tried to play it off like he was making a joke.

Quote :

""I was really not thinking. Or, something I thought, but not something that I feel in my heart. I'm sorry that I offended anyone. They were very ugly comments, and that's not what I feel in my heart. Hopefully, I can learn and grow from this experience and this situation. I love San Francisco."

2/1/2013 6:01:46 AM

i don't think that's playing it off like a joke


i think he made a stupid comment off the cuff with some false sense of bravado thrown in there... and after getting called on it, retracted his statements.



as to how he truly is, he's probably not the monster everyone wants him to be - we've all said stupid things that we don't REALLY believe in our hearts... granted, not in front of the media, but still.

2/1/2013 7:29:13 AM

I would say that Culliver's comments are how a majority of team sport athletes feel. The only reason he retracted it was because the team told him to. Homosexuality is still a big taboo in the African American community especially with athletes.

I still think no team sport pro athlete in the next 5-10 years will ever come out publicly until after they have retired because of several factors.

1. He will be the expected to be the torch bearer for LGBT groups everywhere
2. The media will ask him about his sexual orientation constantly instead of what he accomplishes on the field/court
3. Ridicule in locker room
4. Abuse from opposing fans.

2/1/2013 8:36:46 AM

interesting note...Chris Culliver went to Garner HS and NC State offered him a scholly

2/1/2013 8:38:38 AM

did anyone give a guess on how many players are currently in the 3 major sports?

2/1/2013 8:42:59 AM

Statistically speaking, it's probably around two hundred.

2/1/2013 11:29:23 AM

On style alone, Russell Westbrook is with that sweet stuff.

2/1/2013 11:35:41 AM

Quote :

"In the June/July 2002 issue of Details magazine, then-New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine said he believed baseball was ready for an openly gay player. The New York Post, as they so often do, ran with it and wondered aloud if Valentine’s remarks were preparing everyone for one of his own players to come out. From the May 20, 2002 New York Post: There is a persistent rumor around town that one Mets star who spends a lot of time with pretty models in clubs is actually gay and has started to think about declaring his sexual orientation. Amidst swirling rumors that the gay player is him, the next day New York Met catcher Mike Piazza held a press conference to declare, “I’m not gay. I’m heterosexual.” And in doing so made many think he is in fact gay. Piazza’s comments that day were actually rather respectful. He agreed with Valentine that baseball players, nine years ago, would accept a gay teammate: In this day and age, it’s irrelevant. I don’t think it would be a problem at all."

2/1/2013 2:31:51 PM

From the Sports Illustrated super bowl preview issue at a gay sports bar:



[Edited on February 1, 2013 at 9:26 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2013 9:26:03 PM

the 'funniest' thing about Culliver is he plays for the 49ers, the San Francisco 49ers, ie the city that is the most homosexual 'friendly' of probably any city in the US

wonder if he gets cut on saturday night...its not like he's Carlos Rogers

[Edited on February 1, 2013 at 9:40 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2013 9:40:03 PM

You can get gay married in Baltimore (& DC), but not in San Francisco, between that, and comments like those referenced, I've heard that there are suddenly a lot more Ravens fans in the LGBT community. That, and this:







[Edited on February 1, 2013 at 10:19 PM. Reason : .]

2/1/2013 10:17:16 PM

Quote :

"San Francisco 49ers, ie the city that is the most homosexual 'friendly' of probably any city in the US"

SF and Boston are definitely the top 2.

Everytime crap like this gets said it will keep delaying the first professional athlete coming out, and keep younger folks (teenagers) who are already out from wanting to join sports teams.

There's a very arts vs. sports as rivals culture in America right now and I hate it.

2/2/2013 4:42:02 AM

right now? dude: beginning of time

2/2/2013 8:51:40 AM

Boston?


So you're telling me one of the most racist cities in the country is also one of the most gay-friendly?


Somehow I don't believe it.

2/2/2013 10:00:40 AM

Quote :

"There's a very arts vs. sports as rivals culture in America right now and I hate it."

I'd like to see your evidence for this. For one, there's nothing about arts in this conversation. Gay people aren't automatically artistic, and the idea that they are is just as silly as the idea that they're all "swishy."

Aside from that, and more to your point, there are tons of notable musicians, writers, and artists who are huge sports fans. Artistic folks tend to be very passionate, so those who dislike sports tend to be very demonstrative about how much they don't care, but that doesn't mean that the two are mutually exclusive.

Example: the N&O ran articles on the Hurricanes last year by Mac McCaughan, the leader of Superchunk and owner of Merge Records in Durham (a nationally and internationally recognized label).

Jocks hate nerds, and vice versa, but that's more about the lack of understanding and polarization amongst teenagers than some vast "sports or arts: pick one" dichotomy in our culture. Mature adults can and do embrace both, and there's no movement in sports to not be artsy or vice versa.

[Edited on February 2, 2013 at 1:06 PM. Reason : 33]

2/2/2013 12:57:08 PM

That was a sidebar that didn't have anything to do with the gay conversation, just about sports participation. My fault for not clarifying, this wasn't the place to start that conversation.

But to clarify, I have been working with teenagers for the past 8 years and have seen a very clear trend that they feel that they can either A)join the baseball/basketball/football/vollyball/etc team, or B) be in the theater or band. There is very little crossover if ever.

2/2/2013 3:42:53 PM

More often than not it is literally impossible to do both things at once in school.

2/2/2013 4:12:26 PM

That has much more to do with time commitment than a culture rivalry.

When band and football both practice before AND after school, you have to pick one or the other.

2/2/2013 4:37:31 PM

Yeah, I didn't have a choice. I would have been really good at football, but noone ever asked and I started band really early and just stuck with it.

2/2/2013 6:46:30 PM

So Culliver apparently has to attend "Sensitivity Training" after the SuperBowl. I think it would be hilarious if a bunch of gay teenagers ganged up on him and made fun of him for being an illiterate moron while he's there

2/2/2013 10:09:34 PM

bdmazur:

Quote :

"SF and Boston are definitely the top 2."

AxlBonBach:

Quote :

"Boston?"

Marriage equality has been a reality in Boston for 9 years (by far the longest of anywhere in the country). It was legal in San Francisco for about 3 months in 2008.

2/3/2013 12:31:04 PM

Quote :

"I still think no team sport pro athlete in the next 5-10 years will ever come out publicly until after they have retired because of several factors."

lol

4/29/2013 11:55:01 AM

Quote :

"this thread is gay"

My only comments:
1) Who gives a fuck?
2) Why couldn't it have been Hansdouche?

[Edited on April 29, 2013 at 12:33 PM. Reason : I guess it will be funny watching all the blacks refuse to shower with him now. Let the circus begin]

[Edited on April 29, 2013 at 12:33 PM. Reason : s]

4/29/2013 12:32:06 PM

EXCELLENT

BALL

HANDLER

4/29/2013 12:33:58 PM

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/magazine/news/20130429/jason-collins-gay-nba-player/

Quote :

"Why NBA center Jason Collins is coming out now I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay. I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand. My journey of self-discovery and self-acknowledgement began in my hometown of Los Angeles and has taken me through two state high school championships, the NCAA Final Four and the Elite Eight, and nine playoffs in 12 NBA seasons."

Quote :

"I realized I needed to go public when Joe Kennedy, my old roommate at Stanford and now a Massachusetts congressman, told me he had just marched in Boston's 2012 Gay Pride Parade. I'm seldom jealous of others, but hearing what Joe had done filled me with envy. I was proud of him for participating but angry that as a closeted gay man I couldn't even cheer my straight friend on as a spectator."

4/29/2013 12:36:07 PM

good for Jason Collins

4/29/2013 12:39:33 PM

Lebron is next

4/29/2013 12:54:42 PM

for some reason it's bit surprising to me that this is a 7' Center. I guess that's just a stereotype though.

4/29/2013 12:54:48 PM

He's probably a bottom

4/29/2013 12:57:09 PM

the comments section on ESPN is frustrating. usually I don't mind homophobia, because everybody is entitled to their opinion, but some of these folks are trying way too hard

4/29/2013 1:09:57 PM

http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/29/sport/collins-gay/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

Quote :

"Bill Clinton called the announcement an "important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community.""

Quote :

"Active players posted their approval on Twitter. The Los Angeles Lakers' Kobe Bryant said: "Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don't suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others." Steve Nash, also a Laker, said: "The time has come. Maximum respect." A few athletes have come out as gay after they've left professional sports. One is John Amaechi, a former NBA player."

Quote :

"In 2005, Sheryl Swoopes -- a top player in the WNBA, the women's pro league -- announced she was gay."

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/29/17971190-nba-center-jason-collins-comes-out-im-black-and-im-gay?lite

Quote :

"Phoenix Suns president Rick Welts came out in a newspaper article two years ago. NFL linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo said in April he knew of several players who were gay. NFL punter Chris Kluwe signed on to a Supreme Court brief supporting gay marriage."

Here's a list of nearly 200 other openly gay folks connected to athetlics:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lesbian,_gay,_bisexual,_and_transgender_sportspeople

Here's a CNN photo scrolling list of gay athletes:
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/16/worldsport/gallery/gay-athletes/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

There are plenty of openly gay former athletes, plenty of openly gay athletes and Olympians from around the world, but if you limit it to men, limit it to the US, and limit it to currently active players, this is still an important first, while building on a lot of others.

4/29/2013 1:17:44 PM

tough to compare a athlete on an NBA roster coming out to a retired tennis player or a gymnast. although he's by no means a star, he's still a recognizable name in a widely-followed sport.

this is pretty huge and much more groundbreaking than any of the 200+ people on those lists

4/29/2013 1:59:36 PM

Now we wait to see who picks him up. I hope Boston does. It's a progressive town, and still a high profile organization.

4/29/2013 2:00:00 PM

Being afraid of homosexuals seems like a weird phobia. I'm afraid of spiders.

4/29/2013 2:23:27 PM

This homo is a hero, not for social activism via twitter, but for interrupting 24/7 Tim Tebow coverage on ESPN.

4/29/2013 3:13:00 PM

^ +1 for Gay Collins

what if they're gay spiders who want to get married

talk about scary

[Edited on April 29, 2013 at 3:16 PM. Reason : 1]

4/29/2013 3:16:05 PM

Quote :

"the comments section on ESPN is frustrating. usually I don't mind homophobia, because everybody is entitled to their opinion own retarded, hateful bigotry , but some of these folks are trying way too hard"

FTFY

4/29/2013 3:20:41 PM

Baby steps in the right direction when a gay journeyman player gets more airtime than a waste of space who happens to be Christian.

4/29/2013 3:41:22 PM

Tebow is going to come out next

4/29/2013 3:42:37 PM

He loves the limelight, so why not? He'd be the first, obnoxiously outspoken gay Christian to come out in the NFL

4/29/2013 4:03:37 PM

Tebow's only fans are in the evangelical community. If he came out he'd have none left.

Gays would never cheer him on in a game.

4/29/2013 4:08:18 PM

2 pages and still troll-free. I am disappoint

4/29/2013 4:14:36 PM

Wasn't Kobe fined for calling a ref a faggot last year? Now some token tweet in support because everyone has to be PC because if you're an NBA icon and don't congratulate Collins you will look like a homophobic bigot.

4/29/2013 5:09:20 PM

This isn't the first time he has made supportive comments: http://www.bet.com/news/celebrities/2013/04/04/kobe-bryant-praises-magic-johnson-for-supporting-gay-son.html

4/29/2013 5:11:38 PM

Set these queers up

4/29/2013 5:16:12 PM