openly gay and lesbian athletes?

[Flumpy]

I don't understand half of you post but obviously I'm not saying they shouldn't come out I'm just saying that there are very few circumstances in which the such information would be publicised.

I have no idea about the private lives of the vast majority of athletes that I watch on a regular basis. My point was that there could be loads of gaylords out there who aren't 'in the closet' but have just seen no reason to announce the fact to the world.

[mump boy]

ammended i was writing on my phone

my point is that you shouldn't have to 'come out' as if it was something furtive and shameful, especially if you're not 'in the closet'. There is a conspiracy of silence around homosexuality that is perpetuated by the idea that nobody can speak about it. I know of at least 2 US athletes who are 'out' and i believe at one stage in a relationship (they may still be for all i know) but it would be considered innaporopriate to post it here or ask then in an interview. Heteresexual relationships are not held to the same standard. This thought process is exemplified by the fact that this topic is hidden away in the free speach forum

[trevorp]

... so many conservatives in the US are anti-homosexual and push the government to ban gay marriage ...

People are perfectly entitled to dislike homosexuality or find it distasteful. I like to know where people stand. This is why political correctness is so corrosive: one can never be sure that what people say is what they truly believe. I generally trust conservatives more than liberals in this regard. Here in Europe, the identity-obsessed Left banged on about gay rights ad nauseam (not really doing us any favours or winning us any friends) but then dropped us like hot potatoes when 'Islamophobia' was invented: their 'support' of us was not genuine but ideological. (Their new playmates are anything but liberal, but this doesn't seem to be a problem. Go figure.) Many gay (and other minority) people will have had a similar experience on a personal level: being worn like a badge to show how open-minded your 'friend' is.

Anyone thinks that 'gay' isn't still a significant stigma is not in touch with Middle America, where 'faggot' or 'that's so gay' still flourishes.

I've never understood this disdain for 'Middle America', whether by that you mean the allegedly unsophisticated inhabitants of 'flyover country' or the American middle class. Do you really believe that Middle America is a more dangerous place for me than the inner-city, parts of London or my home town - or, further afield, the Caribbean, significant portions of Africa, or almost anywhere in the Islamic world?

Apologies for going slightly off-topic.

[Avante]

What's with the parades? Gays/lesbians have this need to..."look we are different"....why?

Let's be honest...ok? Star QB has just won the Superbowl, his lover another guy runs over and they embrace and kiss, I gotta be honest.....yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something tells me I gotta be cool with that or I suffer from some sort of phobia/problem etc.....right? I can't just think two guys kissing is....yuck!...can I?

[Marlow]

I've never understood this disdain for 'Middle America', whether by that you mean the allegedly unsophisticated inhabitants of 'flyover country' or the American middle class. Do you really believe that Middle America is a more dangerous place for me than the inner-city, parts of London or my home town - or, further afield, the Caribbean, significant portions of Africa, or almost anywhere in the Islamic world? Apologies for going slightly off-topic.

Go into any Wal-mart and you will find Middle America (yes, I shop there too, and am certainly white-bread, but with some Left Coast aberrant ideological issues (ask lonewolf! ). Middle America is absolutely harmless. It hates the KKK as much as it does Black Panthers (not that either even exist in any meaningful way any more). It barks a lot, but never bites. it understands that it shouldn't be offended by gay behavior (see Avante's post just above), but can't help itself.

[mump boy]

What's with the parades? Gays/lesbians have this need to..."look we are different"....why?

Let's be honest...ok? Star QB has just won the Superbowl, his lover another guy runs over and they embrace and kiss, I gotta be honest.....yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something tells me I gotta be cool with that or I suffer from some sort of phobia/problem etc.....right? I can't just think two guys kissing is....yuck!...can I?

What you think is of no consequence at all but if you were to try and legislate to take away people's civil rights or advocate policies that encourage intolerance and violence towards certain sections of society then that is very problematic.

There are plenty of things that i think are 'yuck' but they are usually none of my business

[Pego]

What's with the parades? Gays/lesbians have this need to..."look we are different"....why?

Let's be honest...ok? Star QB has just won the Superbowl, his lover another guy runs over and they embrace and kiss, I gotta be honest.....yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something tells me I gotta be cool with that or I suffer from some sort of phobia/problem etc.....right? I can't just think two guys kissing is....yuck!...can I?

What about two women kissing? Also yuck? This is a serious question. Many guys repulsed by male homosexuality find the lesbians not only not repulsive, but entertaining.

[Seeksreal]

Here is a video that may help educate about the need for more more visibility of gay people.

http://youtu.be/osDckj0Dd3k

[Avante]

What's with the parades? Gays/lesbians have this need to..."look we are different"....why?

Let's be honest...ok? Star QB has just won the Superbowl, his lover another guy runs over and they embrace and kiss, I gotta be honest.....yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something tells me I gotta be cool with that or I suffer from some sort of phobia/problem etc.....right? I can't just think two guys kissing is....yuck!...can I?

What you think is of no consequence at all but if you were to try and legislate to take away people's civil rights or advocate policies that encourage intolerance and violence towards certain sections of society then that is very problematic.

There are plenty of things that i think are 'yuck' but they are usually none of my business

All of our opinions are important if they weren't then gays wouldn't worry about acceptance.....right? When they rope off streets that I have business on to hold a gay parade it becomes my business. Nobody is talking about violence here.

I have a feeling that if we did see a Superbowl winnning QB with his male lover kissing on national TV a lot of people would....YUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Avante]

What's with the parades? Gays/lesbians have this need to..."look we are different"....why?

Let's be honest...ok? Star QB has just won the Superbowl, his lover another guy runs over and they embrace and kiss, I gotta be honest.....yuck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Something tells me I gotta be cool with that or I suffer from some sort of phobia/problem etc.....right? I can't just think two guys kissing is....yuck!...can I?

What about two women kissing? Also yuck? This is a serious question. Many guys repulsed by male homosexuality find the lesbians not only not repulsive, but entertaining.

I have a few thousands ways to be entertained without having to watch anyone kiss. Yes two females ....yuck! However.....as we know women are wired a bit differently and with their multitude of sensitivities it's not as....yuck! Meaning if I had two watch two guys kiss or..........

[Seeksreal]

Avante, your personal business concerns about a parade once a year doesn't even come close to outweigh the suffering that gay people have to live through by always considered second-rate and not as good as others--often having to fear violence and bullying as well. In light of that, I really don't care about your business for that one Sunday a year. If a gay pride parade is really having a seriously negative effect on your business, you should probably look into how you manage it anyway. As for the yuck-factor, you would probably be a much happier person in your life if you allowed yourself to be just a bit more de-sensitized to it. As an interesting aside without inferring anything, recent studies have shown that those who have strongest aversion to gay people in general are also those who are most aroused by gay pornography. Makes you go hmmmm...

I don't mind people having negative opinions about gay people, but I ask of everyone that when you express it, please be mindful of your audience. Words can be extremely hurtful to young people and they don't need to be judged any harder for what they are and cannot help being. You are born gay and you cannot change that. Any person who isn't gay themselves have no business questioning that!! At the end of the day we are all humans, though, and we need to treat each other with courtesy and respect. Any person in a position to be a role model who feels he needs to hide the fact that he is gay is doing dis-service to all of us. It is time for the world to become educated about what this really is about.

[Flumpy]

Ok there are a couple more obvious gayers that have come to prominence since we last had this discussion, but no one has come out yet.

[kuha]

It's an enormous sign of social progress that hardly anyone cares about this.

[Flumpy]

This is the truth

Although there still a good 10 hours to go so shouldn't speak too soon

[kuha]

If Anderson Cooper can come out, I suspect that a gay Olympic gold medalist would do just fine. Maybe no Wheaties box cover, but who gets those anymore anyway?

[mump boy]

We also have gay Hip Hop artists now !! but still no athletes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2012/ju ... sfeed=true

[SQUACKEE]

I hope that we are getting closer to the point where it is silly to even say , I am proud to be gay. I think there are many reasons to be proud, but proud of your sexual preference?

Does this sound silly- I would like to announce that I am attracted to women and I am proud of it.
I also like steak and I am proud of it?

No one loves James Brown more then me and I understand the profound importance of, I'm black and I'm proud. I also want to live to see that this is also, meaningless.

Again, doesn't this sound silly, I'm white and I'm proud. I work with a "person of color" and when he leaves to retrieve something he says, I'll be black and I say "I will be a horrible shade of pink."

Being gay or being black doesn't tell you anything about that person.

[mump boy]

I hope that we are getting closer to the point where it is silly to even say , I am proud to be gay. I think there are many reasons to be proud, but proud of your sexual preference?

Does this sound silly- I would like to announce that I am attracted to women and I am proud of it.
I also like steak and I am proud of it?

No one loves James Brown more then me and I understand the profound importance of, I'm black and I'm proud. I also want to live to see that this is also, meaningless.

Again, doesn't this sound silly, I'm white and I'm proud. I work with a "person of color" and when he leaves to retrieve something he says, I'll be black and I say "I will be a horrible shade of pink."

Being gay or being black doesn't tell you anything about that person.

I couldn't agree more, i am also not proud to be black. Neither are things that i have accomplished they just are what they are !!

Historically being both black and gay have been things that one was supposed to be ashamed of so declarations of pride have been and still important but on a personal level i don't feel the need

[ldnbloke]

There was a jump finalist in helsinki who I'm sure is gay and not just because he's yummy

[SQUACKEE]

I hope that we are getting closer to the point where it is silly to even say , I am proud to be gay. I think there are many reasons to be proud, but proud of your sexual preference?

Does this sound silly- I would like to announce that I am attracted to women and I am proud of it.
I also like steak and I am proud of it?

No one loves James Brown more then me and I understand the profound importance of, I'm black and I'm proud. I also want to live to see that this is also, meaningless.

Again, doesn't this sound silly, I'm white and I'm proud. I work with a "person of color" and when he leaves to retrieve something he says, I'll be black and I say "I will be a horrible shade of pink."

Being gay or being black doesn't tell you anything about that person.

I couldn't agree more, i am also not proud to be black. Neither are things that i have accomplished they just are what they are !!

Historically being both black and gay have been things that one was supposed to be ashamed of so declarations of pride have been and still important but on a personal level i don't feel the need

Well said, mump.

[mump boy]

There was a jump finalist in helsinki who I'm sure is gay and not just because he's yummy

But it helps

[mump boy]

I hope that we are getting closer to the point where it is silly to even say , I am proud to be gay. I think there are many reasons to be proud, but proud of your sexual preference?

Does this sound silly- I would like to announce that I am attracted to women and I am proud of it.
I also like steak and I am proud of it?

No one loves James Brown more then me and I understand the profound importance of, I'm black and I'm proud. I also want to live to see that this is also, meaningless.

Again, doesn't this sound silly, I'm white and I'm proud. I work with a "person of color" and when he leaves to retrieve something he says, I'll be black and I say "I will be a horrible shade of pink."

Being gay or being black doesn't tell you anything about that person.

I couldn't agree more, i am also not proud to be black. Neither are things that i have accomplished they just are what they are !!

Historically being both black and gay have been things that one was supposed to be ashamed of so declarations of pride have been and still important but on a personal level i don't feel the need

Well said, mump.

we have World Pride in london this weekend. it is going to be a totally embarrassing shambles. I don't know anyone who's going to go.

My friend Scotty says it all here

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/scottee ... _hp_ref=uk

[SQUACKEE]

o.

My friend Scotty says it all here

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/scottee ... _hp_ref=uk

I don't believe below to be true, at least for men, I think women are more flexible, what say you?
Maybe he means the cliche' of what a gay man looks and acts like?

I won't be attending Pride this year. I'm fine being a homosexual any day of the year. Gay is a lifestyle choice and like Pride I don't have the cash to fund it.

[mump boy]

o.

My friend Scotty says it all here

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/scottee ... _hp_ref=uk

I don't believe below to be true, at least for men, I think women are more flexible, what say you?
Maybe he means the cliche' of what a gay man looks and acts like?

I won't be attending Pride this year. I'm fine being a homosexual any day of the year. Gay is a lifestyle choice and like Pride I don't have the cash to fund it.

I don't know what he means by that and i don't think he believes it either !!

[Flumpy]

You've misunderstood him.

He's not suggesting you can choose your sexuality. He's saying that you can choose whether to your life in a 'gay' way or not. Just because Pride is on for the gays it doesn't mean he has to go.

Read the comments further down, someone asks the same question.

[andyjgt]

Not about any athletes, but loosely connected with athletics - the Helsinki Gay Pride festival took place last week at the same time as the Euros, with the climax being people congregating in Senate Square and walking to Hesperia Park in the afternoon before the athletics started. My parents were in the city with me (though not at the games) and witnessed it.

[Flumpy]

Sounds wild!!!

[andyjgt]

Not really - they said it was peaceful and not many police were needed.

In London that'd bring the city to a standstill!

[mump boy]

They really won't

The parade has been cancelled as they have no money and the headline act is Deborah Cox who no one in UK has ever heard of

[trevorp]

There was a jump finalist in helsinki who I'm sure is gay and not just because he's yummy

If we're thinking of the same one, I wouldn't be surprised either way - he seems to think that keeping people guessing lends him some mystique (a bit lame - Bowie and others did that in the 70s).

I agree with you about him though. Verily, he offendeth not mine eye.