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| By Lauren Wilbur, Leader Community Writer |
It started nearly 40 years ago with David Kopay, a journeyman NFL running back who came out in 1975, three years after he retired. Billie Jean King, who was the No. 1 tennis player in the world and beat Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes match in 1973, was outed in 1981. Jason Collins, a 12-year NBA veteran, last year became the first active male professional athlete in a major U.S. team sport to come out. There are six openly gay athletes competing in the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Society has been learning, albeit slowly, how to accept homosexual athletes for some time now. And yet Michael Sam, a college football player who came out earlier this month, has still faced controversy for his sexuality. As an All-American defensive lineman at the University of Missouri, Sam is expected to be taken in the upcoming 2014 NFL draft.
Is it because Sam plays football, an inherently masculine sport that society has deemed as only appropriate for manly men with chest hair and a sex drive dedicated solely to women?
Perhaps. But being gay is not a choice – it’s an inherent part of who someone is from birth. Being homosexual does not mean that Sam has lost his ability to hit hard or leave it all out on the field. Nor are heterosexuals any more privy to the universe’s talent and fortune than any other individual outside of the perceived sexual norm. Being gay has not affected his athletic ability thus far, why now?
Even President Obama weighed in on the situation in an interview on TNT: “I really like the fact that Michael did it before the draft, because his attitude was, ‘You know what? I know who I am. I know I can play great football and judge me on the merits.’”
I understand wanting to make sure that these athletes, who are prominently featured in the media and seen as role models for children everywhere, are upstanding and worthy people. However, is judging their worth based on their sexual orientation really the way to go about it?
First of all, you can’t catch an attraction to a particular gender by watching a homosexual football player throw a football. Being gay is not a disease.
You can’t even catch a cold, let alone a complete change in sexual orientation, from watching a player with a runny nose tackle someone via your television.
And then there’s the question of where society’s morals really stand. Is it truly more OK for a pro athlete to drive drunk, physically abuse their partner, or take steroids than it is for an athlete to love someone who is the same gender as themselves? I’d much rather have my future child put a picture of Michael Sam on their wall than Darren Sharper.
While I do agree that teams need to be careful who they allow in their programs, I do not believe that sexual orientation should be a component in that decision. Murder, domestic abuse, drugs, alcohol, racism, disregard for the law – those are the types of things that athletes should be closely monitored and judged for, along with their actual athletic ability, not who they go home to at the end of the night.
The list of sports that have embraced their gay athletes is growing – it’s time for football to “man up” and join them.
Lauren Wilbur was raised in Forest Grove and graduated from Forest Grove High School in 2011. She attends Portland State University, where she is a sophomore majoring in Communications.
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