Hey Closeted Athletes!...Stop Worrying And Start Living!

Billy Bean-Major League Baseball's Ambassador of Inclusion.

Photo Courtesy of:Wikimedia and Greg Hernandez from California, CA, USA under CC BY 2.0 License

Baseball has Major League umpire Dale Scott, a veteran official with 30+ years of experience on the job and Billy Bean, Major League Baseball's Ambassador of Inclusion.  There's also minor league ballplayers David Denson in the Milwaukee Brewers organization and Sean Conroy of the Sonoma Stompers, an independent minor league team not affiliated with any of Major League Baseball's 30 clubs.  Football has Michael Sam.  Basketball has Jason Collins, referee Violet Palmer and Sheryl Swoopes. Soccer has Abby Wambach, Megan Rapinoe and Robbie Rogers. 

Abby Wambach 

Photo Courtesy of: Wikimedia

and Hmlarson under CC BY 3.0 License

If you're having trouble figuring out what these athletes and sports officials have in common, it is that they are all out of the closet when it comes to their sexuality while enjoying various degrees of success in their careers at this point in time.  This post isn't necessarily about those individuals who have shown a willingness and a certain comfort level to be open to the public about their lives, but rather those athletes or officials out there who for one reason or another still choose not to disclose that part of their personal lives. I should also mention that I'm not saying you should go about your daily life worrying about what others might think about you when it comes to how you feel about your own sexuality whether you are an athlete or not.  The choice of opening up that part of your life to others should be yours and yours alone to make.
  

As I've grown older and have continued to watch sports and media in general over the years, one thing I've come to realize is the power that any athlete celebrity or other public figure has as a role model to kids and adults of society at large.  Now I generally don't view any athlete or celebrity as a role model as it relates to my life because I believe that term should be reserved for someone in a person's life who they feel a close connection to such as a parent, teacher or other close relative, but I can certainly understand why some people in today's society would view athletes or other sports officials as potential role models-especially among younger sports fans who start to form their own beliefs and opinions about what goes on in the world around them at an early age.  To those other individuals who fall under the Public Figure category who identify (secretly or otherwise), themselves as members of the LGBT Community, I hope you realize the potential impact your story might have on someone's life down the road.


So as we wait for the next big name athlete or sports figure to open their closet door as society becomes even more accepting of these individuals than they already are, it is my hope that 10-20 years from now, what someone chooses to do in their personal life becomes a non-issue and people can be free to go about their daily lives however they choose to do so without the fear of being judged by others.


Tim Musick
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