Scott Jordan of St. Bonaventure tells his story.

What a great article. I believe that his brutal honesty is refreshing & is the main reason why he's @ where he is today! You go Scott! You have a new fan.

Great article and way to go Scott! I think when people take on the role of Captain you have to leave a little bit of your personality aside regardless of whether you're gay or straight. There's a responsibility to be the ideal team-mate and role model for the rest of the team. When I was captain of my gay softball team I had to be less of the clown (which is my nature) and more of the "by the book" kinda guy. It was a bit stifling but I guess that comes with the territory. Good Luck!

This story is so banal I wonder if it would have been published if not for the several pictures of (yet another) guy in speedos.

First, to answer your question, We would print the story of any out college athlete.

I completely disagree with your 'banal' comment. You hear so many gay athletes say how they aren't attracted to teammates, the last thing they'd think about is sleeping with a teammate, etc.... Scott's take is so refreshing: He has no problem looking at his teammates and competitors. We rarely hear that. I think he wrote with total honesty, and that's always refreshing. And I don't think it's fair to dismiss him or us because we put a couple pictures of him with his own first-person account (as we've done with every other athlete we've profiled).

And who's objecting to pictures of guys in Speedos?

But seriously, there are a lot of things in his story that remind me of mine. He's just more honest than I would be.

I completely agree.

I also can't imagine why anyone would complain about the pictures.

Who cares about the pictures... the article was friggin awesome! Keep posting these stories because each and every one of them help me personally get one step closer to coming out...

You're even more jaded than I am. I thought it was a good article, and the more athletes coming out, the better.

Ditto!

...The article is about an out swimmer & his teammates & speedos would come w/ the territory.

Agreed. I can definitely say my coming-out process was similar to his and I shared many of the same concerns Scott had before coming out. When I cover games, the same thought goes through my mind - "Hey, that guy is pretty damn nice. Now get back to work!"


Good read.

Hey, congrats Scott and good luck this season!

Good for him....growing up in that area, and with my high school league including Olean, where Bonaventure is located, I felt a very special bond to the swimmer.

It's a small town/city, and yes, very hard to be out and gay.

Kudos to him. But to clarify, it's a small college in a small town, and it's conservatism is in its "small town" way, not necessarily a right-wing Christian conservative kinda way. It's not like Liberty or Regent or Oral Roberts, by any mean.

Which isn't to take away his bravery and guts for doing it.

I think it's a sign that in a lot of places, most people don't care...they just don't want to be constantly barraged with it.

First off a huge congrats to Scott. It's such a relief to have that done, just don't put the pressure of the entire gay sports community on your back at your taper meet. You have nothing to prove to anyone, just swim your last season the way it should be. Can't wait to look up the results.

As for SFTom's comments, I can definitely see his POV. You have to understand that swimmers don't view being in a suit as not having clothes on though. It's just what we work out in. But I can see the sexualization of gay sports, but none of the pictures are sexual. Rather, they are more athletic as they all depict him either pre- or post-swim. The criticism in this case I think is pretty unwarranted. Just my thoughts, from my own experiences though.

Oh I wanted to add. Great job to Jim and Cyd for putting out more of this content. This is the type of stuff that is helping so many closeted, scared and lonely athletes. Keep it up guys.

I'm sure I'm persona non grata around these parts anyway ... the thing that irks me about stories like this is that they detract from the gay men who, over the years and to this day, struggle, suffer and still make brave decisions under far more difficult circumstances that this guy appears to face. Has there been any easier place in history to come out than a small liberal arts college in the USA in the year 2008? (Well, maybe somewhere in Europe.) And this good-looking, fit guy comes out at the top of his game, where his status protects him from a lot of flak. All of these are sensible things for him to have considered, but, in my opinion, they detract from the laudability of his decision. So I don't understand why this is plastered across the homepage as a major newflash ... except for the fact that here's an opportunity to flash some beefcake to make us all salivate. Maybe I've overlooked it, but how about an article about a regular, everyday gay man, who likes athletics, and who did something important for others or stood up for a principle when the circumstances weren't quite so favorable as they appear to have been here? I bet the guys who post regularly on this board have far more compelling stories to share than this rather trite piece, for which the headline should have read "HOT College Swimmer Comes Out (Pics Inside!)."

Yes, but this is a site that reports on sports, and the athletes that propel them (for the most part) and how this intersects with the LGBT community. Thus a story about any gay athlete is going to make the front page, and deserves to make the front page. The guy put an entire sports career on the line to be who he was, and it worked out for him.

Forgive me if I'm reading your the wrong way, but it seems you are unhappy that he didn't have some harrowing tale of rejection and slogging through homophobia just to succeed. Personally, I really enjoyed reading a story about someone who was accepted and is thriving now as an out gay man.

SFTom is right. Banal because it is just another normal swim captain. Others are right too. Newsworthy because the swim captain is forthright without apology. Without apology. Politicians, media personalities, and other sports stars should take notice at the simplicity of this speaking and writing style. Gosh, I marvel at what this says about living lives and getting on with it instead of the hand-wringing, political-correctness, and being overly senstive about name calling. Just when "conventional wisdom" says be gay but act asexual, the guy doesn't apologise--just like he's normal or something. Gosh.

Scott, Jim, Cyd--thanks.

Wow, I really cannot believe this. I have no problem with someone saying that they are also having a hard time with their sexuality and where it fits in to their lives. I do believe that there is a problem when you begin to deride another person's story saying that their actions and difficulty are not warranted the attention here. I am assuming you have not been in his situation nor have I been in yours, but I will say that when someone makes the huge, scary leap to come out in the forum that Scott did it is insulting to him and others that have been in his situation (me) for you to sit there and say that it was "easy". College athletics is an extremely homophobic environment and it hurts to be there.

As for not having stories about "normal" people who like sports doing great things. Jenny Fulle's story came out about a few days before this one. Or does she not count because she's not an "everyday gay man"?


"Banal because it is just another normal swim captain." --Tom Brooks

Sorry I didn't know how to make two quotes, I'm new at this. I don't know what type of swim teams you've been on, but a gay swim captain is not normal.

I have to back up Illini_fan too. This is a gay sports website. Why would there not be stories about gay athletes?

You have voiced your opinions on the content that you would like to see and here is my voice defending this content. I think it is completely current and reasonable to be here. Moreso, I think there is an obligation to have these types of stories here. It is time for all of these athletes to be able to quit hiding and this is a forum that others in the closet can see they are not alone.

You hit all of the important points Illini...Great post!

Wow. We put virtually every original story in the top slot when it comes out. We've profiled every gay athlete we can get to tell us their story, never once even considering whether they're attractive or not. We've profiled various people, like Sports memorabilia dealer Robin Lee, author Randy Boyd, legend Dave Kopay, coach Lou Tharp - and all have gotten top-of-site treatment.

You also obviously don't know St. Bonaventure. It's a conservative Div. 1 religious institution in Upstate New York, not a "liberal arts college." You also don't know what impact our publishing Scott's story IS having, both at his school, on his team and with other people. I've seen some of the emails, and it's having a wonderful impact. If you think that's bad, I don't know what to tell you.

Sorry, we're not going to go out of our way to avoid young athletes to profile, and I'm disappointed that you'd suggest we should.

Great response Cyd... couldn't have said it better myself!

Chonathon, I don't think Scott is a pervert or a deviant; I think he's normal. Well--a great swimmer, I'll give him that but otherwise normal. You, I, others like the story and it was fun to read. And I like people and conversation so I'm comfortable with other viewpoints like SFTom's. People are more similar than they are different. I'm not keen to separate people by their likes and dislikes. And yes, I have been on a swim team and other sports teams like most other normal guys on this board.

I like feeling good for people and it was a fun story, told well, and nice one to read in my morning.

I don't think Cyd was implying that these others are unattractive. Every new story we get about an athlete coming out gets top billing. Plus, Cyd and I never agree on attractiveness anyway!

As for the "banality" of Scott's story (I will accept it for the sake of argument), maybe that's a good thing and shows it is possible to come out without it being a "Days of Our Lives" episode fraught with drama, pain and rejection (we've certainly run enough of those).

Tom Brooks, I see what you are saying now. That he is a normal guy and just another swim team captain across the country. I will not agree that his story is typical of most other captains' stories. But I do agree with you about his willingness to be open with parts of his life that other people tend to not comment on.

I do wonder how many of the drooling, one-hand typers here clicked on this story as opposed to some of the other stories that weren't going to have pictures of guys in speedos? Or how many clicked the link and only looked at the pics and didn't even bother to read the story? And I agree Jim it's nice to read some coming out stories that aren't fraught with daytime soap drama. Some of us were blessed to have a great family and circle of friends.

Anyway thanks for sharing, Scott! And if anybody thinks it's oh-so-easy to come out at a school that starts with "St.", well no. It's not like he was at Vassar or Bard or UC Berkeley.

People can jack off to anything, hence gay male porn with guys in suits/glasses, guys showing their feet, guys eating cake with no shirts on, etc. People can come onto these message boards and crush on a certain poster and jack off while reading what the poster has typed. Outsports isn't here to police what people do, nor does it just cater to some one hand typing Lurch crowd. A guy who is 16 and jacks off to this article differs greatly from a guy who is 66, they have different life experience. But who cares at the end of the day? There are other guys who do read the articles, who do gain inspiration every time someone has the courage to come out, and who is fully supportive of this website. Coming out regardless of where you are is never easy, unless you've never been in the closet. And if you look at Scott and think he has it all built in for whatever reason then you need to stop living in the past of your own tragic gay youth and figure out how you can be happy in the now for yourself first of all and for somebody else who's living his life with pride.

The name OUTsports isn't meant to be ironic.

P.S. - Can we stop attacking the integrity of Cyd and Jim? It's getting old already. Or better yet, start your own site and do with it what you want; all of this negativity concerning gay youth and people coming out is ridiculous.

I'd like to think that if I were in his position I would have written a similar article. Scott Jordan is a refreshing addition to the Outsports list of openly gay athletes.

Choose your preferred response:
1) "Oh no, you must have a hidden camera in my house!"
or
2) "I get that reaction to my posts a lot."



I don't know how you can object to the guy being pictured in Speedos considering he's a swimmer. Now, if a golfer posed in Speedos, while it might be very nice to look at, it would make no sense.

Great article.....

He gets from Olean to Buffalo in an hour...hope he's got a radar detector .

The pics are what they are, he's a swimmer...that's what he looks like for lots of the time.

Banal? What's banal about it? This man Scott wrote with an honesty few--very few--are capable of. There's nothing banal about that kind of honesty. The boy has courage and guts, a lot more than most people possess. He should be admired for what he wrote, not mocked. Shame on you, SFTom.

Yeah, if anything, I'd be more concerned with the sexualization of these pictures by some on this board than the pictures themselves.

Great article. Scott's honesty really is refreshing, I mean thats just the way it is. I've checked other wrestlers out over the years, and as far as former teammates who quit - two of them used to brag about the size of their ... packages... in the locker room. How can you not fantasize about that? Until they quit, I had to push thoughts of them out of my head, cause I wrestled them in practice and at some point was straddling them or had my hand on their crotch. If I just swam with them, I might not have a problem with checking out teammates. Once they quit though, they were fair game, unfortunately, I didn't get a great look at down low cause for me the showers are off limits as far as ogling goes. So Tom Brooks, I agree, Scott aint no deviant, he's just normal.

Oh yea, and a LIBERAL ARTS COLLEGE is an easy place to come out at, I'm realizing that now, but a religious place? Gimme a break, Scott's in an environment that likely has a majority of people who think that he's going straight to hell. I mean a former high school teammate of mine who is now attending college at Liberty freaking hates gays. He's the nicest guy ever, but as far as I know, the one thing he hates above all else is gay people... that gives an idea of the people at those sort of colleges.

But damn, after all the shit I've posted, I'd be hesitant to have my name associated with it, so Scott has some major balls to be able to say that stuff and come out at such a place. The thing I'm really surprised at though is to be so willing to admit his one night stands. I mean I could care less if my dad finds out about them, hell, he'd probably be like, "That's my boy! Did I ever tell you about the time..." but my mom and other family members would find out and likely be disappointed in first the fact that I'm gay and second, that I'm having one night stands and not looking for relationships.

Anyway, I've spoken with Scott before and he seems like a nice guy, but after seeing those pictures, he definitely is a nice guy. The pictures don't detract from the article though, I was able to read the article just fine and honestly didn't really notice them. Of course after I read the message board which talked about them, I had to go back and stare for a bit, heh heh. Oh, and personally, if there was an article about me, I'd definitely want pictures of me in it, during the season I'm down to 6 or 7% body fat and am looking my best. Then I could check the forums and hopefully get my ego stroked (I'd make sure they were only pictures that made me look good though!). I mean, hell, how do you think he'd feel if he read this forum?

"Good-looking, fit guy comes out at the top of his game"

"Beefcake to make us all salivate"

"I do wonder how many of the drooling, one-hand typers here clicked on this story as opposed to some of the other stories that weren't going to have pictures of guys in speedos?"

Then all the responses that say sure, theres pictures of him in a speedo, but he's a swimmer. These seem to indicate he's good looking, in my opinion, due to the tone of em. Anyway, the people who just want pictures will look at the pictures, no harm done. The people who post can talk about the article. They can also talk about the pictures. It aint porn, even though he's near naked so who cares? Besides, he said he checks swimmers out, so why can't anybody else, lol.

-Matt

The follow-up story is even more inspiring than the initial one.

Here is Scott's followup article.

Hey, in my opinion - His story is his story - He shouldn't have to apologize for not having it as hard as some others have had it in the past. I am glad that people have become more accepting. I was Glad to read his story- I love the diversity of all of us & our coming out/life stories.

For those too young to have played in a college funk cover band, Sly and the Family Stone's "Family Affair" is playing on the radio in the coffee shop I'm sitting in and it explains all of the conflict on this board. Maybe the '60s truly held all of the answers and the baby boomers just dropped the ball.