Outsports Discussion Board > Kevin Jennings on Homophobia in Sports

Full Version: Kevin Jennings on Homophobia in Sports

Outsports Discussion Board > Outsports > Gays in Sports

dasher

Oct 21 2003, 06:46 PM

Check out this article by Kevin Jennings recently published in USA Today. I heard about it through our local GLSEN group.

danimal

Oct 22 2003, 10:05 AM

Great quote from the article:

QUOTE

But real change will come when fans themselves start doing what the older gentleman next to me, who was faithfully following the game on his scorecard, did: He turned to the lout who was trying to pick a fight with a Sox player and said quietly, ''Hey, why don't we all just enjoy some baseball here?''

It shamed the guy into sitting down. He knew the older man was right: That was why we were all at the ballpark in the first place.

Thom

Oct 29 2003, 12:53 PM

I must say when he yelled: ''Mussina, you faggot! Go back to Baltimore!'' I would have been sorely tempted to add "And if by chance you really are gay give me a call maybe I can help you out." Hell, it's worth a try. How do you think the crowd would react to that ?

I must say grew up a sports fans attending college games (Duke, football and basketball). I have seen many ACC tournament games and went the NCAA final four in 1999. I lived in NY for most of my adult life but only went to a few professional. I always found professional fans harder to take than college fans. I don't remember hearing a homophobic term at a college game but I may have forgotten.

On the other hand I have worked with a lot of guys who fit the description of some of the fans in the story. I remember them talking about the homo who went to Duke. They couldn’t remember his name so they asked me. All I had to go by was that he was presumed homosexual. Well I had read the Sports Illustrated article on Laettner and Brian Davis so I could actually answer the question when they asked me

Davis and Laettner are good friends and business partners. Both are married with children. It’s a nice fantasy to think that they are homosexual lovers so I guess my only wish would be that the ass****s who call everyone gay, faggot, homo or any other reference to homosexuality actually knew what they were talking about. It'd be a lot more fun wouldn't it?

Jim Allen

Oct 31 2003, 12:18 PM

Well, Laettner loved to piss off the homophobes when he was at Duke by holding hands with guys etc. That's where the "he's gay" rumors started.

On Will & Grace last night, Will's at a Ranger's game and he yells out "C'mon! you hot French-Canadian hockey player!". He cowers but no one says anything; the punchline was that the burly guy next to him, who we were lead to believe would kick his ass, hit on him.

It's tough in crowds to stand up for things, but it can be done. As long as there's security guards close by!

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