Basketball
star Sheryl Swoopes, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and
three-time MVP of the WNBA, has come out publicly as a
lesbian, making her the highest-profile team sport athlete
to come out while playing.
Here is what other media
outlets and blogs are saying about it:
King Kaufman,
Salon.com:
But the WNBA is big enough,
and Swoopes was well-enough known, that the reaction to her
as-told-to story in ESPN the Magazine could have been a lot
stronger, and a lot more negative. That's the best thing.
This wasn't a big deal partly because the WNBA isn't a big
deal, but partly because a star female athlete coming out
really isn't that big a deal.
Mark Morford,
San Francisco Gate:
So then, for the big three 'Murkin
sports alone and not including hockey or soccer or water
sports and not including minor league baseball or college
hoops or college football (all of which are also, of course,
enormous hotbeds of homoerotic heat and which would add
another few thousand to the total, but let's stay national
here) we're looking at a grand total of well over 2,500 pro
male athletes, all sharing locker rooms and showers and
sweat and intimate moments and you really want to sit there
and tell me at least a dozen of these guys aren't right now
closeted homosexual? Bisexual? Something? Please. Get over
it.
Ian O'Connor,
Fox Sports:
The more major sports leagues
educate their players on this issue, the more likely it is
that a gay athlete will emerge from the closet as eagerly as
Jackie Robinson pushed through the Dodgers' clubhouse door.
It will be a great day in
sports, in all of America, when that male pioneer steps
forward the way Robinson did more than 58 years ago, the way
Swoopes did last week. But that day won't arrive until a gay
man can be assured he won't be ostracized by members of his
own organization, never mind opponents and fans.
Closeted Division I-A sports administrator:
"I and every other gay guy in
sports live every day with the fact that it's OK to be a
lesbian in sports but not a gay guy. It hurts like hell and
is life-altering and causes you to live with fear. God knows
how many hundreds and thousands of gay men in the NBA and
NFL and at Nebraska and Texas and in high schools and peewee
football through the years have gone through denial and hell
and even killed themselves because if they're themselves
they will be ridiculed, shunned, shut out, beat up and
called fags. We gotta be in the closet and they don't, and
she comes out with THIS quote and is a hero all of a
sudden?"
Pat Forde,
ESPN.com:
Statistically speaking, there
are a handful of gay men on every Division I-A college
football team. There are undoubtedly gay men in every other
team sport, as well. But the stigma attached to being a gay
jock as opposed to a lesbian jock is overwhelming.
Mike Camunas,
The University of South Florida Oracle:
In a sense, you want to
congratulate this woman — this woman who once was married
and has a child — for finding out who she is and what she
wants. She took the egotism that can come with sports
stardom and used it to her advantage. She did this for
nobody but herself, and you should applaud her for it. But
perhaps the bravery and the courage will only go so far,
because it seems that it’s easier for prominent women in
sports to out themselves without the fear of ridicule and
persecution from teammates or fans. They’ve been doing it
for years already.
Nancy Goldstein,
The Raw Story:
Swoopes came out exactly like
she plays: with strength, skill, and integrity. Her
myth-busting story is unmarred by apology or pathology. No,
she isn’t trying to be a hero or rub it in people’s faces:
she’s just “tired of having to hide my feelings about
the person I care about.” No, she doesn’t think she was born
this way; and no, this isn’t why her marriage ended a few
years after the birth of her son (now eight).
David Hall,
Kinston, N.C., Free Press:
The canned PC response to
Swoopes' announcement is: "Who cares? What an athlete does
in her private life is none of our business."
But the issue runs deeper.
People need to be allowed to be themselves, even if it's not
unanimously approved.
When an active male athlete
makes the announcement - and it will happen - the results
will be the same. People will talk for a while, the guy will
sort things out with his teammates and the world will keep
right on turning.
John Levesque,
Seattle Post-Intelligencer:
Surely we can move on now.
Surely there are no other gay people in professional sports.
Our culture doesn't permit it.
After all, male athletes fear
being linked to homosexuality more than they fear being
released from their teams because it would make them seem
weak, effeminate and different. Female athletes fear being
linked to homosexuality more than they fear a repeal of
Title IX because it would make them seem to be conforming to
an unpopular stereotype.
Clearly, Swoopes must be
unique. She must have swooped in under the radar because she
used to be married to a guy. As the WNBA was starting up
eight years ago, she was even pictured as being in the
family way.
Donna Goodison,
Boston Herald:
WNBA star
Sheryl Swoopes' announcement Wednesday that she's a lesbian
could make her more appealing to companies hoping to
increase their profile among both gay and heterosexual
consumers, sports marketing experts say.
Tom Collen, head women's basketball coach, University of
Louisville:
“Maybe it’s an opportunity
that she stepped up and came out of the closet, maybe it’ll
relieve pressure of some other young ladies that want to be
able to be themselves,” Collen said.
“It’s the world we live in.
We’re hopefully in a gentler, more understanding,
progressive society. I don’t think we should have to shield
things from the media or other people. I don’t see negatives
at all. Just positives.”
Mark Purdy,
San Jose Mercury News:
When the news about Sheryl
Swoopes broke Wednesday, the most heartening reaction was
the lack of much reaction.
In 2005, this should be
construed as healthy. After the most valuable player of the
Women's NBA announced she is gay, nobody either held a huge
parade or condemned her. The only ripple of response was
positive, giving Swoopes a pat on the back for being so
forthright and unafraid.
Steven A. Smith,
Philadelphia Enquirer:
Now, far be it for me to wax
eloquent over the sanctimonious arena of professional
ethics. But if someone - anyone - even thinks of hiring
Scott after Swoopes' coming-out party, an investigation
should begin. Immediately.
It's one thing if Swoopes
were representing a team different from Scott's. It would be
an entirely different situation if both were players. But
Scott was an assistant coach on Van Chancellor's staff for
the Houston Comets, supposedly a liaison between the head
coach and the players, in a position of authority and
influence.
Mark Kreidler,
Sacramento Bee:
I'm not sure you'd call what
happened Wednesday progress, but it certainly stood as a
development on any number of levels.
What it did not constitute was a
pioneering breakthrough - although, to hear some of the
noise surrounding WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes' public
declaration that she's gay, one might be tempted to conclude
Swoopes is the first athlete in a team sport to come out
(she's not), or the first really successful athlete to so
announce (she's not).
Dawn Staley, head women's
basketball coach, Temple University:
"For the people who know
Sheryl, the people that she talks to, she has already
confided in them. Now she is just being truthful and honest.
It is a personal choice, but not a revelation for those of
us who know her."
Kelli Anderson,
CNNSI.com:
Will Swoopes's revelation
help chip away at the homophobia that is rampant in some
locker rooms and fuels much of the negative recruiting that
goes on in women's sports? Let's hope that at the very least
it generates discussion of a topic that remains taboo in a
lot of precincts.
Tom Reed,
Akron Beacon Journal:
Don't expect Swoopes'
statement to lead to a slew of other gay athletes following
suit.
There is a very real stigma
attached to being gay in sports, particularly in men's
athletics. Locker rooms are bastions of testosterone and
heterosexual male bonding. Athletes are willing to welcome
back convicted felons, substance abusers and
performance-enhancing cheats into the fold.
But openly gay male athletes?
We don't know, because no one of professional significance
has stepped forward.
John Ryan,
San Jose Mercury News:
Let's face it: On the list of
shocking headlines, ``WNBA player is gay'' falls somewhere
between ``Romo took steroids'' and ``Steinbrenner is
angry.'' In her ESPN piece, Swoopes (if unintentionally)
reinforced one perception of her league when she wrote,
``The talk about the WNBA being full of lesbians is not
true. I mean, there are as many straight women in the league
as there are gay.'' About a 50-50 split, in other words. So
teammates and coaches can be counted on to be more welcoming
than in the NFL, NBA or baseball. So can the road crowds.
Marsha Sharpe,
Texas Tech women's basketball coach:
"Certainly, Sheryl Swoopes is
a very important part of the Lady Raider basketball family.
The things she has meant to this program and our history are
unchallenged and are very important to all of us and
everybody out here has a lot of respect for that, and
there's not anything that should or will ever change that."
Jemele Hill,
Orlando Sentinel:
But quite frankly, a gay WNBA
player - even if she was last season's MVP and a three-time
Olympic gold medalist - isn't exactly a tabloid headline.
Not in a league with a strong, lesbian fan base. Not in a
league where teams have gay-pride nights. Not in a league
that has other openly gay players such as Minnesota Lynx
center Michele Van Gorp.
Wally Matthews,
Newsday:
Clearly, we weren't ready
then and we probably aren't ready now. It is one thing for
Swoopes to come out -- she plays in a league, remember, in
which fans at Madison Square Garden once staged a "kiss-off"
in the stands to protest perceived mistreatment of the
Liberty's sizable lesbian fan base -- and quite another if
it had been, say, LeBron James.
Brian Davis,
Dallas Morning News:
Sheryl Swoopes' announcement that she was
coming out of the closet shot through Houston's gay and
lesbian community Wednesday like a comet. National women's
groups hoped the news smashed more barriers in the process.
Jim Rome on
Rome Is Burning, Oct. 26, 2005:
“First of
all, I applaud her decision. It could not have been easy and
it certainly was a courageous one. However, I think she’s
off base when she says male athletes of her caliber may
think they have a lot more to lose, but they don’t. Of
course they do. A male athlete with her resume – three gold
medals and a league MVP Award – say for instance an Allen
Iverson or a Tim Duncan, a Shaq, a Kobe, a KG, any of these
guys would have a lot more to lose. She is in a fringe
professional sports league and is anything but a household
name in this country. They have a lot more to lose because
they have a lot more at stake. Bigger league. Bigger
profile. Bigger dollars. Bigger backlash. Bigger ball.
Bigger everything. Again, I’m not looking to diminish the
announcement in any way. I applaud her decision. It is
courageous. But she is wrong to say her male equivalents
don’t have more to lose because, clearly, they do.”
Tony Kornheiser, ESPN’s Pardon The Interuption:
“What
she’s done is pretty much her own business. I will say that
it is somewhat surprising to most people because she had
been famously married and had a child. But, it is also true
that many people believe, they look at women professional
athletes and they believe a significant percentage of them
are homosexual and not heterosexual.”
Mike Wilbon, ESPN’s PTI:
“[The
fact that no active male athletes have come out] speaks to,
sadly, not just to sexuality, but in the case of male
athletes, the case of little boys from the time they’re
four, it speaks to masculinity and whether you have enough
of it. I mean, that’s a cultural thing and people use it to
batter young boys from the time they understand what it is.”
Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, on Around the Horn:
“First off,
good for Sheryl Swoopes. Any time somebody can be
themselves, that’s a wonderful thing. But sadly, I don’t
think it’s going to make much of an impact because, for
whatever reason in this country, lesbians are viewed
differently than gay men. There’s not the stigma against
lesbianism that there is against gays and men. Especially in
athletics.”
Jay Mariotti, Chicago Sun-Times, on Around the Horn:
“The female
sports community. When you read her comments, she says
flat-out, ‘I was miserable being in the closet. I’m not
going to pretend I’m somebody I’m not.’ I think a lot of
people are going to be inspired by this in women’s sports.
And face it, we’re watching women’s sports more than ever.
Women’s golf. Women’s tennis. I think you’re going to have a
lot of athletes coming out in those sports. But men’s
sports, no."Houston Comets coach
Van Chancellor, from the
Houston Chronicle:
"I've coached Swoopes for
nine years for the Houston Comets as well as with the (USA
Basketball) national team," Chancellor said. "What she does
in her personal life is her own decision.
"I respect everything about
Sheryl, how she's handled herself on and off the court. To
me, she will always be one of the greatest ambassadors for
the game of women's basketball and as a person has helped me
win four (WNBA) championships and two gold medals."
Sean Bugg,
Metro Weekly:
WNBA player Sheryl Swoopes
-- perfectly named for a basketball player --
poked her head out of the closet, like, yesterday,
and she's already been signed by Olivia, the lesbian
cruise company. I'm not complaining. In fact, more power
to her. It's a nice change from those (not so) long-ago
days when Billie Jean King was dropped by every sponsor
she had when her sexuality went public. But my guess is
we'll be waiting a lot longer for a lesbian to cash in
like Maria Sharapova.
Mechelle Voepel,
ESPN.com:
People will say, "Oh, why is it
important? I don't care. What difference does it make? I
don't have any problems with it. It's not an issue."
You really believe that? OK …
did you gasp when you saw the Swoopes story? I'd guess you
did. Why? Because it is a big deal, and we do need to
keep talking about it.
Darren Rovell,
ESPN.com:
Being an openly gay athlete
25 years ago might have been hindered appeal in business
world, but times have changed. Those who identify themselves
as gay annually spend $450 billion, according to Scarbrough
Research, a marketplace tracking firm. Their research
reveals that 27 percent of gay households have an average
income exceeding $100,000 and 81 percent are more likely to
purchase products that are perceived as gay-friendly.
"I would hope that Sheryl's
marketability will remain intact," said sports agent Lon
Babby. "Sheryl is one of the WNBA's top players and is an
incredible ambassador for the league and for women's sports.
I think the younger generation -- the highly coveted
demographic -- is much more understanding and accepting of
diversity and corporate America recognizes this."
The Advocate:
Asked whether she considers herself lesbian
or bisexual, Swoopes says, "I just consider myself a
person." She adds, "I don't consider myself bisexual," and
says, "The relationship I'm in right now, I hope, is the
relationship I'll be in for the rest of my life."
Deadspin.com:
Well, we’ve all been curious
who the first high-profile athlete to announce that they’re
gay would be, and now that Houston Comets MVP Sheryl Swoopes
has done it, well, we guess we’re still kind of waiting. No
offense to Swoopes, of course, who is one of the best
players in WNBA history and actually has a Nike shoe named
after her, but, well, as far as “high-profile” goes, she’s
still just one of the best players in WNBA history.
Gwen Knapp,
San Francisco Chronicle:
Swoopes is the most famous
athlete in a team sport ever to reveal her homosexuality
while still active. Two former WNBA players, Sue Wicks and
Michele Van Gorp, came out of the closet during their
careers, but neither has Swoopes' profile.
Andy Towle,
Towleroad.com:
Congratulations Sheryl. The
truth has set you free.
Rod Online:
Swoopes' decision is
monumental for the sport and black gays, especially since
she’s still at the top of her game—leading the WNBA in 2005
in points scored per game and minutes played among other
categories.
Queerty.com:
Big shock.
61.3% of ESPN.com
readers
polled:
Is this a
big story?
Yes -- Like it or not, sports
are one place where people of disparate opinions are forced
to come together.
Other
ESPN.com readers:
Miranda (Bismarck, ND):
It doesn't change the person or player that she is. That is
her personal life, and we shouldn't judge anyone by who they
love or care about.
Austin: I think it is
unfortunate this is even a story. Who cares if she is gay or
straight? I would have to agree with her comment that the
male athletes have more to lose. It is ridiculous in this
day in age that this stuff needs to be announced, given
attention to, etc.
Michael from Mobile:
You people call his woman a hero? That's what's wrong with
this country. What is WRONG is made right, and what is right
is demonized as being mean spirited or in this case a
homophobe. And we wonder why God is punishing this nation.
The
Malcontent:
It is extremely, unfathomably
rare for a star athlete in team sports to come out while he
or she is still actually playing the game. Which is why
Sheryl Swoopes' courageous announcement is so significant.
The Sports Frog:
I'm glad Swoopes is able to
come out of the closet. Nobody should have to hide their
sexual preference, not athletes, not anybody. That said this
is hardly a shocker: There are lesbians in all communities,
why should a basketball team be any different.
Pam Spaulding:
I hope to live long enough to
see a gay man in team sports come out while still playing.
That will be a milestone.
Oct. 26,
2005
List of Out Athletes
'
