It doesn’t take much for casual homophobia come to the surface. Case in point: The reaction to the Cincinnati Bengals starting 0-3 after a loss Monday night to the Washington Commanders.
The target was Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who dyed his hair blonde before the season and was shown on TV walking into the stadium in a white vest over a pink shirt, wearing bracelets and a necklace (looking spiffy in my mind).
After the loss, his look was used as the reason by this tweet that went viral:
“Joe #Burrow is now 0-3 as a lesbian.”
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It has 20,600 likes and counting, with many homophobic comments from people who think they are funny, such as:
“He’s still in transition.”
“Would be elite in the WNBA though.”
“Cares more about looking GQ than winning football games smdh”
“Football gods had a meeting.. collectively agreed this … gay and will not be tolerated”
A number of the tweeters likened Burrow’s new look to that of lesbian TV star Ellen DeGeneres.
I am certain some people are saying to “lighten up” or “have a sense of humor” and that the post was meant to be funny. And while I love off-color humor in context, this is not it. It’s using traditional stereotypes with homophobia to mock someone.
The idea that dressing in what is a non-traditional, less masculine “gay” way from most athletes is the reason someone fails, this argues, while ignoring that times have changed. Young athletes are way more into style and fashion and sports are better for it.
For the record, this is how Burrow showed up in Week 2, in a game the Bengals also lost, proving that fashion has nothing to do with performance.
In the history of the NFL, there have been only 16 out gay or bi players and one who was active while playing, so a tradition of masculinity still pervades the sport. Mocking Burrow for how he dresses just reinforces that.
By the way, Burrow was lights out on Monday, throwing for 324 yards, three touchdowns and completing 76% of his passes. The Bengals scored 33 points, which should be more than enough to win any NFL game. The blame here lies with the defense, not the guy with the blonde hair and cool sense of style.
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