Homosexuality in sports in the United States

The homosexual sports community in the United States has one of the highest levels of acceptance and support in the world^[1]^[2]^[3] and is rapidly growing as of 2020.^[4]^[5] General public opinion and jurisprudence regarding homosexuality in the United States has become significantly more accepting since the late 1980s;^[6]^[7] for example, by the early 2020s, an overwhelming majority of Americans approved of the legality of same-sex marriages.^[6]

In regard to sports in the United States, in 2002 researcher Eric Anderson found "more openly gay runners and swimmers than football and baseball players."^[8] He then hypothesized that this occurred because gay men likely abandoned some sports in favor of sports that were more accepting of homosexuality.^[8] In 2006, a Sports Illustrated poll of roughly 1,400 professional athletes found that a majority would be willing to accept a gay teammate. As well, professional ice hockey (NHL) athletes seemed to be the most accepting of such teammates as 80% of its players approved of having a gay teammate.^[8]

Individual sports

Golf

In 1996, Muffin Spencer-Devlin became the first LPGA player to come out as gay.^[9]

In 2018, Tadd Fujikawa came out as gay, becoming the first male professional golfer to do so.^[10]^[11]

Squash

In 2018, Todd Harrity came out as gay, thus becoming the first openly gay professional male squash player in the world. At the time he was ranked No. 1 in the United States out of all male squash players.^[12]^[13]

Tennis

American tennis player Billie Jean King acknowledged her relationship with Marilyn Barnett when it became public in a May 1981 palimony lawsuit filed by Barnett, making Billie Jean the first prominent female professional athlete in the world to come out.^[14]

Team sports

Basketball

In 2002, Sue Wicks came out as gay, making her the first openly gay person playing in the WNBA.^[15] Many female players have since come out as gay; for example, Sheryl Swoopes came out in 2005, Brittney Griner came out in 2013, and Elena Delle Donne came out in 2016.^[16] However, Swoopes later married a man.^[17]

In 2013, Jason Collins publicly came out as gay.^[18] President Barack Obama contacted him offering his support.^[19] In 2014, Jason Collins played for the Brooklyn Nets of the NBA, making him the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues.^[20]^[21]^[22]

Flag football

In 2002, the National Gay Flag Football League was founded.^[23]

Football

In 1975, former football player David Kopay became the first professional athlete from a major team to come out.^[24]

Football player Alissa Wykes of the Philadelphia Liberty Belles became one of the first active American athletes to publicly come out as gay when she announced that she was a lesbian in an article in the December 2001/January 2002 edition of Sports Illustrated for Women.^[25]^[26]^[27]

In the 2014 NFL draft, the St. Louis Rams drafted Michael Sam in the seventh round, the 249th of 256 players selected,^[28] which made him the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL.^[29]^[30] However, on August 30, St. Louis released Sam as part of a final round of cuts to reduce their roster to the league-mandated 53 players before the start of the regular season.^[31]^[32]

In June 2021, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out as gay via Instagram, making him the first openly gay active player in the NFL.^[33]^[34] He later became the first openly gay player in an NFL playoff game on January 15, 2022.^[35]^[36]

Hockey

In 1985, the Los Angeles Blades was organized as the first gay hockey team in the United States.^[37]

In 2021, Canadian Luke Prokop, who was drafted by the Nashville Predators in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, became the first active player signed to a National Hockey League contract to come out as gay.^[38]^[39]^[40]

Rugby

In 1998, the Washington Renegades RFC was formed as the first gay rugby team in the United States.^[41]

Soccer

In 2013, Robbie Rogers publicly came out as gay.^[18] President Barack Obama contacted him offering his support.^[19] Thierry Henry, at the time playing in Major League Soccer, was quoted in a column for New York Daily News as saying "he (Rogers) is a human being, first of all. And that’s good enough."^[19] Later in 2013, Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay man to compete in a top North American professional sports league when he played his first match for the LA Galaxy of Major League Soccer.^[42]^[43]^[44]

Many female soccer players have been openly gay while actively playing for American teams, such as Joanna Lohman^[45]^[46] and Megan Rapinoe.^[47]^[48]^[49] Megan Rapinoe came out in 2012, while a midfielder for the Seattle Sounders and while on the United States women's national soccer team.^[50]^[51]

References

^ Zeigler, Cyd. "Each of America's big 5 sports currently has an out gay man in the pros. That's never happened". OutSports.
^ "Meet the LGBTQ+ Athletes Participating in the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games". Human Rights Campaign. February 2, 2022.
^ "Meet the out-and-proud LGBTQ+ athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games". South China Morning Post. August 25, 2021.
^ Derks, Marco; van den Berg, Mariecke (2020). Public Discourses About Homosexuality and Religion in Europe and Beyond. Springer International Publishing. p. 338. ISBN 9783030563264. ...(the United States and [Western] Europe) as "already in crisis" for their permissive attitudes toward nonnormative sexualities...
^ Leveille, Dan (December 4, 2009). "LGBT Equality Index: The most LGBT-friendly countries in the world". Equaldex. Retrieved January 26, 2023. 13.) United States
^ ^a ^b Garretson, Jeremiah (2018). "A Transformed Society: LGBT Rights in the United States". The Path to Gay Rights: How Activism and Coming Out Changed Public Opinion. New York University Press. ISBN 9781479850075. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a dramatic wave began to form in the waters of public opinion: American attitudes involving homosexuality began to change... The transformation of America's response to homosexuality has been — and continues to be — one of the most rapid and sustained shifts in mass attitudes since the start of public polling.
^ McCarthy, Justin (June 1, 2022). "Same-Sex Marriage Support Inches Up to New High of 71%". Gallup, Inc. Retrieved October 2, 2022.
^ ^a ^b ^c Anderson, E. (2011). "Masculinities and Sexualities in Sport and Physical Cultures: Three Decades of Evolving Research". Journal of Homosexuality. 58 (5): 565–578. doi:10.1080/00918369.2011.563652. PMID 21534070.
^ Garrity, John; Nutt, Amy (March 18, 1996). "No More Disguises - Muffin Spencer-Devlin stands tall in her chosen role: the first LPGA player to declare she's gay". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 11, 2015.
^ Rudolph, Christopher (September 12, 2018). "Pro Golfer Tadd Fujiwaka Comes Out as Gay". NewNowNext.
^ Dethier, Dylan (2018-09-12). "Tadd Fujikawa becomes first male pro golfer to come out as gay". Golf. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
^ Buzinski, Jim (April 30, 2018). "Top American pro squash player Todd Harrity comes out as gay". Outsports.
^ Todd Harrity (2018-04-28). "Todd Harrity on Twitter: "â€Ś "". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2018-05-02.
^ Hingston, Sandy (June 17, 2011). "Billie Jean King: Racquet Revolutionary – Page 4 of 5 – Philadelphia Magazine". Philadelphia Magazine. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.
^ II, Howard Nixon (July 24, 2015). Sport in a Changing World. Routledge. ISBN 9781317383789 – via Google Books.
^ Hine, Chris; Thompson, Phil (August 3, 2016). "Elena Delle Donne engaged, comes out: 'I'm not at all going to hide anything'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 9, 2016.
^ "Maya Rupert: What Sheryl Swoopes' Engagement Means: Understanding the Role of Identity and Combo Guards". Huffingtonpost.com. August 1, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2011.
^ ^a ^b Slater, J. (2013-09-17). "Openly Gay Male Athletes Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers, and Orlando Cruz struggling for impact". Huffington Post.
^ ^a ^b ^c Bondy, Stefan (2013-05-18). "Landon Donovan says Robbie Rogers' decision to go public with his sexuality 'must have been overwhelmingly good for him". New York Daily.
^ Pincus, Eric (February 23, 2014). "Lakers' rally falls short in 108–102 loss to Nets". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.
^ "Openly gay basketballer Jason Collins signs landmark NBA deal with Brooklyn Nets". The Sydney Morning Herald. AFP. February 24, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014.
^ Mazzeo, Mike (February 23, 2014). "Rapid Reaction: Nets 108, Lakers 102". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014.
^ Sastre, Sole (2016-06-28). "South Africa's rugby team Jozi Cats defy gay stereotypes". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
^ Naito, Jon (December 2008). "Husky legend and gay icon David Kopay is at peace and at home". University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
^ Bonham, Mark S. (2017). Lesbian Football/Soccer Players. Bonham & Company. pp. 96–97. ISBN 978-0993960031. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)
^ DuLong, Jessica (19 February 2002). "Out in the field: pro footballer Alissa Wykes talks about breaking new ground for out lesbian athletes--and the flak she's gotten along the way". The Advocate. pp. 32–35. Retrieved 4 January 2012.
^ Rothaus, Steve (April 28, 2003). "Ex-Padre shows pride out of the closet". The Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Rams reportedly took Michael Sam in 2014 draft in deal with NFL". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2023-02-07.
^ Belson, Ken (May 10, 2014). "In Historic Pick, Rams Take Michael Sam in Final Round of Draft". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014.
^ Carter, Chelsea J. (May 10, 2014). "Michael Sam makes history: First openly gay player drafted in the NFL". CNN. Retrieved May 10, 2014.
^ Farmer, Sam (August 30, 2014). "Michael Sam, NFL's first openly gay player, is cut by St. Louis Rams". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014.
^ Wagoner, Nick (August 30, 2014). "Michael Sam cut by Rams". ESPN. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
^ Middlehurst-Schwartz, Michael. "Raiders' Carl Nassib comes out as first openly gay active NFL player". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
^ Belson, Ken (June 21, 2021). "Raiders' Carl Nassib Announces He's Gay, an N.F.L. First". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
^ "Carl Nassib becomes the first openly gay player to play in a NFL postseason game". GAY TIMES. January 16, 2022.
^ "Carl Nassib Makes History: First Openly Gay Player To Play In NFL Postseason Game". January 16, 2022.
^ “About Us.” Los Angeles Blades, 2020, www.bladeshockey.com/.
^ Kaplan, Emily (19 July 2021). "Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop says he is gay, hopes living 'authentic life' helps NHL career". ESPN. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
^ Kaplan, Emily (July 19, 2021). "Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop says he is gay, hopes living 'authentic life' helps NHL career". ESPN. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
^ Hernandez, Joe (2021-07-19). "NHL Prospect Luke Prokop Makes History As League's First Gay Player". NPR. Retrieved July 19, 2021.
^ Majores, Kevin. “Nice and Rough.” Washington Blade, 15 Feb. 2013, www.washingtonblade.com/2013/02/15/nice-and-rough/.
^ Witz, Billy (May 27, 2013). "Milestone for Gay Athletes as Rogers Plays for Galaxy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.
^ Lalas, Greg; Firchau, Nick (May 25, 2013). "It's official: Robbie Rogers joins LA Galaxy; Chicago Fire get postseason hero Mike Magee in exchange". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.
^ "Los Angeles Galaxy (1996–present)". Sports E-cyclopedia. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
^ "Joanna".
^ Pittman, Sam (June 17, 2022). "Washington Spirit Signs Six National Team Replacement Players » Washington Spirit".
^ "Soccer star Megan Rapinoe comes out - Windy City Times News". Windy City Times. July 3, 2012.
^ "Reign's Megan Rapinoe voted NWSL player of week". News Tribune. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2013.
^ "China and Seattle Reign FC played on the cusp of a women's soccer revival". May 28, 2015.
^ Klemko, Robert (July 3, 2012). "U.S. women's soccer player: 'I'm gay'". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 12, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2013.
^ "Fever Pitch". Out Magazine. July 2, 2012. Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012.

[1] Zeigler, Cyd. "Each of America's big 5 sports currently has an out gay man in the pros. That's never happened". OutSports.

[2] "Meet the LGBTQ+ Athletes Participating in the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games". Human Rights Campaign. February 2, 2022.

[3] "Meet the out-and-proud LGBTQ+ athletes at the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games". South China Morning Post. August 25, 2021.

[4] Derks, Marco; van den Berg, Mariecke (2020). Public Discourses About Homosexuality and Religion in Europe and Beyond. Springer International Publishing. p. 338. ISBN 9783030563264. ...(the United States and [Western] Europe) as "already in crisis" for their permissive attitudes toward nonnormative sexualities...

[5] Leveille, Dan (December 4, 2009). "LGBT Equality Index: The most LGBT-friendly countries in the world". Equaldex. Retrieved January 26, 2023. 13.) United States

[:43-6] Garretson, Jeremiah (2018). "A Transformed Society: LGBT Rights in the United States". The Path to Gay Rights: How Activism and Coming Out Changed Public Opinion. New York University Press. ISBN 9781479850075. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, a dramatic wave began to form in the waters of public opinion: American attitudes involving homosexuality began to change... The transformation of America's response to homosexuality has been — and continues to be — one of the most rapid and sustained shifts in mass attitudes since the start of public polling.

[7] McCarthy, Justin (June 1, 2022). "Same-Sex Marriage Support Inches Up to New High of 71%". Gallup, Inc. Retrieved October 2, 2022.

[anderson2011-8] Anderson, E. (2011). "Masculinities and Sexualities in Sport and Physical Cultures: Three Decades of Evolving Research". Journal of Homosexuality. 58 (5): 565–578. doi:10.1080/00918369.2011.563652. PMID 21534070.

[9] Garrity, John; Nutt, Amy (March 18, 1996). "No More Disguises - Muffin Spencer-Devlin stands tall in her chosen role: the first LPGA player to declare she's gay". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 11, 2015.

[10] Rudolph, Christopher (September 12, 2018). "Pro Golfer Tadd Fujiwaka Comes Out as Gay". NewNowNext.

[Dethier-11] Dethier, Dylan (2018-09-12). "Tadd Fujikawa becomes first male pro golfer to come out as gay". Golf. Retrieved 2019-12-24.

[12] Buzinski, Jim (April 30, 2018). "Top American pro squash player Todd Harrity comes out as gay". Outsports.

[13] Todd Harrity (2018-04-28). "Todd Harrity on Twitter: "â€Ś "". Twitter.com. Retrieved 2018-05-02.

[Jean:4-14] Hingston, Sandy (June 17, 2011). "Billie Jean King: Racquet Revolutionary – Page 4 of 5 – Philadelphia Magazine". Philadelphia Magazine. Archived from the original on September 30, 2017. Retrieved September 30, 2017.

[15] II, Howard Nixon (July 24, 2015). Sport in a Changing World. Routledge. ISBN 9781317383789 – via Google Books.

[16] Hine, Chris; Thompson, Phil (August 3, 2016). "Elena Delle Donne engaged, comes out: 'I'm not at all going to hide anything'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved August 9, 2016.

[17] "Maya Rupert: What Sheryl Swoopes' Engagement Means: Understanding the Role of Identity and Combo Guards". Huffingtonpost.com. August 1, 2011. Retrieved November 21, 2011.

[slater2013-18] Slater, J. (2013-09-17). "Openly Gay Male Athletes Jason Collins, Robbie Rogers, and Orlando Cruz struggling for impact". Huffington Post.

[bondy2013-19] Bondy, Stefan (2013-05-18). "Landon Donovan says Robbie Rogers' decision to go public with his sexuality 'must have been overwhelmingly good for him". New York Daily.

[pincus-20] Pincus, Eric (February 23, 2014). "Lakers' rally falls short in 108–102 loss to Nets". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014. Retrieved February 24, 2014.

[21] "Openly gay basketballer Jason Collins signs landmark NBA deal with Brooklyn Nets". The Sydney Morning Herald. AFP. February 24, 2014. Archived from the original on March 5, 2014.

[22] Mazzeo, Mike (February 23, 2014). "Rapid Reaction: Nets 108, Lakers 102". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on February 24, 2014.

[Sastre-23] Sastre, Sole (2016-06-28). "South Africa's rugby team Jozi Cats defy gay stereotypes". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2018-06-05.

[24] Naito, Jon (December 2008). "Husky legend and gay icon David Kopay is at peace and at home". University of Washington Magazine. Retrieved 1 December 2021.

[25] Bonham, Mark S. (2017). Lesbian Football/Soccer Players. Bonham & Company. pp. 96–97. ISBN 978-0993960031. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)

[advocate-26] DuLong, Jessica (19 February 2002). "Out in the field: pro footballer Alissa Wykes talks about breaking new ground for out lesbian athletes--and the flak she's gotten along the way". The Advocate. pp. 32–35. Retrieved 4 January 2012.

[Rothaus_2003-27] Rothaus, Steve (April 28, 2003). "Ex-Padre shows pride out of the closet". The Ottawa Citizen. Retrieved May 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.

[28] "Rams reportedly took Michael Sam in 2014 draft in deal with NFL". Las Vegas Review-Journal. 2016-03-24. Retrieved 2023-02-07.

[auto-29] Belson, Ken (May 10, 2014). "In Historic Pick, Rams Take Michael Sam in Final Round of Draft". The New York Times. Archived from the original on November 1, 2014.

[30] Carter, Chelsea J. (May 10, 2014). "Michael Sam makes history: First openly gay player drafted in the NFL". CNN. Retrieved May 10, 2014.

[farmer-31] Farmer, Sam (August 30, 2014). "Michael Sam, NFL's first openly gay player, is cut by St. Louis Rams". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on August 31, 2014.

[wagoner-32] Wagoner, Nick (August 30, 2014). "Michael Sam cut by Rams". ESPN. Retrieved August 30, 2014.

[33] Middlehurst-Schwartz, Michael. "Raiders' Carl Nassib comes out as first openly gay active NFL player". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2021-06-21.

[34] Belson, Ken (June 21, 2021). "Raiders' Carl Nassib Announces He's Gay, an N.F.L. First". The New York Times. Retrieved June 22, 2021.

[35] "Carl Nassib becomes the first openly gay player to play in a NFL postseason game". GAY TIMES. January 16, 2022.

[36] "Carl Nassib Makes History: First Openly Gay Player To Play In NFL Postseason Game". January 16, 2022.

[37] “About Us.” Los Angeles Blades, 2020, www.bladeshockey.com/.

[38] Kaplan, Emily (19 July 2021). "Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop says he is gay, hopes living 'authentic life' helps NHL career". ESPN. Retrieved 8 August 2021.

[espn-39] Kaplan, Emily (July 19, 2021). "Nashville Predators prospect Luke Prokop says he is gay, hopes living 'authentic life' helps NHL career". ESPN. Retrieved July 19, 2021.

[40] Hernandez, Joe (2021-07-19). "NHL Prospect Luke Prokop Makes History As League's First Gay Player". NPR. Retrieved July 19, 2021.

[41] Majores, Kevin. “Nice and Rough.” Washington Blade, 15 Feb. 2013, www.washingtonblade.com/2013/02/15/nice-and-rough/.

[NYT-42] Witz, Billy (May 27, 2013). "Milestone for Gay Athletes as Rogers Plays for Galaxy". The New York Times. Archived from the original on August 2, 2017. Retrieved February 28, 2017.

[It's_official-43] Lalas, Greg; Firchau, Nick (May 25, 2013). "It's official: Robbie Rogers joins LA Galaxy; Chicago Fire get postseason hero Mike Magee in exchange". MLSsoccer.com. Archived from the original on June 8, 2013. Retrieved May 25, 2013.

[44] "Los Angeles Galaxy (1996–present)". Sports E-cyclopedia. Retrieved April 6, 2007.

[45] "Joanna".

[46] Pittman, Sam (June 17, 2022). "Washington Spirit Signs Six National Team Replacement Players » Washington Spirit".

[47] "Soccer star Megan Rapinoe comes out - Windy City Times News". Windy City Times. July 3, 2012.

[48] "Reign's Megan Rapinoe voted NWSL player of week". News Tribune. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved July 30, 2013.

[49] "China and Seattle Reign FC played on the cusp of a women's soccer revival". May 28, 2015.

[klemko-50] Klemko, Robert (July 3, 2012). "U.S. women's soccer player: 'I'm gay'". USA Today. Archived from the original on June 12, 2014. Retrieved October 24, 2013.

[51] "Fever Pitch". Out Magazine. July 2, 2012. Archived from the original on July 4, 2012. Retrieved July 3, 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]

[15]

[16]

[17]

[18]

[19]

[20]

[21]

[22]

[23]

[24]

[25]

[26]

[27]

[28]

[29]

[30]

[31]

[32]

[33]

[34]

[35]

[36]

[37]

[38]

[39]

[40]

[41]

[42]

[43]

[44]

[45]

[46]

[47]

[48]

[49]

[50]

[51]

Homosexuality in sports in the United States

Individual sports

Golf

Squash

Tennis

Team sports

Basketball

Flag football

Football

Hockey

Rugby

Soccer

See also

References

Abbazia di Chiaravalle

Lo que la vida me robó

1948

Anice Badri

Provinsi Erzurum

Calypso (satelit)

Bergstraße

Холокост на Украине

Sertifikat digital

Eka Gustiwana

Serangan bandar udara Istanbul 2016

Gare de Bassens

Otamixaban

Emily Donelson

أفتون بلادت

Institutionalisation

Phillis Wheatley

Chernobyl Raion

Milind Soman

Luis Ladaria Ferrer