Out of the Closet

Good Lord, I just can't stop writing this week! IT'S AN EXTRAVAGANZA!!!!! But I think this must be addressed, so here we go...

So Sheryl Swoopes has come out of the closet and admitted to being a lesbian. Some sportswriters are jumping all over this and heralding it as a new day in professional sports. They're wondering if this will translate into men's sports and make it okay for gay men to come out. They're also wondering if more lesbians will step forward in more female pro sports. They're wondering if straight women will be offended because it makes it harder for them to be straight in a female pro sport. That's what I'm reading from the pundits, who we all know I hold in such hire regard. So here's what I'll do: I'll tell you what I think will happen because of this news. Now what I think is right, not what I believe should happen, not what I want to happen, just what will happen:

! Most people will still assume that the vast majority of female pro athletes
(and remember, college is pro) are lesbians.
! People still will not care about the WNBA.
! This will not affect gay men in male pro sports in the least.

Sorry kids. That's it. I'm not trying to be mean here; I love Sheryl Swoopes. I remember when she won the NCAA tournament--and I do mean she, she singlehandedly carried that Tech team. She was/is incredible. She is by far the female basketball player I respect most in the world; probably by far the female athlete I respect most in the world. I think she's great. But what does this really change? Like it or not, people assume that all the women in the WNBA are lesbians. So why is it hard for a star to say she is one? You're just validating people's assumptions. And it's not like Swoopes was trying to hide this fact: she even thanked her partner (albeit by referring to her by the gender neutral name of "Scotty", though everyone knew who she was talking about) in her last MVP acceptance speech. So this is hardly earth-shattering news. I just don't see how this news changes the world around us that much--especially when the mainstream world doesn't really care about this niche very much (sorry WNBA fans).

Two more issues remain, the first being heterosexual women who are frustrated that the "lesbian" stereotype will still be applied to them in pro sports. To this I say...sorry. We live in a world of stereotypes, especially in sports. I've been stereotyped as a white basketball player, I've been stereotyped because I'm tall, I've been stereotyped as a student for being an athlete, and I've watched countless other stereotypes applied to others because of a variety of sports related issues. Like it or not, it's the way the world works. If you're going to play sports, you're going to be stereotyped, in one way or another. I must say that I question how much of a "problem" this issue really is. You can't play a sport well unless you're strong mentally, and I think this holds true even more so for the women who have helped bring female sports to acceptance in the world in the last what...ten years? Fifteen years? Anyway, I've got faith in the many girls out there who do excel in sports to not let something like "oh no, the boys might think I'm a lesbian" stop them. They're better than that, they're stronger than that. And besides...this may sound like a cliche, and it is, but it's also absolutely true: if some ass won't talk to you because he thinks that might be true, he's not worth your time anyway. You can all make fun of me for saying that now, but I stand by my statement.

The second issue is the question of gay men. Will this announcement encourage gay men in professional sports to step forward? In a word: no. In two words: Hell no. Sorry. Let's look at the situation: A star in a league that almost no one cares about stepped forward and confirmed what everyone had suspected about her in regards to an expected and accepted (yes accepted; the reason people don't watch the WNBA isn't because some of it's members might be lesbians) practice in the league. Now let's look at a gay man's "coming out": a star in the most popular sporting league in the world (any of the Big 3 could fit that) has come forward and admitted to one of the most controversial and taboo practices in his sport, and the rest of the world is in shock as they have chosen to believe for a long time that such a practice does not happen in that sport.

Look at those two situations. Is that even in the same ballpark? I'm not trying to lessen what Sheryl Swoopes has done...I'm just saying it will be immeasurably harder for the first gay male star to come out in the NFL, NBA, or MLB. Will he site Sheryl Swoopes as an inspiration? Of course. But I promise you that none of the gay male athletes are sitting at home thinking, "Well Sheryl Swoopes has opened the door; thank God! Now I can come out! I'll announce it next week." Just like one league is on a whole nother level physically, it's on a whole nother level socially, as well.

So that's what I think will happen. How has this news changed me, personally, you might ask? Not at all. I still think Sheryl Swoopes is probably the best female basketball player ever. I still admire her game, and am a bit in awe of her skill. I've never heard any bad things about her as a person, so I've always felt she was a good person. Her being lesbian does absolutely nothing to change my opinion of her as a person. I'm glad she's got this issue that was weighing her down personally off her chest, and that she feels she can move on with her life normally now. More power to her.

So talk, you pundits. Girls will still keep playing sports; predjudiced people will continue to act on there prejudices; people will still be gay or straight or both in the world; people will still not watch the WNBA. Life goes on, and in the end, the problem's of two people in this world don't amount to a hill of beans.