Discrimination Against Gay Athletes

Same sex marriage became legal on June 26th, 2015. So, why is there still discrimination? It’s legal right? The discrimination against homosexual athletes in American sports is out of control and needs to be changed immediately. How would people feel being looked down upon being one of the only openly gay athletes in the United States? Before 2014 there was not any openly gay athletes currently playing professional sports in the United States. This shows the fear humans have when it comes to being honest about their sexuality because they know what the general public thinks about it. Discrimination is inhumane, especially when it comes to peoples beliefs. Sixty-five percent of females in the WNBA are homosexual but are not discriminated against …show more content…
“In female sports, if you’re gay, most likely your team knows it pretty quickly. It’s very open and widely supported. For males, it’s not that way at all. It’s sad” (Portwood, 2012). One huge question that goes around the sports world is “Why is it okay for female athletes to be homosexual but awkward for males to be homosexual?” For men, it is very common to become use to slurs such as “that’s so gay” or “you play like a girl”. Phrases like this will make it extremely hard for the homosexual males to come out and be happy because they know what the public thinks of them. “Imagine if he’s the guy next to me, and you know, I get dressed, naked, taking a shower, the whole time, and it just so happens he looks at me, how am I supposed to respond” (Ramos, 2014). Now that more men are coming out about their homosexuality, this problem could happen more often. How do you respond to it? The best way to handle it would just to not be rude and even though you are uncomfortable, make the other person feel comfortable about the situation. Athlete Michal Sam who came out in 2014 said that the experience was horrible until he realized that everybody wanted to him to be happy. Now a professional football player, Sam gets looked up too but a whole country for is courage and honesty. “We’re really happy for Michael that he’s made the decision to announce this, and we’re proud …show more content…
Honesty towards everyone including yourself is a great way to be stress free. Why are people not accepted in today’s society? Religion probably has big thing to do with it. In the bible it condemns homosexuality as a sin. Also in the bible, it says that nobody should be judged. As seen in previous cases, judging leads to anger and anger leads to bad decisions. Judging is basically a small form of bullying and that is a bad idea at all times. Being in this situation is horrible for the homosexual, but having people to help get you through it instead of putting you down would help a large amount. Family, friends, and people who sympathize with you. Be true to yourself and don’t let others stop you from being happy. In the United States only 19 percent of American’s opposed gay marriage and nearly 75% of fans wouldn’t mind if their favorite team signed a gay player. This shows a lot of the sports fans in the United States. “While support among fans is high, the presence of openly gay athletes remains small” (Waldron, 2015). Hopefully more homosexuals that have not come out about their sexuality will see these results and understand that they shouldn’t fear what others will think because most people are perfectly fine with their favorite team signing gay people. “Gay athletes received support from all political groups, with 66 percent of Republicans, 75 percent of independents, and 79 percent of Democrats supportive of teams