Finding allies in athletics

From the blog of GLAAD:

There’s an instinct among many of us, no matter what issue we’re dealing with, to dismiss elements of our society that we deem to be “part of the problem” as never being able to be “part of the solution.” We sometimes think that whatever problem we seek to solve will be solved if the elements we’re working against would somehow magically cease to exist, or at least lose their influence.

When noted sportswriter, author and Boston Herald columnist Steve Buckley came out, I wrote, “Anyone who’s ever set foot inside a locker room at any level, for any reason, has heard enough anti-gay invective to last a lifetime.” And it’s not just men who are athletes who are surrounded by this environment. In fact, sometimes it seems like the more successful a woman is as an athlete, the more likely she’ll be subjected to anti-lesbian (or anti-transgender) slurs by opponents or rivals.

For decades, the world of athletics has been seen as part of the problem by those of us dedicated to fighting anti-LGBT hate. It’s time to see it as part of the solution.

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