"It's time for professional sport to come out of the closet"

From The Journal, the newspaper for Scottish universities:

The Journal explores the issue of homosexuality in team sport and the possibility that change may finally be on the horizon for sport's oldest taboo

Steven Davies, the England and Surrey wicket-keeper, has this week become the first professional cricketer to come out as a homosexual. It may not appear to be a big deal, and it really shouldn’t be, but to just look at the coverage the story Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas is gaining in America, in a sport Americans don’t even seriously play, shows the scale of the issue. Professional sports stars in teams around the world remain in the closet with ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’ policies commonly enforced. Gareth Thomas and Steven Davies are the only two openly gay current participants in leading team sports in the world.

The National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL) found that 6.4 per cent of males in Britain have had sexual relations with another man. Therefore the number of homosexuals currently playing sport in the UK should be much greater than two.

Homosexuality has only been legal in Britain for 34 years, and around the world in many areas such as Latin America it is still a massive taboo. The term ‘gay’ has even become a slanderous way to describe a homosexual, as when used by a child it often simply means something is bad, highlighting the negative connotations of the word. Worse still homosexuality is still considered sinful by most leading religions. The bible literally tells people they will be punished for eternity for what they are, unless they can pray the gay away. We still have a while to go before we can consider ourselves a truly accepting world.

With leagues like the Premier League having an international following, and squads having an international make up, perhaps many do not feel they can be honest with less open minded team mates. Andy Gray and Richard Keys did their part to highlight problems of exclusion in football with their derisory comments on the selection of Sian Massey as an assistant referee for a Premier League match, and similar problems exist for homosexuals as for women.

Then of course there is the hounding from the terraces. Sol Campbell, perceived to be a homosexual, upon his return to former club Tottenham was subjected to horrendous abuse that included references to his gaining HIV from his alleged sexual preferences.

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