Why is being Gay Newsworthy?
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by user Leslie Monteiro
Ellen Degeneres started a trend. In her series finale of the sitcom “Ellen”, she used her show as a platform to come out of the closet indicating that she was gay. Then, she did an interview for Time Magazine explaining why she was gay. Now, you see athletes copying her act. Former WNBA superstar Sheryl Swoopes admitted to a magazine that she was gay couple of years ago. Now, John Amaechi admitted that he was gay after an internet report talked about a former NBA player would go admit his sexuality on Valentine's Day. He is coming off with a book about the challenge of being a gay athlete.
First of all, who really cares what John Amaechi, Sherryl Swoopes, or any celebrity do in their lives? Who cares about their sexuality? For one thing, it is none of anyone’s business. Fans should just worry about how they perform at their craft. It should not affect their thinking about those people. It should not even be newsworthy. There are other things in sports that fans can talk about. Heck there are other issues in real life that people need to be consumed such as looking for jobs, worrying about the soldiers, trying to make ends meet, and etc. Those are more pressing issues to talk about.
It is understandable why Amaechi is writing a book. He is trying to educate others about the impact of being gay at the workforce and how it affects people’s relationship on gays and lesbians. He talked about how being gay is taboo in sports. He talks about how male athletes look down on others who are gay. He wants everyone to know that it is okay to be gay. These are great points that he is making. It is good to see him send a message.
With that said, one would hope that he or she would not look down on others or look at them differently because he is a gay or if she is a lesbian. It is the 21st century. People should have a better paradigm on this situation. They need to realize that people are people. They should judge people based on their character and talents not based on gender, sexuality, color, nationality, or the way they dress. We live in a culture sadly where it is okay to make fun of people or mock people for who they are. We mock people for being dumb at school. Majority of the people should look in the mirror and see themselves because most people have to look at their lack of principles.
It is too bad that teammates are not crazy about having a gay guy in the locker room. Why does it bother them so much? Isn’t the purpose of playing sports is to produce and win games? That is the way it should be. There is no need to worry about other stuff. The only time a player should be treated like an outcast if he or she is a jerk or if he or she became a problem child with the team. One can say that a player can talk about gay issues with his teammates. So what? They can be educated about how gay people are no different than heterosexual people. It is doubtful that he or she would go promote his or her sexuality. Why would he or she anyway?
Amaechi’s admission is not a big deal for most basketball fans. Most fans do not even know who he is considering that he really was not a factor in the league. He had one good year in the 1999-2000 season for the Orlando Magic. The question is suppose [[Dwayne Wade]], Gilbert Arenas, or any other superstar comes out of the closet and admit he is gay right now or when he retires. There is going to be a reaction based on what they accomplished in the league. Why would there be a reaction from fans and the media if that scenario unfolded because they are superstars? Why should they be held to a high standard because they are superstars?
Sadly, this is the world that we live in. We do not want to accept anyone who is a homosexual. We look down on people for that. It is big news if someone is gay or a lesbian. One can hope that someone can be educated about these things. One has to pray that everyone would be mature in reading stuff about them or hearing about them. We should stop making a big deal about athletes coming out of the closet.
John Amaechi’s epitaph should be that he was a basketball player for several years and that he tried to make a difference in people’s lives not because whether he is a homosexual or not.
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