Male Athletes Are Accepting Of Gay Teammates, New Study Reveals
Three academic researchers have published a study that has revealed that sports are evolving into a welcoming place for out gay, bi and queer male athletes.
Adam J. White, Rory Magrath and Luis Emilio Morales studied 60 coming-out stories of male athletes, mostly in the United States.
As ‘Out Sports’ report, the study shows, nearly without fail, a familiar pattern in the stories: Male athletes are afraid to come out to their teammates, but when they do they are nearly universally met with acceptance. The handful of accounts of negative reactions came almost exclusively from places outside of sports, including family members and other classmates.
“The findings presented in this research further critique the claim that sport is a hostile environment for sexual minorities; there is now a significant body of research on Western sport which challenges this line of reasoning,” the report says. “Further, perpetuating the narrative that sport is homophobic without an impartial body of evidence is, in itself, potentially further traumatic to closeted athletes already concerned about coming-out.”
The study also shows that language considered to be homophobic — e.g., the casual use of gay slurs — does not reflect an actual hatred or dislike of gay people, and that that language is reduced or disappears entirely when a gay teammate comes out due to heightened sensitivity and awareness. In fact, after the athlete comes out the language can be used as a form of supportive banter with the newly out athlete, “a way of them simply being included on the team.”
“Indeed, every athlete in the sample described an acceptant and inclusive response from their teammates and, therefore, improved psychological wellbeing,” the study says. “We show that, post-coming-out, homosexually themed language among their teammates either declined, or was increasingly positioned as evidence of ‘gay-friendly banter’.”
While four of the 60 athletes included some form of negative reaction to their coming out from some corner of their lives, that accounted for less than 7% of the athletes, and even they claimed an overall positive coming-out experience.
“Athletes in this research outlined a marked turnaround in their psychological state – from depression and anxiety, to the elation that coming-out provided. Indeed, in these sporting contexts, coming-out was universally associated with greater happiness and self-confidence,” the study says.
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Senior Tory MP: “Football Is Still Intolerant Of Gay People”
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