Suffer in Silence

"Suffer in Silence" is an article about homophobia within professional sports and is written by Julian Rubenstein. The article was written ten years ago in 1998 but still has relevance in today's society. The article discusses the face there is not a professional athlete in baseball, football, basketball, or hockey that has disclosed being gay. The author claims that this non-proportionality exists because "athletics is the backbone of male machismo" and that masculinity is so deeply embedded within professional sports. Rubenstein tried to conduct a poll asking about gay athletes with all the teams from each of the major four sports and only six teams responded out of eighty-nine. The facts about homosexuality within sports show that there is an overwhelming amount of homophobia between players, coaches, managers, and owners.

Rubenstein makes a great point in the beginning of the article; she states that both the Catholic Church and the US military have addressed the topic of homosexuality while sports have not. This shows that even the most anti-gay structures in our society are still more willing to face the situation than professional sports. It is hard to believe that with nearly 4,000 professional athletes in the big four sports that no one is currently revealed their homosexuality. There has to be a small percentage of athletes who are gay and that are living with a big secret, which has to extremely difficult to deal with. It is obvious that it is going to take a big-name athlete to come out if there is going to be any shift in the paradigm. But perhaps as Rubenstein mentions it could be a player that is up and coming, such as a Sydney Crosby or Evan Longoria, to change perceptions. If it was a new player, maybe the reaction would not be as significant and perhaps it would ease the fans and players opinions gradually. Ever the case there needs to be a breakdown of homophobia in sports and our society, so gays can have the ability to live their lives without the pressure of coming under scrutiny.

Just as Jackie Robinson was great for breaking the color barrier, a significant gay athlete would be great for breaking the fear of homophobia. While strides are being made in racial and gender issues, let us not forget that there needs to be strides made in the area of sexual preference. If sports can tackle the obvious problem of homophobia, perhaps it would trigger a societal shift in the way we perceive homosexuals as a whole.