Lesbians/Gays. Should they come out?

Being at the end of the semester, we went through many different topics about women in sports, from Title IX to how women are portrayed in the media. The one topic that we recently talked about in class, and too, caught my attention the most is about athletes who are lesbians/gays. The movie that we watched in class, Training Rules, made me frustrated and had me thinking more into this subject. Why? First off, being an athlete that has a passion for basketball and even coaching basketball right now, I know the feeling of not being able to play; however in my case, because of an injury. In Jennifer Harris’ case, as well as all the other athletes affected at PENN State, my feeling of not being able to play basketball doesn’t compare to their feeling of not being able to play; because of their sexual orientation. Here’s a quick question for you, if you were given a scholarship your senior year to attend a division I college because you were one of the superior athletes and then all of a sudden, being stripped of your scholarship not because you had bad grades or weren’t good enough, but because of their suspicion of your sexual orientation, wouldn’t you cry? Honestly, I know that I would cry. I have so much passion for the game that if something hurtful was shot at me like that, for a reason that is not affecting the team, I would break down in tears knowing that I can’t play basketball because of my sexual orientation. In our society, regardless of the past or present, we have this knowledge that relationships and marriages consist of a woman and a man being together, two heterosexual people being together. However, once we see two homosexuals together, whether it is a woman and a woman or a man and a man together, we become disgusted and discriminate them because it is out of the norm that we traditionally view. Truthfully, our society can’t accept the fact of seeing two homosexuals being together. But honestly, do you think that because of their sexual orientation, they shouldn’t be allowed to play the sport that they love, even if they are talented at it? In my opinion, I think that because it doesn’t affect the sport, they should be allowed to play. In regards to Harris and all the other athletes, I believe that they should’ve been still apart of the PENN State team and shouldn’t have gone through all that suffering that Coach Portland put them through. Cases like Harris’ spreads all over the world from all lesbians and gays to hear, and that’s the main reason why most of them are scared to come out. Recently, however, there are more of them who are coming out. But because of that fear of knowing that the minute they will come out, they will be judged, discriminated against, and made fun of, is the fear that they have that will keep them behind the closet. You can’t control the feelings of nature and how everyone feels towards people because everyone is different. True, most of us have feelings for the opposite sex, but for those who are comfortable around the same sex, should be able to like whoever they want and play the sport that they are talented in because that is an athlete that every school, institution and league wants. If these places ban these athletes from playing, then no one will ever know that they exist and can contribute so much to the world of sports.

-Chazmine Donado
KIN 338i Section 02