LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
The OUTfield |
by Dan Woog |
Five Reasons Gay Sports Should Feel GLAAD
Gay, lesbian and bisexual Olympians. Logo television's broadcast of Shirts and Skins. Growing attention from the GLBT media. ESPN's outreach to the gay sports world. Athletes in support of marriage equality. Those significant eventsall from the past few monthsunderscore the growing power and visibility of gay sports, both in the LGBT community and society at large. The five examples above quickly trip off the tongue of Ted Rybka. In just over a year as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation's director of sports media, he's seenand helped goose alonga sea change in coverage of gay athletics. Take the 2008 Summer Olympics. Eleven men and women competed openly as gay, lesbian or bisexual at Beijingand seven won medals. Australia's champion diver Matthew Mitcham was the most famous, but there were cyclists, fencers, and soccer, softball, handball and tennis players from the U.S., Germany, Norway and Sweden, too. NBC's official Web site identified many of them as out and open. However, Rybka says, the network dropped the ball by not mentioning Mitcham as the only publicly out gay male Olympian, particularly when he scored four 10s in his final dive to take gold. "NBC should have highlighted his partner and mom, just like they showed the families and stories of other medaling athletes," Rybka says. Yet after NBC was roundly criticized for that omission, network representatives met with GLAAD, and realized they missed an important sports moment. Rybka says that GLAAD now has "an open dialogue" with NBC regarding coverage of LGBT athletes. The lack of openly transgender athletes at the Olympics displeases Rybka. The fact that college and high school sports follow the International Olympic Committee's restrictive policy regarding gender identity is equally bothersome. Looking ahead, Rybka says that trans athletes will gain visibility, and their issues will be the subject of more nuanced debate. Logo's Shirts and Skins series was seen by substantially fewer viewers than the Olympics, but Rybka counts it as another success story. The Real World-like show followed members of the San Francisco Rockdogs, an all-gay team training for the National Gay Basketball Championship tournament in Chicago. "Logo created this to show its audience that there are gay athletesand they're multicultural and multi-talented," Rybka explains. "I applaud Logo for dedicating several weeks to this. It's more than they've ever done for sports." The rest of the gay media is also devoting greater attention to gay sports. Rybka points to the growing popularity of Web sites like Outports and Gaysports to online forums at sites like Gay.comand even to print columns like "The OutField" as positive developments. However, he notes, there is room for improvement. "GLBT papers need to devote more space to local events. It's important to cover our own community in many different ways." Readers, he says, must request increased coverage from editors. In a much broader sense, ESPNthe worldwide leader in sports reportinghas begun doing just that. Rybka calls LZ Granderson, an openly gay television analyst and writer for ESPN.com's Page Two, "probably the most visible gay man in sports today." His presence helps raise LGBT awareness with readers, viewers, even network staffers. During Gay History Month last October, ESPN sponsored Fearless, Jeff Sheng's photo exhibit of LGBT high school and college athletes. By displaying large photographs at the entrances of buildings with the most foot traffic at its sprawling Bristol, Conn., headquarters, executives sent a clear message to more than 5,000 employeesand many tour groupsthat ESPN takes diversity and inclusion very seriously. The network also sponsored a panel, at which Sheng and several of the photographed athletes discussed their experiences. It was clear, Rybka says, that some employees had never thought about the issues gay athletes facebut were eager to heed the panelists' insights and advice. Finally, Rybka is heartened by professional athletes' responses to Proposition 8, last November's California ballot initiative on same-sex marriage. Prior to the vote, basketball star Charles Barkley told CNN that he supported gay marriage. Football quarterback Steve Young posted placards at his home urging voters to oppose the ban, while legendary hoopster Magic Johnson recorded phone messages favoring marriage equality. Other prominent athletes disagreed. The San Diego Chargers' Jacques Cesaire vocally opposed gay marriage, while baseball star Jeff Kent donated substantial funds to help ensure Proposition 8's defeat. "Obviously, we still have work to do to educate athletes about GLBT issues," Rybka says. "But more and more, we're seeing big-name athletes stand up and speak out as straight allies." Entering his second year as GLAAD's point man on sports issues, Rybka smiles. The game is not yet overbut gay sports seems to be taking the lead.Dan Woog is a journalist, educator, soccer coach, gay activist, and author of the "Jocks" series of books on gay male athletes. He can be reached at OutField@qsyndicate.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 19, No. 03 April 03, 2009 |