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Derrick Gordon, UMASS guard, comes out as gay

OvaltineJenkins said:
Some of Alphonso's tweets after Michael Sam came out were cringe-worthy.
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a.k.a. It might be a bigger deal in the sports world than a lot of y'all are making it out to be. Likewise, I've heard from a lot of folks in professional sports that homophobic cultures are encouraged by management in professional sports and coaches/administration in collegiate sports rather than occurring organically in the locker room.
 
TownieDeac said:
I'm glad the conversation now is about whether or not it's worthy of news, instead of "OMG what about locker rooms and butts and naked dudes"
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Note that this sounds like exactly what Gordon had to deal with at UMass:

Gordon denied it repeatedly, but that didn’t stop various members of the team from teasing him about it. The snickers and snide remarks carried on for weeks. Slowly, it consumed him.

“That was probably the lowest point I was ever at. I didn’t want to play basketball anymore. I just wanted to run and hide somewhere. I used to go back to my room and I’d just cry. There were nights when I would cry myself to sleep.

“Nobody should ever feel that way.”

When Gordon eventually confronted his team – again asserting he was straight and demanding they stop harassing him – the teasing slowed. Yet the damage was already done. Throughout the season – all the way into the NCAA tournament last month – some teammates continued to wait until Gordon was done in the locker room before they would venture into the showers. The “gay” label lingered. The treatment built distance between him and the rest of the team. Gordon responded by isolating himself, which in turn was met with more distance from various players.

“Most of the time when you see me on campus, I’m alone. I eat alone a lot. Since the school year started in September I haven’t been to one party. I’m always working out or lifting or in my room. I do the same thing over and over every day. I feel like I can’t be who I am or live my life.”
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http://www.outsports.com/2014/4/9/5582758/derrick-gordon-comes-out-umass-basketball
 
chatting with a lot of folks in professional sports about the gays?
 
DistrictDeacon said:
Good article - but written to make it seem that their coach came out at well.
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Pretty clear from the article that the coach just said that to do the initial "shock the room" moment and to break the ice for Gordon, at least that was my take.
 
deacvision7 said:
Pretty clear from the article that the coach just said that to do the initial "shock the room" moment and to break the ice for Gordon, at least that was my take.
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"Hey guys - serious announcement - I'm gay! J/K LOL, I love my wife. Here's the real gay guy."
 
For those who ask "why is this news?" read the comments on ESPN. There is still a LONG way to go before this is not news. The first thing that came to my mind was the mother who beat her 4 year old to death because she thought he was gay (http://koin.com/2014/04/02/jessica-dutro-trial-son-gay-death-jury-040214/). There is still a lot of homophobia and pressure on LGBT individuals in the world, including the US, and to live under the magnifying glass of sports figure only amplifies the pressure of trying to fit in. Hell, South Carolina legislators withheld money from the state universities for even having discussions on http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2014/04/08/3424094/south-carolina-recruiting-lesbians/, http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/07/mike-fair-gay-comments_n_5104341.html.
 
RJKarl said:
Sounds like he played with a lot of idiots.
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And shockingly, they were D1 public school athletes. Not sure what we expect out of these kids. My world views weren't exactly congealed at 18. That's why you got to college in the first place.
 
RJKarl said:
Sounds like he played with a lot of idiots.
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I think it sounds like he played with a lot of kids. That's why so many of these coming out stories include some aspect of education - what is fair game in terms of teasing, what is hurtful, etc. (And really, it's not just kids, Wade Davis presented to NFL coaches and GMs at their annual meeting to cover some of the same ground.)

Every athlete that comes out seems to be making it just a little bit easier for the next one, which is pretty awesome.

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PhDeac said:
I think we've reached the point where if an athlete is outed by an outside party, he wouldn't be shamed for it. Within a few years, men's sports will be where women's sports have been for a long time.
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This is probably the most incorrect thing you've ever posted.
 
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