Lately most of my mornings are spent at a leisurely pace. While in the summer I might rush through my morning routine just to get one of those coveted early golf tee times, come winter I am free to sip my coffee and idle over my online New York Times subscription. I also check out articles from, not in any order, the Chicago Tribune, NPR, BBC, The Guardian U.K., The Huffington Post, The Wall Street Journal and The San Francisco Gate -because it has my favorite puzzle game, Jumble Jong.
On occasion a storyline or topic may catch my eye, so that I may read more than one version of it. For a few days now something been bothering me. What is that?, you ask. It is the response of a few of the NFL’s players and other personnel to Michael Sam's announcement that he is an "openly, proud gay man."
The words of Terrell Thomas, a NY Giants player in response:
This “…could be difficult for some people in NFL locker rooms to accept Sam because they aren’t sure how to act around an openly gay teammate. I think society is ready for it and America’s ready for it, but I don’t think the NFL is.
...because when you’re going to war, you’re going to battle you have to believe in that person, you have to love that person like a brother.”
So? What? You can't love your gay brother on the battle field? I don't get it.
No one, least of all me, can speak to this issue with any more pragmatism than Dallas sportscaster, Dale Hansen did, so check out his blast on YouTube, if you haven't already seen it.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VSsmqJ-dzs
At first I couldn't put my finger on what exactly was bugging me about this whole matter. Frank Bruni's (New York Times, Feb. 11, 2014) article Panic in the Locker Room! came the closest to helping me figure it out. (And by the way, I loved his, "woman-up" comment.)
When did the locker room become such a delicate ecosystem? Is it inhabited by athletes or orchids? And how is it that gladiators who don’t flinch when a 300-pound mountain of flesh in shoulder pads comes roaring toward them start to quiver at the thought of a homosexual under a nearby nozzle?
***
Why is that, I continued to wonder. Why is it that big, tough macho guys make such a big deal about gays? I couldn't count the whopping number of anti-gay lambastes I've heard in my 60+ year lifetime from males. Yet I could count on one hand any anti-lesbian reproaches from females. I can't fathom female athletes fretting about sharing a locker room or team spirit with lesbian women and I'm pretty sure I've not heard of it in the media. Are men naturally more homophobic? If so, why?
Meanwhile, I pondered Terrell's words. What will have to happen to prepare, to ready the NFL for an openly gay teammate? Hello! Exactly what Michael Sam just did. The NFL is as ready today as it's ever going to be and Michael Sam has just given them the uncomfortable push that is needed. It won't be easy for Sam from here on out, (no pun) but if you've read his story, you'll know that Michael Sam's pretty well accustomed to won’t be easy.
“I just want to own my truth.”
These are the words of a brave young man.
***
Stadiums now feature state-of-the-art facilities, so NFL'ers can quit whining about being uncomfortable about walking around naked in front of an openly gay man. Cover yourself up if it bothers you. You are a paid professional. Focus on your job. Remember, football isn't supposed to be about comfort anyway.
So, what is eating at these big tough guys, (again, no pun). I finally figured it out. And it wasn't in any news or sports article that I read. There is a deeper reason that some men are so darned homophobic, and it doesn't have to do with their religious beliefs, as some would have you believe. It is because way deep down in their souls these guys realize that, when it comes to sex, most men can be coerced into just about anything, methinks.
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