Sport

Openly Gay athletes of America and their impact on the LGBTQ Community

The LGBTQ community in America received a significant boost in their recognition between 2013 and 2014 when several sports personalities publicly came out and identified with being gay or lesbian.

Outsports, a website founded in 1999 by Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler shares personal experience among athletes including gays and lesbians in sports who announce their sexuality. It has a regular schedule of revealing the LGBT members in the sports industry and creates motivation among many players, especially in the low-level profiles, to come out of the closet. Scouring all media, Outsports keeps the best count that it can of athletes, coaches and sports administrators who come out publicly each year. Here are the numbers – in 2013, 77; in 2014, 109; in 2015, 105; and in 2016, 171.

Many superstar gay athletes in the MLB, NFL, NBA and NHL refrain from coming out of the closet and fail the role of playing a role model to the gay community that would motivate more lesbians and gays to feel free.

Some people link the reduced open confession among high-profile gay athletes to the dropping of Michael Sam by Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. But Sam’s unfortunate predicament and inability to find a pro team points to talent issues rather than being gay.

This is proven by the fact that McAvoy, who announced that he was gay after Sam’s announcement never received any discriminating treatment after joining Sam’s former team after his dismissal. McAvoy, however, claims that coming out could be detrimental to college athletes as they face more social pressures.

Other sources including a top freelance journalist in the sports world claim that the count of gay and lesbian athletes in Division 1 has dropped. The number of the members of the LGBT community was 46 at the beginning of the 2016-17 academic year to a half by the end of the year. The number of searches on the gay athlete’s personalities or lesbian athletes is also dropping sharply by day. The number of results reached a peak at 35,047 in 2013 but dropped to 26,430 by last year, with early results indicating another likely decline in 2017.

Team Updated Trends

One of the most dedicated teams on bringing the latest trends to global millennials.

Share
Published by
Team Updated Trends

Recent Posts

Virgin Galactic takes its first flight  with tourists to the edge of space

American space craft company Virgin Galactic is ready to take the first set of space…

9 months ago

FDA approves new drug to treat post-partum depression

Post-partum depression has been one of the most common problems among women and unfortunately has…

9 months ago

Ways how exercise can improve your mental health

Exercise has always been the best way to maintain physical as well as mental health.…

9 months ago

4 Habits to do every night to improve brain health

While it is a good habit to look after your body with the help of…

9 months ago

7 Things to keep in mind while consuming fruits

Fruits have their own nutrients which are essential for the body. While their consumption is…

9 months ago

Ways to deal with High Functional Anxiety

When you look around yourself, you will find people who might be successful as well…

9 months ago