Former professional basketball player John Amaechi, a career journeyman who retired in 2004 with the Houston Rockets, revealed recently that he is gay.
It was nice to see that the Earth continued to spin, no one outside of the television media flinched and life went on.
Reaction from fellow National Basketball Association players was, for the most part, positive. The majority of the players said that they are comfortable with Amaechi’s sexuality and praised his decision to discuss it openly.
On the other hand, there’s Philadelphia 76ers forward rookie player Shavlik Randolph. Randolph presented a common minority opinion, perhaps not as eloquently as some, by saying things were fine “as long as you don’t bring your gayness on me.”
Some straight men seem to think that it is a daily struggle for gay men to resist sexually assaulting them. As if John Amaechi simply would not be able to control his “gayness” around the irresistible charm and masculinity of Shavlik Randolph.
This qualifier allows straight men to accept gays, but only while making the explicit and completely unnecessary point that they themselves are staunchly heterosexual.
Following this logic, the guys who solely support Amaechi, leaving the homophobic qualifying statements out, are therefore susceptible to the advances of predatory gays, and likely gay themselves.
Mr. Randolph and others like him should make attempts to be more secure in their own sexuality, rather than defending themselves against “gayness.”
There has yet to be an openly gay player to come out during his career in any major American sports league. However, by 1982 both the National Football League and Major League Baseball had former players who were publicly gay. It is important to note that the NBA is the last league to have a gay former player come out.
There is a socio-racial component to this that deserves examination. The NBA is the league most associated with black culture, and black culture seems to be lagging behind popular culture when it comes to easing or eliminating the stigma on homosexuals. There hasn’t been a black equivalent of Will Truman on network television.
The rare gay black man in popular culture has been either a flamboyant caricature or a victim of masochistic violence. Think “In Living Color” and “Menace II Society.” This isn’t necessarily their fault; black people don’t run network television. It is, however, a perpetuating aesthetic and it’s not helping change attitudes in the black community.
Most black churches aren’t helping either. Black congregations still vote Democrat, but they are moving to the right socially with issues such as gay marriage.
In 2006, voters in Arizona rejected a proposal to ban gay marriage in the state. Blacks were the only race to approve the ban as a majority.
Most black political leaders have spoken out in support of the gay rights movement. This, and the reaction from most black NBA stars to John Amaechi’s coming out, is extremely promising.
However, it will be a while before an active NBA player reveals his homosexuality. The black community as a whole first needs to accept gays as allies in thecontinuing struggle for civil rights.Editor’s note: The original version of this article said, “The black community as a whole accepts gays as allies in the continuing struggle for civil rights.” This was an editor’s error and did not accurately represent the views of the author.