We've been waiting for an openly gay athlete like you for a long time, Austin. Austin, a long distance runner at Eastern Michigan University, refuses to keep the closet door closed and is providing our youth with another positive role model.
The few high-profile out athletes have mostly been women such as Martina Navratilova in tennis, Sheryl Swoopes in the WNBA and Rosie Jones of the LPGA. Europe has seven nations where gay marriage is legal, but just two big-name male athletes who have come out: Gareth Thomas, the former Wales rugby captain, in 2009, and English cricket player Steve Davies, who announced in February that he is gay.Any kind of news like this reminds me of my previous posts about openly gay athlete and Welshman, Gareth Thomas and "Homophobia in professional sports hits home" and the messages they generated. Other young gay male athletes would benefit immensely if one male professional gay athlete publicly came out, and let them know they are not alone. By the way, Gareth Thomas, experienced another consequence of his coming out. Thomas received terrible consequences for coming out like an invitation to Prince William and Kate Middleton's wedding. That certainly is a high cost to pay for being out about one's sexual orientation, huh? I wonder who will be the first major league professional athlete to blow the door off its hinges?
There has yet to be an openly gay player in Major League Baseball, the NBA or NFL, and only a few have spoken publicly about their sexuality after retiring.
"You're supposed to fit this model — if you're a gay male, you're (considered) feminine, you can't be athletic," Hendrix said. "You start thinking, 'Maybe I'm the only one. I don't have anyone to look up to, maybe there's something wrong with me.' It does make it difficult. And you're surrounded by all straight men or women so you don't have anyone to really go to or confide in.
"It would just really help to know you're not alone. I think that's what it comes down to."
