The Monday Mommy: Your Favorite Football Player Kissed a Boy and He Liked It
“I have a four year old son. Yes, he is technically too young to even know what sexuality is but as soon as he starts asking questions we will be there to answer them as openly and honestly as we can. If he is curious about the sexuality of his favorite athletes I sure hope to be able to have a candid and real answer for him.”
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Since its inception, the game of football has always been a considered a “man’s” game. The field was littered with tough guys in leather helmets sans facemasks tackling each other under a very limited rule structure.
That tough guy image portrayed on the field spawned several generations of ignorance and denial towards homosexuality in not only football but all male sports in general. Well, with the exception of maybe figure skating and gymnastics.
Our parents were taught by their folks that football players and male athletes are burly masculine men that are all lady killers off the field. It didn’t matter that Joe Namath wore a fur coat on the sideline or that Dennis Rodman wore lipstick and a wedding dress, because there was just no way that any men who play professional sports could actually be attracted to men, right? The thought that there were gay men on professional sports teams just did not exist in the minds of fans, coaches and even the players themselves.
Sadly, this general denial towards homosexuality in football has created complete and utter paranoia and homophobia in the modern game. The locker rooms have become breeding grounds for sexual based jokes and zero tolerance for anything gay related.
We should all be aware that homosexuality is something you are born with, it is not a choice. While some folks out there whether it is for religious reasons or just plain naiveté, choose to believe otherwise, the numbers show that approximately one out of every 10 people in this world are gay. So, based on a 52-man roster the odds are each NFL team has at least five guys on it that are in fact homosexual; whether they admit it to themselves or not.
As a society, we are finally beginning to correct the wrongs of the generations that came before us and shatter those negative connotations of homosexuality both on and off the field. The fact that an NFL athlete is not able to be who he truly is, to the people that he spends the most time with and depends on the most aside from his family, is such a travesty. How are we supposed to raise our children to be true to themselves if the athletes and heroes that they look up to are not able to do the same?
I have a four year old son. Yes, he is technically too young to even know what sexuality is but as soon as he starts asking questions we will be there to answer them as openly and honestly as we can. If he is curious about the sexuality of his favorite athletes I sure hope to be able to have a candid and real answer for him.
With reports of several guys in the NFL thinking about coming out and revealing their true selves, the whole idea of homosexuality in the league could and should become commonplace, eventually. I am sure there will be backlash and somewhat of a media frenzy, however once it all dies down the freedom to be who they are will certainly be well worth it for these guys. To be able to have their significant others waiting for them after a game with the other wives and girlfriends is something these men have probably yearned for since the start of their NFL careers.
If my son or any of his peers are ever bewildered about their sexuality at any point, it would sure be nice to have openly gay athletes to look up to for support. I would assume that for a scared, confused young man, having a 250 pound guy who kicks ass on the football field and shares the same feelings about men could certainly provide some confidence to be who he really is.
Our generation has a chance to get it right. We can teach our children that it is no big deal for a famous athlete to be gay, no different than their teacher or postal worker. I know it would be truly ignorant of me to think that this acceptance could happen rapidly and that all of a sudden every gay athlete will be able to come out and be free. However, if we begin to educate our children, not to mention our parents and grandparents and teach them about acceptance we could get much closer to that goal.
Hopefully when our children have their own families, this whole idea of homosexuality in the NFL will not even be a topic. It will just be wound into the fabric of the league and part of every single locker room.
30 years from now, it would be sublime if the biggest issue facing these players will be what spaceship they will ride to work in as opposed to who they’re riding with. A girl can dream, right?
Follow Jennifer on twitter @themondaymommy.
