In the 2008 Olympic Game, only 10 athletes announced they are gay or lesbian from total 10, 500 athletes. The reason why most of the gay or lesbian athletes will not come out is some people don’t understand or accept the gay or lesbian athletes. Gay athletes worried that if they come out, they may lose their fans, their commercial contracts, and even their playing opportunities.
I got my bachelor’s degree in Wuhan Sport University (recently changed the name from Wuhan Institute of Physical Education to Wuhan Sport University). Most of students in our university are college athletes, and some of them are the Olympic Champions. I know many gay or lesbian athletes in our university. There even has a “gay bar” in our university (the university rent some idle buildings). However, when I searched the Internet, I found that no athletes in Chinese National Teams announced they are gay or lesbian. I believe the gay or lesbian athletes hide their sexual orientation to bend of social pressure.
Existence is reasonable. I don’t understand why some people cannot accept the different sexual orientation. I think the different sexual orientation is the same with the different eye color. My friend told me a story about her dog named Xirui (a boy’s name). She said Xirui always chase other boy dogs rather than girls. At first, she thought he was too young to know love, but as time goes by, he still chases boy dogs. One day, she suddenly realized that her dog is a gay. My friend treats Xirui as her family member. She told me, “If GOD creates him as a gay, why not against his nature? I just want him happy”.
I found an interesting Game named Gay Game. Originally called the Gay Olympics, it was started in San Francisco in 1982; it retains many similarities with the Olympics, including the Gay Games flame which is lit at the opening ceremony. The Gay Games is the world's largest sporting and cultural event organized by and specifically for LGBT athletes, artists, musicians, and others. It welcomes participants of every sexual orientation and every skill level. There are no qualifying standards to compete in the Gay Games. It brings together people from all over the world, many from countries where homosexuality remains illegal and hidden (resources from Wikipedia).
Hi Yu!
ReplyDeleteI really like what you said about sexual orientation being like eye color. I wish more people thought like you and maybe in the future they will. I also agree that gay athletes hide their sexual orientation because of social pressure and from fear of losing endorsements, fans, and acceptance among their teams.
It is interesting that you mentioned the Gay Games because we were originally going to read an article by Dr. Krane, who wrote about them. As you mentioned, they were once referred to as the Gay Olympics, but Dr. Krane says that they were sued by the Olympics and had to change their name to the "Gay Games." I appreciate what you shared about athletes hiding their sexual orientation as a result of bending to social pressure.
ReplyDeletewith people killing each other, doing drugs, beating their spouses and all the things that are wrong with the world, it is a shame so much time and thought is put into sexual orientation. I said it before and I will say again I think thoughts are changing and it is more accepted now. Television and theater have really brought so much of this to light and soon the light will come to athletics. I know it has to be very painful for the person who suffers the shame in this but hopefully the shame sill be lifted in the n ot too long futere. Twenty years ago people did not even talk about homosexuality openly.
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