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Friday, April 19, 2013 • Volume 117, Issue 125
LSU athletes address the possibility of a gay teammate information compiled by TYLER NUNEZ · Sports Writer Despite homosexual athletes around the nation struggling to find support, it seems the controversial topic is a virtual non-issue for a vast majority of LSU student athletes. A great number of individuals representing a wide range of LSU sports conveyed a single common belief that a teammate’s sexuality simply has nothing to do with the sport he or she plays.
Alex Bregman freshman infielder
photo by CONNOR TARTER and photo illustration by KIRSTEN ROMAGUERA / The Daily Reveille
What happens if a football player breaks tradition?
P
MIKE GEGENHEIMER · Sports Contributor
rofessional sports leagues across the country are preparing themselves for what seems to be inevitable: What happens when the country sees its first openly gay active athlete in a major sport? Everything from desegregation, such as Jackie Robinson’s smashing baseball’s color barrier, to centuries-old religious differences have found their way onto athletic fields throughout history. In one way or another, they have worked as proponents — or, in some instances, opponents — of change in society. This generation’s conflict has taken shape in the form of equality for those who identify themselves as member’s of the LGBT community. A football locker room has long been drenched in traditional
masculine attitudes, making it a prime battleground for the samesex equality movement. “Football is supposed to be this violent sport — this aggressive sport that grown men are supposed to play,” said senior LSU running back Alfred Blue. “Ain’t no little boys out here between them lines. So if you gay, we look at you as a sissy. You know? Like, how you going to say you can do what we do and you want a man?” A line has been drawn in the sand on the issue of openly gay athletes in football. On one side stand those who see the sport through the same eyes as Blue — who could be expressing a common attitude among NCAA football players. TRUTH, see page 4
Football needs to deal with reality of homosexual athletes THE BERT LOCKER ALBERT BURFORD Sports Editor It’s time to stop pretending as if homosexual athletes don’t exist — especially in football. Research conducted in 2012 by Gallup shows that 3.4 percent of Americans identify themselves as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender. There are 109 athletes listed on the LSU football team’s roster alone, and LSU has 14 other varsity sports teams. It would be an extraordinary statistical anomaly if there were no LGBT football players to ever play at LSU or no current homosexual athletes here. Thus, the topic of
homosexual athletes deserves some attention — and it’s gotten some recently. Former LSU women’s basketball player Seimone Augustus is openly gay and has voiced her intention to marry her partner. On Wednesday, No. 1 overall WNBA Draft pick Brittney Griner casually said she is a lesbian and received virtually no backlash. In 2007, former NBA player John Amaechi became the first NBA player to speak openly about his homosexuality. It was met with mixed responses. Some players supported Amaechi, while others, such as former NBA player Tim Hardaway, expressed their uneasiness at the prospect of a gay teammate. REALITY, see page 11
‘We accept everybody because they’re our teammates. We go to battle with them, and we go out there and try to win baseball games.’
‘I do not think I would do anything differently [if I coached a gay player]. They are people.’ Karen Bahsen women’s golf coach
Stefan Szacinski senior tennis player
‘If they are part of LSU and the culture that it involves, it doesn’t really matter what teammates decide to do.’
‘I don’t see any problem with it. You are what you are, so we’re going to be accepting of you, no matter what.’
Kaitlin Burns senior tennis player