This week we saw become the first gay male professional athlete in a major US team sport.聽 Yes, that was a lot of聽criteria to jump through, but hey, it鈥檚 Americriterian.
We鈥檝e had a few already. Ian Roberts, Matthew Mitchum et al.聽 I鈥檓 sure there are more, but those boys stand out.聽 And yes, I know diving isn鈥檛 team sport, but Matt is so cute, I鈥檇 be mad not to include him.
All the gents are at the top of their game. I鈥檓 sure it鈥檚 difficult being different by being gay when you are in the spotlight playing such hetero-dominated sports.
I鈥檝e met Ian a few times and his speech at a gay dads dinner a year or so back was touching.聽 He is such a passionate, gently spoken and warm man.聽 Ian really was a pioneer for his time, for all time.
It鈥檚 humble to want to just play the sport you are good at, but it鈥檚 wonderful for the young guys, gals and unsures who might flick on the telly every now and then to watch, to then find solace in the fact their idol is gay too.聽 Save one life with that thought and it鈥檚 worth the pressure Jason, Ian and Matt all have gone through.
Roberts was already in playing his sport professionally when he broke out.聽 Ian became a huge anomaly in the world of the all blokey aussie males followed by footy mums and girlfriends who watched the testosterone madness on field.聽 Ian was an unknowing pioneer.聽 He was a lone tsunami.
Either way, more openly gay sports folk help normalise the field and make the way for kids to see that gay is not the goal to kick but to be who they want to be 鈥� but just be good at it.
