Columnist comments on John Amaechi

By Adam Bagni
Collegian Staff
February 21, 2007

I know nothing about homosexuals.

I’m not personally gay. I don’t have any openly gay friends or family members. And, I really have no experience with the gay community whatsoever.

Yet, despite all of this, I know hate speech when I see it.

When former NBA guard Tim Hardaway was asked late last week by Dan Le Batard on a Miami radio station how he would deal with a gay teammate, he replied frankly, “First of all, I wouldn’t want him on my team. And, second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him, because I don’t think that’s right. And you know, I don’t think he should be in the locker room while we’re in the locker room. I wouldn’t even be a part of that.”

He continued, “You know, I hate gay people, so I’ll let it be known. I don’t like gay people, and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”

Those comments, made by a five-time NBA All-Star, are pretty disgusting. Not surprisingly, they created a media firestorm, as well as an interesting public debate from many angles. Honestly, though, are those comments ones that any male athlete hasn’t heard before?

It made me think back to the dozens and dozens of fields and diamonds that I’ve played on over the years, and how derogatory words are used so freely within those bounds. The use of “gay” is always negative. “What are you, gay?” “He runs like a homo.”

Now these phrases are undoubtedly used in everyday life, but they’re particularly prevalent in the macho world of male athletics. The thing that shocks me is the fact that most of us are totally oblivious to it. We don’t see it as a big deal, and it makes me ashamed to think about how little athletes reflect on the fact that they’ve probably played alongside a homosexual at some point in their athletic career.

Tim Hardaway’s comments, while maybe not to his extreme, are casually replicated every day on fields all over this country. To me, that’s embarrassing.

Hardaway’s comments came on the heels of former NBA player John Amaechi’s announcement that he is gay. Amaechi is the first NBA player to admit that he is gay, and he chronicles that fact in the new book, Man in the Middle.

Since his announcement, there have been some very fascinating comments from the likes of Hall-of-Famer Charles Barkley (“I had gay teammates…it was never a problem.”) and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban (“It would be the best thing that ever happened to you from a marketing and an endorsement perspective…You would be an absolute hero to more Americans than you can ever possibly be as an athlete.”).

As far as Barkley, I see him as more of an exception, rather than the rule. Barkley has always been an open-minded, well-spoken athlete. I think a lot more guys would put their trust in him than they would your average professional.

Cuban’s take is interesting, because I think he’s probably right. No professional athlete could come out and criticize an openly gay athlete, because he would get torn apart by the media (see Tim Hardaway). The media is probably the biggest friend of a pro athlete who thinks he may want to come out during his playing days.

As far as endorsements, I think there’s a fair chance an openly gay athlete could become somewhat beloved within many areas of society. If he’s thought of as a hero, despite some initial trepidation, a lot of companies may want to jump on that. And it would also depend how talented the player is. Would Colts fans stop sticking by Peyton Manning if he announced he was gay? I tend to doubt it.

It seems to me that heterosexuals should take up a simple theory when it comes to homosexuals: Who cares? Believe it or not, gays are really not destroying the American family, or our youth, or religion or life itself. It is what it is. I don’t know about you, but I have bigger things in life to worry about (like getting paid to write this kind of stuff, for example).

I often hear the argument that today’s American youth “don’t care” enough about the world around them. Maybe we should try to redirect some of that delinquency.

bagnia1@lasalle.edu