Former 49er and Raider Kwame Harris: Coming Out is Important

While no current pro football player has yet to come out, more former pro players are coming out.  And one of those player, who joins David Kopay, Roy Simmons, Esera Tuaolo, and Wade Davis in coming out after retirement, is Kwame Harris.  Candidly, I am no fan of much of pro sports and believe that most athletes, especially are grossly over paid.  Nonetheless, I do hope for the day when gays involved in such sports can  has be out and succeed openly.  Harris expounded on why coming out is important and the critical role that it plays in breaking down anti-gay stereotypes so often disseminated by our enemies.  The San Francisco Chronicle has details and here are excerpts:

Former 49er and Raider Kwame Harris is one of the few to come out as a gay man following his NFL career. He joins former 49er David Kopay, Roy Simmons, Esera Tuaolo, and Wade Davis. It adds more kindling to the raging debate over homosexuality in sports and particularly in the NFL.

Harris came out in an interview on CNN conducted by a former Stanford teammate, Coy Wire. An incident with a companion compelled Harris to declare his sexual orientation, but he says he’s glad he did.

So why is adding another name to those former NFL players who have come out, important?  It further breaks down the resistance in sports to homosexuality, particularly in lucrative North American men’s team sports of football, basketball, baseball, hockey and soccer. As most of us know, an active player has never declared his homosexuality while still playing.

Other traditionally homosexual-resistant institutions such as police departments and the armed forces have long since integrated sexually divergent individuals into their work places. Sports remains a last holdout.

Recognizing gayness in the big five sports would further normalize homosexuality, something that could be critical, particularly for youth. Suicide rates for non-heterosexual youth are high; theLastCloset.org writes that 30 to 40 percent of gay youth consider suicide and unfortunately, many follow through.

With more former players coming out, and with players who make homophobic comments, like 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver, getting called out, a social stigma is changing. It used to be that being gay came with a stigma, particularly in sports. Now it appears, that being anti-gay and homophobic is the new stigma. 

Harris’ courageous admission opens up sports to divergent sexual orientations that much more. And while that might not seem important or impactful in the short term, eventually it could help lessen the burden on kids who want to follow Harris’ lead. 

It is of course the growing stigma that attaches to being anti-gay and homophobic that is driving the Christofascists to hysterics.  They are so accustomed to stigmatizing and denigrating others that they truly cannot cope with the reality that finally the shoe is beginning to be on the other foot.