Football player tells other football players to stay in cloest

Right, because ignoring the problem and treating gay people like they don't exist will TOTALLY fix homophobia in the game...sigh...

 

^

 

Just remove the "game" and more then one problem is solved. =P

 

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/sport/gay-afl-players-should-stay-in-closet-says-akermanis/story-e6frg7mf-1225869051935

Great! thats all we need...another bonehead espousing ignorant stereotypical bigotry. I do not sympathise at all.

I'm not a sporty person, but I'm informed enough to be totally sick of the over macho and overly idiotic attitudes of some of our sportspeople. The same argument is used in America for the army 'dont ask dont tell'. There is nothing wrong with being openly gay and in professional sports.

The longer we emphasise people's differences, the longer gays are considered 'unacceptable' in professional sports.

 

The encouraging thing is that, during the course of today, Akermanis has been been pretty much unanimously criticised by his colleagues and peers in the sport for his words. He is something of an attention whore after all - and this is one way of getting it.

What I think would be the best analogy if anyone (eg Akermanis) were to be concerned about having a gay team mate, would be to say that there would be nothing for him (or any homophobic players) to worry about.

Just explain "it would be about as pointless as a straight male footy player trying to pick up an avowed lesbian" - it just isn't going to happen. There is absolutely no point in a gay footy player trying to crack on to a straight guy - people can't change their sexuality (which gay people know better than anyone else!)

 

The thing is - we don't KNOW. In nearly every sport, we have yet to have somebody have the balls to come out while their sports career is still an ongoing concern (let alone right at the outset). And it appears that nobody has done it mainly because...nobody has done it. And so we don't know the ramifications. It's easy to say "they'd be hounded off the team" or "the fans wouldn't support a team with a gay player"...but we don't know. Because nobody has done it. Because nobody wants to be the first.

I understand why nobody has. It's because if it ends up the theory is right, you've ended a career you've spent your entire life preparing for. It won't be like "Oh, I'll move to a new town and get a job playing (sport) there, and this time I'll stay closeted." Can't do that in sports.

Lex

 

Jason Akermanis is probably the most hated AFL player by fans. He is extremely arrogant and never thinks before he speaks. I just find it funny that he was sort've trying to pass his article off as if he was speaking on behalf of all the AFL players out there. When really he is talking shit to try and get attention and other players and even his own club are trying to distance themselves from these comments as they are aware of how stupid he sounds.


If a team isn't a strong enough bond to be able to accept each other for who they are then they are obviously not a very good team.

 

The original column written by Jason Akermanis can be found here if anyone is interested:

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/a...ells-homosexuals/story-e6frf9ix-1225868871934

 

not quite true, maybe in american sports, but in britain there have been a few. One in particular comes to mind, Justin Fashnu.

He was a football (soccer) player, a pretty good one too. He was the first british black player to cost £1 million when he moved clubs. However early in his career there were rumours about him visiting gay bars. His career stalled as the manager of the team he was playing for banned him from training with the team, when he found out Fashnu was gay. His career went pretty much down hill from there. He later said in interviews that he found it hard to find someone to play for, as most clubs didn't want to give him a chance. He got hostile fan reception and though he said he was generally accepted by other professionals, they did make malicious jokes about his sexuality. However many of his former colleagues turned on him, saying gays had no place in football. His brother, also a footballer, even publicly disowned him.

He later committed suicide.

So, tbh, i can see why players are reluctant to do it. Is it worth jeopardising a lucrative and dream career? I can see why a player wouldn't do it, and why this guy is saying its probably better if they don't

Yes its sad, but i can't blame gay sportsmen for doing so.

 

I think sometimes it's unfair that we disregard certain "concerns" as "homophobic" without much thinking and without providing constructive advice.

There are some genuine concerns that we might be able to relate to. Some straight guys do feel a little awkward when showering and fooling around with gay guys. Instead of shouting "homophobia" and barraging them with criticisms, shouldn't we instead provide some educational advice on how to reduce the awkward feelings?

 

I see where he's coming from... but that doesn't mean I agree with him, that said, the whole closeted hunt thing is pretty stupid but thats what you get with a seven digit salary and a double digit IQ... and the first digit being a zero

 

Ah.... So suppose that you're right. Suppose that the main root causes are related to self-esteem and confidence. Then shouldn't we address these issues to reduce the problem of feeling awkward? You probably would agree with me that it's more constructive than accusing them of prejudice and discrimination, no? After all, I believe we can all, to a certain degree, relate to self-esteem and confidence issues, no?

 

Perhaps you're right. But sometimes, I feel that we'll get nothing done by attempting to fight prejudice with more prejudice. I've always been hoping that one side will take the high road...

 

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