Openly Gay College Coach Makes a Low-Profile Role Model

Dan82 · May 22, 2010

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/sports/22softball.html?scp=1&sq=gay coach&st=cse

Tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac in a leafy suburban neighborhood, Kirk Walker lives the life of a role model quietly.

No rainbow flags hang from the front of his house; political causes have never stirred him. And truth be told, Walker, the longtime Oregon State softball coach, has always been so absorbed by his work that he has not given much thought to being possibly the only publicly gay man coaching a Division I sport.

And then the phone will ring. Or an e-mail message will pop up in his inbox.

It will be from someone wanting to talk, and Walker is eager to listen.

“Although it’s only my story, it has definitely changed a lot of people’s perspectives — just internally, of how they view themselves,” Walker said. “It tells them there’s a little bit of hope. ‘It may not be the right time for me, but this can happen.’ ”

To be gay in 2010 is something met with a shrug of the shoulders in many places. Though court and legislative battles are still being waged over same-sex marriage and other civil liberties, acceptance has become the norm...
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Openly Gay College Coach Makes a Low-Profile Role Model

Dan82 Full Member

Dan82
Full Member