ABSTRACT

Researchers who have examined the issue of gays in sports largely agree that organized sports are a highly homophobic institution (Bryant 2001; Clarke 1998; Griffin 1998; Hekma 1998; Messner 1992; Pronger 1990; Wolf Wendel, Toma, and Morphew 2001). Messner (1992: 34) said, “The extent of homophobia in the sports world is staggering. Boys (in sports) learn early that to be gay, to be suspected of being gay, or even to be unable to prove one’s heterosexual status is not acceptable.” Hekma (1998: 2) stated that “gay men who are seen as queer and effeminate are granted no space whatsoever in what is generally considered to be a masculine preserve and a macho enterprise.” And Pronger (1990: 26) agreed, saying, “Many of the (gay) men I interviewed said they were uncomfortable with team sports. . . . Orthodox masculinity is usually an important subtext if not the leitmotif” in team sports.