Cheryl Swoopes

[dlgood]

Was reading the following article by Michelle Voepel taken on ESPN, regarding WNBA star Cheryl Swoopes recent decision to publicly "out" herself...

Swoopes could open door for others to follow

It's a conversation I've had with folks many, many times over the years, as recently as a few days ago. The topic: When will women's basketball be able to deal even semi-honestly with the issue of homosexuality? Usually, there has been some thread of optimism in the discussion that starts with, "Surely, pretty soon, some big star is finally going to say it: 'Look, this is ridiculous. I'm a good person, I'm in love, I'm really happy. What am I afraid of? Yes, I'm gay.'" And now, finally, a player who has defined the past decade-plus of women's basketball -- not just a big star but one of the all-time greatest in the sport -- is stepping forward and saying just that.

Read Text of Article

Interesting stuff. Swoopes was always one of my favorite athletes, so I'm curious if anyone else has been following this...

Comments

[stoney321.livejournal.com]

Exactly... it's such a winkwink nudgenudge that there are lesbians in sports, but the public gasps at the idea that a red-blooded Amerkin man could be gay. It has to be difficult to live your life in the public eye as a sham.

It makes me want to not pay any lip service to Swoopes outing, if only to not add fuel to the fire, you know? She's a monster on the court, nothing has changed with her ability, and... You know?

[dlgood.livejournal.com]

I think the gender issue is different for another reason though...

Because, for a long time, it wasn't the WinkWink Lesbian issue alone... it was also women being tagged as lesbians and improper/wrong/ or not female enough for daring to play sports.

Maybe this is me being shallow... but Swoopes is a little different to me than say... Martina Navratilova. Which is (wink winks aside) what most people probably think of when the term Lesbian Female Athlete is mentioned. Everybody took Martina seriously as an athlete, and as a female athlete, but it never felt to me that people looked at her as a woman. (The too much of a jock to be a real female stereotypical portrayal...)

It certainly doesn't change how I think of Swoopes, or how I think of gays and sports, but I am interested to see if there's an impact on how other people think.