As a nation and world, we've made some progress. People of the LGBT community have been able to come out as such and be accepted in many social circles. That said, there are still stigmas, especially when it comes to homosexualtiy and sports. Athletics has historically been viewed as a "straight-only" activity, or at the very least like the military, "don't ask, don't tell." This archaic viewpoint persists even today, as NBA official Bill Kennedy came out as gay after Rajon Rondo called him a derogatory term on the court.
This truly is a sad day.
You would think that after numerous players, officials and even celebrities coming out as part of the LGBT community that our country would start to open its eyes more. Instead, hate is still spilling into the air.
I won't name names, but just go type in Bill Kennedy on Twitter, look at the live feed and you'll see people saying things like this:
"Bill Kennedy is a attention whore too"
"NBA ref Bill Kennedy should be fire ... for being a b*tch. .. stop getting attention he doest belong in the NBA #BillKennedy #nba #firehim"
"Bill Kennedy wanna be gay all of a sudden!!!"
What is wrong with people?
I have friends who subscribe to this way of thinking as well. This thinking that being gay is wrong and/or an attention-seeking "choice." They also believe that these top athletes, celebrities and others in the public eye shouldn't be coming out as gay and getting the media attention that they do. What's even crazier with that line of logic is that people who complain about homosexuals in the public eye coming out think that those people should just keep quiet and pretend to be something they're not.
But if we're ever going to get to a point where athletes, both young or in the pros, can feel comfortable with themselves and have their teammates accept them as just another one of the guys, this needs to happen.
Even after Michael Sam, David Denson, Jason Collins and others, our country and, more importantly, locker rooms have not become completely accepting of homosexual people. The amount of hate that persists equals that of the end of the Civil Rights movement (even though racism still exists today) and almost to the level that some Americans have started to show toward Muslims -- even ones who are citizens here.
For as many people who have become supportive of the LBGT community and realize that it's not a decision, but simply who the person is naturally, biologically, there is still too large of a percentage of those who want to oppress or ignore these people. Make no mistake, whether you actually hate these people for who they are or just choose to ignore the issues that are ongoing today, you are a part of the problem. That's not to say everyone has to take this cause upon their shoulders, but an even greater shift of view needs to occur if we're to eliminate these shameful thoughts.
Until we can all hear someone say that they're gay and not instantly have feelings of disgust or anger, there's obviously still a problem. We need to eliminate ignorance -- which means it needs to be talked about -- and hate.
Unfortunately, it's clearly going to take some more time.
