So
I’m going to write about some current news today because it is actually
something that I spent at least 20 weeks of my life intensely researching and
thinking about. My Senior Inquiry (for non-augie readers, SI is a research
project that needs to be completed, usually, by all students in a major before
they graduate) was titled “Gay Retired NFL Athletes: The Importance of
Their Coming Out Narratives” and basically my whole focus was to point out how
important even having former NFL players come out is paving the way for an
active openly gay player. I also point out that having a masculine gay man at
the center of the media’s attention is actually going to make closeted gay men
that feel they don’t fit in with the feminine stereotypes a ‘new’ option that might
ease their personal struggles.
OKAY
SO, if you go on the internet at all, I’m certain you must have heard by now
that the NFL has potentially their first openly gay player headed into the
combine and draft. His name is Michael Sam and he is a senior at Mizzou. Google
him for more background because, even though he is great, I’m going to focus
more on the implications and reactions that are happening because he came out.
The
NFL has a wonderful article written by Chase Goodbread here. Goodbread has such an optimistic take
on this situation and it is refreshing when he mentions the scouts and analysts
that do not believe his draft status will be hurt because of his sexual
orientation. I love it, thank you. There are TONS and TONS of LGBTQ media
outlets that have offered nothing but support for Sam. Plenty of active NFL
players have tweeted words or released statements wishing Sam nothing but the
best.
Of
course with every big revelation, there will be ignorant idiots that ask why it
even matters what his sexual orientation is and why he had to say anything at
all. There are mystery NFL employees that Sports Illustrated quoted (in a
really shitty article,
by the way), saying the NFL isn’t ready for a gay player and that his draft
status will fall, if he even gets drafted at all now. There are loads of people
saying this was awful timing on his part. I was going to go through and address
all these points but I just decided a better idea would be to write to the team
that drafts Michael Sam. So... here.
TO
THE TEAM THAT DRAFTS MICHAEL SAM:
Congratulations!
Your organization now has the most boisterous group of fans the NFL has ever
seen. The LGBTQ community and allies are fiercely loyal to any organization
that believes equal human rights are worth fighting for and if your team is not
their number one team, it will at least be their number two now. All the other
teams were too afraid of losing fans or upsetting their current ignorant
players, but you guys were smart enough to realize the entire community that
would be behind your organization and that having an entire team of talented men
with good hearts is a much better key to success than just a couple talented
but cruel brutes. Your players have realized that just because a man is gay, it
doesn’t mean he wants to suck off any guy he sees. Let’s be honest, some NFL
players should not be touched with a 10-foot-pole. Yikes.
Your
entire organization will always be cherished and will always be a major point
in human rights history. Not only is your organization making sure everyone
knows love will always win, but you folks are letting the millions of closeted
masculine gay men know they are not alone. These men have been told over and
over again by the media that there is no place for them because the only glorified
gay men are feminine and they are rarely taken seriously. By asking Michael Sam
to join your team, your organization has quite literally saved lives. People
will ask you why his sexual orientation even matters. This is why.
Your
organization was smart enough to realize that Michael Sam had to come out when
he did, or else facts about his life would have come out during the combine or
it would have come up right before the draft. Can you imagine the media circus
if someone else had outed a potential NFL player? Your organization realized
that the hardest part of the NFL should be proving you’re talented enough, not
proving you’re manly enough. Michael Sam wanted to own his truth before someone
took it away, proving that he has more courage than any NFL players shooting
attacks through twitter, ensuring they would never have to look him in the eye
and tell Sam he’s wrong.
Basically,
I just want to say thank you. As a proud ally of the LGBTQ community I have
watched or heard of so many struggles masculine gay men have had with coming
out and still keeping their identity. Michael Sam has strength for coming out
the way he did, and your organization is so courageous for supporting that. We
all know he’s talented enough, so ignore anyone that will probably say that’s
the only reason your team drafted him. I’m sure those same people were just
anonymously saying his draft status was going to drop months ago. I also want
to say thank you for validating my entire senior year of college and I hope
that in the coming years someone else can do an entire study on the importance
of the coming out narratives of current NFL players.
Thank
you for believing in love in all its forms.
Sincerely,
Ashlee
Christensen
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