While there are many homosexual athletes in both professional and college level sports, there are also many athletes who are struggling with their gender identity. These athletes are scared to come out as transgender or homosexual because of the strict rules and regulations, and as well as how they will be treated by their teammates. Also included in this group, are the coaches of these teams. They worry that if they do come out, that the punishment would lead to them being kicked off the team or not be allowed to play on a team that matches their gender identity or sexuality. Simple things that a cisgender athlete would take for granted, for example, pronoun use, can distract these athletes from giving their best talent to their sport of choice. Homosexual coaches also fear the loss of recruitments, the lack of acceptance from their players, and the lack of job security due to coming out to their team. The coaches also feel that they are role models for the players also facing the challenges of coming out to their peers because if they suppress their sexuality the homosexual players feel that they should do the same as well.
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Jesse Taylor
Jesse Taylor is a 21 year old basketball player at Dakota Wesleyan University. He is South Dakota's first openly gay college level basketball player. As a Catholic, young, small town boy, Jesse was taught that being a homosexual was a sin and witnessed how the LGBT community was poorly treated. Growing up, Jesse recalls how he also became homophobic to overcome his homosexual feelings, and not give his peers the impression that he was gay. Jesse dedicated hard work to basketball, football, and track as ways to suppress what he was hiding inside. Jesse says that: "For most people, these sound like great high school experiences and accomplishments, but none of those accomplishments made me feel that great about myself. Breaking a record didn't cover up the fact that I couldn't accept who I was." Jesse went through many personal struggles that kept him thinking that he would never come out to anyone an go on and marry a female until he realized, "Toward the end of my freshman year I realized that I was never going to fall in love with a girl. For the first time in my life...I was ok with that. I knew my attractions to men were natural, and there was nothing I could do about it. For the first time in my life, I wasn't ashamed. This was just another unique thing about me that doesn't define Jesse." After first coming out to his sister, Jesse then came out to him parents, then family and friends, stating that all their reactions were positive. The next group of people Jesse had to tell is his teammates. Jesse explains how all their reactions were positive and explains: "Before coming out to anyone on the team, I was trapped in my own thoughts. I was constantly worried about what my teammates would think. I was never able to fully focus in practice or games; there was always the constant fear in the back of my mind that someone on the team might find out. I thought my teammates would treat me differently and think less of me'.
Homosexual college coaches
While there are many homosexual college level athletes, there are also many coaches that are homosexual as well. They are struggling with the idea of coming out in fear of losing their job as well as losing respect from their players. Sherri Murrell, an openly gay former coach of the Portland State Vikings women's basketball team, states that other gay coaches are hesitant to come out because, "There's the fear that your program will be adversely affected, that you won't be accepted by your bosses and boosters, that it will hurt recruiting." Other coaches also realize that when parents of potential players know that the head coach is gay, they perceive the whole team as being gay. Minnesota's former head coach, Shannon Miller, was not asked to return as the head coach of the team even after she had won five national championships. Shannon thinks that the reason her contract wasn't renewed was because of her "gender and sexual orientation."
Chris Burns is an assistant coach for the Bryant University men's basketball team. He is the first openly gay Division I coach in both men and woman's basketball. Chris opened up to his team that he was gay and received positive feedback from all members. Chris explains that his main goal in coming out is to encourage others: "To me, it’s a huge step in the right direction for our sport because it can allow others who don’t feel like they can be who they are to do the same.” After coming out, his players gained a new trust for Chris because they felt that there could come to him for anything now that he opened up to them.
Helen Carroll, sports director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, makes a point about homosexual coaches: ""If you're a lesbian coach, you're thinking, 'I better keep my mouth shut so I can get a job or keep a job.' Then that sends a negative message to student-athletes that it's a dangerous thing to be out as gay."
Kye Allums
Kye Allums is one of the first openly transgender college athletes to be allowed to play Division I basketball. Allums is a transgender male who plays for the women's basketball team at George Washington University. Playing on a women's basketball team was hard for Allums because he says: "hearing female pronouns would make me dysphoric. I could not focus on basketball feeling like that... To bring that focus back to basketball, I needed to hear male pronouns." When asked how does he feel about the polices placed on what teams transgender people play on, he stated, "Sports is about winning. It's about competing. It's about respect. And it's about how you play the game. It's not about the body you're born into." Allums had to face many challenges while playing women's basketball that a typical cisgender athlete would not have to face. When asked if he had an unfair advantage of having a transgender athlete on a women's team Allums says: "People talk about that as if men are super-human, as if just because you were born with a penis, that means that you can defeat every single female."