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With all of the recent discussion about public homophobic comments by sports figures, it is of great interest that executive leadership of sports teams speak out and up against homophobia. And this news is surely a blockbuster that will keep the dialogue going (NYT):
Last month, in a Midtown office adorned with sports memorabilia, two longtime friends met for a private talk. David Stern, the commissioner of the National Basketball Association, sipped his morning coffee, expecting to be asked for career advice. Across from him sat Rick Welts, the president and chief executive of the Phoenix Suns, who had come to New York not to discuss careers, but to say, finally, I am gay.In many work environments, this would qualify as a so-what moment. But until now, Mr. Welts, 58, who has spent 40 years in sports, rising from ball boy to N.B.A. executive to team president, had not felt comfortable enough in his chosen field to be open about his sexuality. His eyes welling at times, he also said that he planned to go public.
…Mr. Welts explained that he wants to pierce the silence that envelops the subject of homosexuality in men’s team sports. He wants to be a mentor to gay people who harbor doubts about a sports career, whether on the court or in the front office. Most of all, he wants to feel whole, authentic.
“This is one of the last industries where the subject is off limits,” said Mr. Welts, who stands now as a true rarity, a man prominently employed in professional men’s team sports, willing to declare his homosexuality. “Nobody’s comfortable in engaging in a conversation.”
It’s a long feature and a good read. It’s ironic that after he had that conversation with Stern, the next day Kobe Bryant called a referee a f*ggot.
This kind of milestone — showing that gays are involved in teams sports all along the food chain — up to the top, and that irresponsible, hateful and ignorant remarks denigrate people they work with and know. It’s beyond past-time to address these last bastions of tolerated homophobia in the name of masculinity.
13 Comments
There are currently 32 commentsat NYT on this story. 31 are supportive, and the other is the “why do we need to know this?” idiocy.
the nytimes commentsI might have missed the particular negative comment you’re referring to, but the one I saw was something like, “I’m a 61 year old guy who’s never had to come out about my heterosexuality in my life” — so I thought, ugh, another one — then he continued, “so I can’t imagine having to do this sort of thing. Good for him, and I’ll go see a Suns game when I move to PHX.”
If this is the one you’re talking about, I read it as actually supportive overall — which is awesome.
We’re watching a perfect storm. Kobe Bryant, the Baltimore Raven’s linebacker, Sean Avery, suddenly everyone’s talking about homophobia in the sports world.
See ESPN: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn…
What’s really making me smile is how the consensus opinion is so supportive. Sean Avery may well be a contender for most disliked man in the NHL. But oddly, that works in our community’s favor. Typical comments go:
I saw someone tweet at the homophobic manager:
And by the reaction to the manager that tweeted his disagreement to Avery, the Democratic Party could take lessons from the NHL on repudiating homophobia within it’s ranks. That guy has been pummeled, he really fucked up.
And it will be nice to see the bigots take note and learn to pipe the fuck down.
this is really a ground-breakervery excellent news
I’ll call that a good sign.I figure that we can pretty much expect that LGB people will be pro-LGB (and I keep trying to make sure that more of us will be pro-LGBTQ/QUILTBAG generally), but we’ll probably never be more than a relatively small portion of the population. It’s always encouraging to see straight people confident enough in their non-asshole stance towards us be publicly so — that’s how we’re going to get somewhere.
It’s great to seeI agree this is a milestone, but it’ll never change my opinion of Stern, who undermined the lesbian-friendly American Basketball League to get his WNBA off the ground, then forced the players to attend a charm and beauty school so the players weren’t seen as being too butch.
It was comment 29“… to many people this is not only a so-what but a why do we need to know this?- moment. Would it not be better for this person to find satisfaction in his life without carrying unknown people with it?”
Actually the last sentence is rather confusing, but I think it reinforces “why do we need to know”.
The comment has 0 recs.
The ABL had no chance anywayNot with the WNBA having the financial muscle of the NBA behind it. In the long run, it probably is better for women’s hoops to have the WNBA, instead of the ABL.
And if Stern had not undermined the ABL, he would not have been doing his job. The ABL was a competitor, it was part of Stern’s job to undermine and destroy it.
Awesome!It’s nice to see another out sports team executive! Congratulations Mr. Welts!
For years, I have felt like I was the only gay executive in major league professional sports so this is a lot like my coming out 20 years ago when I realized that there were tons of other gay people around me. I just didn’t know it.
While I was still closeted at work for a long time, I have now been out for a number of years. My partner and son frequently visit me at the office and attend games and other events at the arena. Our son is quite the clown and tends to attract a lot of attention when he visits.
Everyone here knows I am gay and those that may have a problem with it keep that opinion to themselves. I have been very lucky in that I have not encountered any homophobia, have been treated very well by the organization, and have even received promotions after coming out.
I have already pierced the silence on the topic of gays in pro sports within my organization. I have now reached out to Mr. Welts to see if I can work with him to do that on a larger scale.
Au contraireThe ABL was moderately successful, as opposed to the WNBA, which has operated at a loss in every year of its existence.
So I take it that by your statement that you didn’t mind seeing your locally-owned bookstores being undermined by Barnes & Noble and your locally-owned general store, Kmart and other chains undermined by Wal-Mart?
I certainly hope you’ve never lost a job because some competitor unfairly drove the company you were working for out of business…
I must have glossed over itI do agree with you that the last sentence is confusing, and I think your interpretation is correct. Oh well. One out of 32 (at the time) isn’t too bad, even for a liberal elite lamestream rag like the Times.
You aren’t contradicting meYou’re actually helping to prove my point.
The WNBA could afford to operate at a loss, because it had the financial muscle of the NBA behind it.
“So I take it that by your statement that you didn’t mind seeing your locally-owned bookstores being undermined by Barnes & Noble and your locally-owned general store, Kmart and other chains undermined by Wal-Mart? ”
What a strange analogy. How does the ABL equate to a small local store, and the WNBA to walmart?
“I certainly hope you’ve never lost a job because some competitor unfairly drove the company you were working for out of business…
”
Define “unfairly”. And once again, what does this have to do with the ABL and WNBA? ABL players moved to the WNBA. They did not lose their jobs.
Make case that women’s hoops would be better off with the ABL instead of the WNBA. Or with players, and fan interest, divided between the two.
You’re kidding, right?It’s a direct analogy, dear!
The ABL was centered in mid-market cities: Columbus, Long Beach, Nashville, as well as larger cities like Chicago and Atlanta.
When Stern wanted the WNBA to succeed, he totally undermined the ABL, just as Wal-Mart undermines smaller stores out of business due to it’s business practices, just as Borders and Banrns & Noble has undermined the local bookstores and smaller chains like B Dalton and Waldenbooks.
As I said, the ABL was lesbian-friendly and courted lesbian fans to the games and ran ads in the LGBT papers. Stern did just the opposite and more. That’s why I could win a lifetime pass to the closest team, a luxury skybox and a limo ride to and from the game and I’d still spit in that bastard’s face.