THIS ARTICLE FIRST APPEARED ON\u00a0UNCLOSETED MEDIA<\/a>\u00a0A NEW INVESTIGATIVE LGBTQIA+ FOCUSSED NEWS PUBLICATION.<\/strong><\/p>\n When Jason Collins came out in a 2013 Sports Illustrated cover story, he broke down the long-sealed closet in men\u2019s sports by becoming the first openly gay active player in any major league sport. President Barack Obama called him to offer his support,<\/a> saying he \u201ccouldn\u2019t be prouder,\u201d and Oprah Winfrey called him<\/a> \u201ca pioneer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBy not having to hide who I am, just being able to live an authentic life, there’s something powerful about being the one to out yourself and step forward and speak your truth,\u201d Collins told Uncloseted Media. \u201cThere’s no greater feeling.\u201d<\/p>\n Many thought that Collins’ announcement would lead to a slew of men coming out in professional sports; commentators called it a \u201ctipping point\u201d<\/a> and the moment \u201cwhen things really changed<\/a>.\u201d But 12 years later, the silence is deafening. Today, there are zero active openly gay or bisexual players in the NFL, NBA, NHL, MLB, MLS, PGA and ATP.<\/p>\n What makes these numbers particularly shocking is that more than 1 in 5 Gen Z adults in the United States identify as LGBTQ<\/a>. \u201cIt is a legit claim that the last closet for men is sports, especially in the North American context,\u201d says Charlene Weaving, a professor of gender studies at St. Francis Xavier University. \u201cIf you look at sport[s], it’s as if what’s happening in society is amplified. Sports is the worst place for sexism and homophobia. \u2026 There’s so much pressure to adhere to a heterosexual persona.\u201d<\/p>\n So what\u2019s keeping the closet door shut?<\/p>\n One key element in men\u2019s sports that can help or hinder someone from coming out is the mentors who surround them.<\/p>\n \u201cThe coaches create the culture, right? What you say, what you allow [in] your locker room, that’s all on us,\u201d says Anthony Nicodemo, a gay high school basketball coach in Westchester, New York.<\/p>\n He says he intentionally uses LGBTQ-inclusive language with his team to signal that there\u2019s nothing wrong with being gay. \u201cIf we had a game on Saturday morning and it’s Friday night, I\u2019d say, \u2018Hey go home with your boyfriend or girlfriend tonight, stay in.\u2019 My kids would laugh, of course, but then after I said it a couple times, they didn’t even blink,\u201d he says. \u201cIf there was a gay kid on my team, that gay kid knows that he’s welcome.\u201d<\/p>\n A 2016 study<\/a> by the Journal of Sport and Health Science found that gay and bisexual male teen athletes feel particularly unwelcome when playing in formal sporting environments where there are coaches. The study also found that they were more likely to play on an informal team without a coach, which would lessen their chances of becoming a professional athlete.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hope is that you’re going to create inclusive environments that are ultimately going to allow those kids to get to the point in society where we feel comfortable with them coming out and eventually playing at the professional level,\u201d says Nicodemo, who worked with Collins at the Pride Center\u2019s LGBTQ inclusion basketball clinic in San Antonio this March.<\/p>\n Nicodemo says we need more role models like Brian Burke, the former president of hockey operations for the Pittsburgh Penguins. After Burke\u2019s gay son passed away in a car accident in 2010, he made it his mission to explicitly advocate for gay men competing in pro hockey. \u201cIf you’re a member of the LGBTQ+ community, you are welcome with the Pittsburgh Penguins,\u201d he said<\/a> at a 2021 Pittsburgh Pride Revolution March. \u201cYou’re welcome to come to our games, you’re welcome to play for our team, you’re welcome to work on our staff. You are welcome.”<\/p>\n Research suggests all players want to participate in more inclusive environments. A 2021 <\/a>study evaluated college coaches who identified as LGBTQ, as allies, or as anti-LGBTQ. In every context, students preferred coaches who embraced nondiscrimination, choosing the ally and the LGBTQ coach over the anti-LGBTQ coach.<\/p>\n Despite this, Nicodemo says he may be an anomaly when it comes to LGBTQ-inclusive coaches. In fact, a 2015 study<\/a> concluded that the United States was the most homophobic country in the world when it comes to sports and 80% of the study\u2019s participants reported witnessing or experiencing homophobia in U.S. sports.<\/p>\n Just this week, the Wake Forest men\u2019s baseball coach Tom Walter issued an apology<\/a> after cameras caught him using an apparent homophobic slur during an NCAA game.<\/p>\n \u201cThere’s a lot of homophobia in our society. There is a lot of homophobia still in sports, in particular, male sports,\u201d says Collins. \u201cWe still have a lot of work to do as far as creating those environments that those athletes do feel comfortable to step forward [in] and share who they are. It’s about education and letting them know it’s okay to say, \u2018I am gay,\u2019 \u2018I am bisexual.\u2019 You know, you name it, but it’s okay. It’s okay to speak your truth.\u201d<\/p>\n Beyond the coaches are the leagues. While some of them have taken steps to create inclusive environments, others have gone in a different direction by rolling back their LGBTQ-inclusive policies amid attacks on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). In March, the MLB removed <\/a>references to their \u201cDiversity Pipeline Program,\u201d which outlined their diversity-focused hiring initiatives, from their website.<\/p>\n This may have been in response to external pressure. In October 2023, the conservative public interest organization America First Legal, which was founded by Trump\u2019s Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, filed a formal complain<\/a>t against the MLB, blasting the league\u2019s diversity pipeline and related initiatives as blatant examples of racial and sexist discrimination against white men.<\/p>\n And in 2023, the NHL banned<\/a> all LGBTQ symbols from uniforms after a handful of players refused to participate in Pride Nights.<\/p>\n While the ban was lifted<\/a> after pushback from sponsors, players and fans, Nicodemo believes it sent the wrong message to young male players. \u201cI believe wholeheartedly that Pride nights save lives. I think [about] a gay kid that is watching hockey at home and seeing the rainbow flag and how important that is,\u201d he says. \u201cGay kids need to see people representing pride. When I was coaching before COVID, when we used to actually wear suits when we coached, I wore a rainbow lapel in every game just to show it was okay.\u201d<\/p>\n Some men\u2019s leagues have done more to promote inclusivity. NBA Cares, the social justice arm of the league\u2019s charitable programming, has prioritized including gay youth and men in their initiatives. Nicodemo has worked with NBA Cares, and Collins has contributed as an ambassador.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is very important for coaches, for those people in leadership positions, to think about as far as, \u2018How do I get the best possible version of my athlete?\u2019 … One way you do that is by creating a team environment where everyone feels safe,\u201d says Collins.<\/p>\n Unlike men’s leagues, women’s leagues are more accepting of LGBTQ players. Billie Jean King, Brittney Griner and Abby Wambach are some of the many women who have thrived while competing as openly gay athletes.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the WNBA, [it\u2019s] not an issue,\u201d says Nicodemo, referencing that 29% of active WNBA players<\/a> are openly lesbian.<\/p>\n Homophobia is more common<\/a> among men. And in the locker room, it isn\u2019t always easy to spot, as it often masks itself in homoeroticism.<\/p>\n \u201cTwo male athletes will kiss each other on the lips. And that’s considered to be love and appreciation that you scored that big goal. \u2018I’m gonna kiss you and it’s not at all viewed to be perceived to be gay and the grabbing of the bums or the testicle area.\u2019 This idea of showering together, slapping towels, that’s all considered to be like part of men’s sport,\u201d says Weaving. \u201cSo it’s this idea where players can be as \u2018gay\u2019 as they want and in the context of the field or the locker room, they’re not perceived to be gay. But if they were to act that way outside of that sporting context, then they’re considered to be.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins says this gender divide may be because of sexism and toxic masculinity. This kind of performative homoeroticism is only socially acceptable <\/a>because it’s understood to be ironic\u2014a joke that relies on not actually being gay. When the behavior slips beyond the bounds of \u201cjust joking,\u201d it exposes an undercurrent of homophobia masked as camaraderie.<\/p>\n Beyond all these pressures lies a monetary component for athletes who are considering opening the closet door while still in uniform. Cyd Zeigler, the cofounder of Outsports, wrote in a 2024 article<\/a> that he knows \u201cfor a fact that agents have told gay athletes to stay in the closet\u201d and that his \u201cbest answer has pointed to the agents and managers whose livelihoods depend on athletes maximizing their earning potential in just a few years.\u201d<\/p>\n Weaving agrees. \u201cThe general managers and the owners have more traditionally homophobic, sexist thinking. They believe [LGBTQ players] will harm viewership,\u201d she says. \u201cIt’s still taboo where athletes fear repercussions, predominantly, around sponsorships.\u201d<\/p>\n The fear of losing out on money may be misguided. The first day Jason Collins\u2019 number 98 jersey became available on the NBA website, one year after he came out, it was the top seller <\/a>of all active NBA players. Carl Nassib\u2019s jersey<\/a> became a top seller on the NFL\u2019s official online marketplace when he came out in 2021. And Michael Sam, the first gay NFL player, had the second-highest selling jersey<\/a> in his 2014 rookie class of more than 250 draftees.<\/p>\n Perhaps the biggest factor keeping men in the closet is America\u2019s current political climate, where the Trump administration and corporate America have abandoned DEI and so-called \u201cwoke\u201d initiatives.<\/p>\n The Trump administration has also erased many references to LGBTQ people<\/a> from government websites, and at least nine states<\/a> have introduced measures to overturn marriage equality.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Trump administration asks districts to sign attestations to say that they’re not going to do DEI work in schools. That could be a pride flag hanging in the classroom,\u201d says Nicodemo. \u201cIf you’re not creating an inclusive environment for these kids, then these kids are never going to feel comfortable coming out.\u201d<\/p>\n As all these factors create a challenging environment for men to feel safe coming out in sports.<\/p>\n Collins says what could move the needle the most is an increase in role models who will make young athletes feel like they\u2019re competing in a safe environment. \u201cIt definitely got to very dark, lonely places because I felt like I was going through this alone,\u201d he says. \u201cWhen I was younger, I was constantly looking for those role models, of people who have sort of been down this path,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Weaving agrees and says that a lack of LGBTQ-inclusive coaches can be more than just a deterrent for student-athletes seeking to grow their career.<\/p>\n \u201cFor many children, it doesn\u2019t only make things uncomfortable, it can push them out of sports altogether,\u201d she says. \u201cCoaches play a big role. Youth sport is the starting point. If you can create positive environments, inclusive cultures at that level, it continues and helps to shift the pro culture.\u201d<\/p>\n Collins remains hopeful that there will be more visibility of gay men in professional sports but underscores the need for role models to step up.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re a coach or if you\u2019re an athletic director or even a headmaster out of school, you have to seek out help. You have to bring other organizations who have expertise. And it can be as simple as a 30- to 60-minute conversation, but at least you\u2019re laying the groundwork down for educating those players, educating those athletes,\u201d says Collins, a two-time NBA championship finalist who married his partner last month.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.gaytimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/locker-room-adobe-.jpg\")
<\/p>Coaching Can Help or Hurt<\/h3>\n
Are the Leagues Pulling Their Weight?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
Homophobia and Misogyny in the Men\u2019s Locker Room<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Financial Cost of Coming Out: Something to Gain or Lose?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Trump Effect on the Last Closet<\/strong><\/h3>\n
What Can Be Done?<\/strong><\/h3>\n
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