The NBA's First Gay Player
By Keith Boykin, in sports
Wednesday, February 7 2007, 6:08PM
John Amaechi By now, you've heard the news that former NBA player John Amaechi is coming out of the closet in his new book. Amaechi will become the first current or former NBA player to disclose that he is gay. That alone is significant. It's also significant that the news comes just 15 months after WNBA star Sheryl Swoopes came out herself. That means the ranks of professional basketball have provided two new black gay athletes in just over a year.
When you add professional wrestler Orlando Jordan to the mix, that means three black pro athletes have come out since October 2005. I'm glad that Amaechi, Swoopes and Jordan are all out in the open. That's an important first step to breaking down barriers in the sports world and beyond. Maybe they will inspire other athletes and everyday people to come out too. But there's another step that needs to be taken soon as well. Black people need to see these athletes in the black community.
Shortly after Sheryl Swoopes came out, we learned that she had become a spokesperson for Olivia, a lesbian cruise line. And now that Amaechi is coming out, I understand he may be working with gay organizations to promote his new book. That's all fine, and I expect that to happen anyway. But Swoopes, Jordan and Amaechi also need to be visible to black LGBT people, most of whom live in the heart of the black community.
In an ideal world, I would love to see these athletes and others like them working with the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation's only national black LGBT organization, as well as the mainstream LGBT organizations. And I would like to see them playing visible roles at both the NAACP Image Awards and the GLAAD Media Awards (where Patti Labelle will be performing). I expect they will be quite popular in Chelsea and West Hollywood and BoysTown in Chicago, but we also need to see them in Harlem and South Central and the South Side of Chicago.
Mind you, each of these athletes has no obligation to do any of this, and they've all been courageous simply by coming out. But this is not really about the athletes. It's about the people they influence. It's about recognizing the diversity in the LGBT community and involving black LGBT people in visible ways in the community. It's about reaching beyond the base of famous blacks and helping to have a positive impact on everyday blacks.
There are quite a few prominent black people who have been very supportive of the LGBT movement. Julian Bond, John Lewis, Al Sharpton, Carol Moseley Braun and Coretta Scott King come to mind immediately. Many of them speak at dinners and events for various LGBT organizations, and they should be applauded for doing so. I have great respect for all of them. But now it's time to take that message directly to the black community.
Next month, Michael Eric Dyson will speak at NBJC's annual black church summit. He follows in the footsteps of Rev. Al Sharpton, who spoke last year. That's one way to make a difference, but it's just a beginning. It's time to see more gay and gay-friendly African Americans working directly with black organizations in black communities to challenge black homophobia.
That would be historic indeed.
