Former UW-Madison basketball player Shawna Nicols epitomized the Badger athlete: dedicated and always striving for success. Nicols was what is expected of a college athlete, with one difference: Nicols is a lesbian. A lesbian student at UW-Madison isn't unusual, but an openly gay or lesbian athlete competing at a school like UW-Madison, especially in a popular sport like basketball, is. Few lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) athletes are open about their sexuality, and athletics remains an area in society that is often closed to the LGBT community.
Openly gay athletes at elite levels remain rare, the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing show this. According to National Survey of Family Growth statistics about one in 10 people are LGBT. With about 11,000 athletes at recent Olympic Games there should have been between at least 500 and 1,100 LGBT athletes competing. Yet, only 10 athletes competing in Beijing were openly LGBT, one was gay diver, Matthew Mitchem, and the other nine were lesbian.
In October 2008, Mitcham told the Sydney Morning Herald, ""It's a little bit sad because, statistically, there should be a lot more [LGBT athletes] … but I'm proud to be there and proud to be that one that lots of other people can look up to.""
Now, more athletic organizations are establishing policies protecting and opening competition to LGBT athletes. These steps are small though considering the size of the sports world.
Administrative bodies at many American universities have taken steps to make collegiate sports more receptive to LGBT athletes. Acknowledgement of this issue at the administrative level is especially important because it creates a safeguard for LGBT student-athletes who face increased possibilities of discrimination.
Justin Doherty, Assistant Athletic Director for External Relations at UW-Madison said, ""Regardless of race or sexuality … we consider them all to be Badgers.""
A number of professional athletes have come out in the past few years while still competing. Often these athletes are lesbian and compete in less popular or individual sports at lower levels of competition.
Gender and women's studies professor Amy Barber said, ""In women's athletics there is … historically a lot more participation and sense of there being space for lesbian identities … it's a different environment than men's sports.""
Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas came out in 2009 and is the only openly gay professional male athlete in a team sport today.
In an interview with the BBC in Dec. 2009 Thomas said, ""I don't think there is a need to be afraid, you know, we kind of paint this world that's non-acceptant of gays in sport, but that's just a picture that's been painted by somebody not living the real world.""
According to Barber, however, there is still a strong culture of homophobia in sports. The small number of LGBT athletes is evidence of this fact, as is the little discussion of such issues.
Unfortunately, no current UW-Madison student athletes were interviewed. Every UW-Madison athletic team contacted denied or failed to respond to requests to interview student athletes and coaches. The opinions of current UW-Madison athletes and coaches remain unknown.
Most professional LGBT athletes wait until their career ends to come out. Many who have come out while competing, male athletes especially, have only done so in the last few years. This is in spite of the policy changes meant to allow LGBT athletes to come out and compete without feeling like their career would be compromised because of their sexuality.
""Even if you were to have all these rules in place—‘Yes, it's OK to be openly gay on team'—the reality is you are going to feel uncomfortable if you have teammates who are homophobic; whether you're outwardly homophobic or whether it's a more subtle thing,"" Barber said. ""The fact of the matter is we still live in a homophobic culture and sports is still a more homophobic place.""
In 2007, University of Missouri didn't renew men's lacrosse coach Kyle Hawkins' contract after he came out as gay. Also that year, former NBA player Tim Hardaway said he would distance himself from a gay player and try to get them fired.
""Athletes are afraid of the repercussions of what out of the norm might be,"" Nicols said. ""To be completely honest, it would scare the hell out of me to be a gay man on a football team in college.""
Losing opportunities to play at higher levels or losing sponsorship opportunities often deter LGBT athletes from coming out.
Stereotypes that gay or lesbian athletes are weaker or worth less than straight athletes or that a gay athlete may not be masculine enough to play affect how open sports are to the LGBT community. These stereotypes and perceptions keep LGBT athletes from competing.
Founder of the Madison Gay Hockey Association (MGHA) Patrick Farabaugh said, ""In any competitive culture, sports especially, the worst thing you can do is be perceived as weak. Gay people are regularly stereotyped as inferior athletes and not wanted—often not even welcome.""
Barber explained that gender roles are still important in American society and not conforming to commonly held gender roles is a problem for many people. She said it is difficult for LGBT athletes to come out because there is often an emphasis on gender roles, and that as a society, Americans can't conceive of an LGBT athlete, because it doesn't fit with the ""norm.""
""When it comes to male athletes it becomes very difficult for us to comprehend a successful gay male athlete,"" Barber said. ""He would be compromising the perception of his masculinity and for a female athlete to come out she would have to deal the repercussions of being too masculine.""
Societal conventions play a significant role in the acceptance of LGBT athletes. Even with allied fans and athletes, widespread acceptance often remains elusive.
Transgender athletes also face challenges. Common problems transgender athletes face include, which locker rooms to use, whether to compete as males or females and medical issues concerning hormonal treatments and anatomy. These issues change depending on a person's status under the umbrella term transgender.
UW-Madison's policy on transgender athletes follows the NCAA's policy. The NCAA policy does not prohibit transgender student-athletes from competing, and the NCAA is committed to creating a supportive and inclusive athletic community.
""I'm not aware of the issue [of a transgender athlete] having come up here,"" Doherty said. ""But that only means I'm not aware of it coming up here.""
According to Nicols, discrepancies between the lives of straight and LGBT athletes are quite visible.
""There are always athletes that will lead two or three different lives which breaks my heart,"" Nicols said. ""[They] will be [with] their fellow gay athletes, and they're out in those groups, and as soon as those individuals cross that cohort they're someone else.""
However, grassroot changes are giving LGBT athletes hope. Community organizations for LGBT athletes are sprouting up across the country. The MGHA was founded in 2006 and is one of many organizations created to open athletics to LGBT people.
""The MGHA creates a space where new and sometimes returning players can take those first few steps through their vulnerability to begin becoming an athlete,"" Farabaugh said. ""You can see in those vulnerable places that stereotypes don't always, or often, exist. People just need support.""
Building support is a vital step in opening up athletics to the LGBT community. There are support networks for LGBT athletes ranging from the top-university athletic directors to teammates and Badgers fans. But, according to Barber, the best way to open sports to LGBT athletes is to show that there are LGBT athletes everywhere.
""I think that in order for up and coming sports stars, or just kids playing sports, seeing college and professional level athletes come out is absolutely invaluable,"" Barber said.
Coming out can be scary, especially for athletes, but it is not impossible.
""One of the big things you need to remember is you're not alone,"" Nicols said. ""Around you, you realize a percentage is feeling the exact same thing.""
