Playing three different sports in high school and being the captain of his basketball team, current Oregon cheerleader David Hill didn’t fit the stereotype of the effeminate gay man. Although his exuberance and passion for dancing in the stands in middle school caused people to question his sexuality early on, he didn’t come out until his sophomore year of high school, and even then it wasn’t planned.
When he told one of his friends that he was gay, by the end of the day word of mouth had spread so quickly that everybody knew.
“I kind of got outed,” Hill said. “It was easier because I didn’t have to tell everyone, but it was difficult at the same time.”
People’s immediate reaction came as a surprise to Hill. He had grown up in the small southern Oregon town of Glide and went to a high school with about 300 other students. He knew the entire community since his childhood, but his sexuality was something people had to adjust to.
“I didn’t realize how much it was going to affect people,” Hill said.
But it didn’t come as a complete surprise to everyone. Hill’s announcement came around the same time he became a member of the cheerleading team, a sport typically stereotyped as having gay members.
During basketball season, Hill was worried about his teammates reacting negatively to his sexuality. He didn’t need to worry because nothing happened – nobody on the team treated him any differently than before.
“I feel like I made it awkward,” Hill said. “At first I was like, “Oh God, what are they going to say? How’s this going to be perceived?”
These weren’t complete strangers – he had grown up with these guys.
“It’s not like I was this new person and now I’m rainbow-bright,” Hill said. “I was still the same person; I had just come out.”
And he didn’t let the stereotypes of gay men affect his performance.
“I was seen as more of the competitor than the gay man,” Hill said. “People couldn’t disrespect me because I was competing with them.”
For most male athletes, homosexuality is a taboo subject and best left not discussed. Oregon men’s basketball coach Ernie Kent said that he would only raise the issue with his team if it became relevant.
“It’s never been an issue that needs to be discussed,” Kent said. “There’s not a situation there for us to deal with. If I feel like there was something there I would deal with it.”
Men’s basketball forward Maarty Leunen said that heterosexuality among the team is assumed.
“You assume that no one is gay. That’s just how it is,” Leunen said. “If more people came out, we’d be having conversations about being around a teammate that’s gay.”
But the problem facing most gay men is that they are afraid to come out primarily because of the lack of discourse being generated about the topic, meaning people who are gay may not fully know what the reaction will be, should they reveal their sexuality.
In most cases, the fear of coming out keeps them in the closet, at least until they retire, which is when most gay athletes have made their sexual orientation public.
“Sports is a venue that you would see (homophobia) as a challenge because many sports are predominantly male,” sophomore wrestler Jeremy McLaughlin said. “Usually in sports it’s a guys’ sport or a girls’ sport whereas if you were in a mixed setting like class or work with mixed genders, it might be a little easier to come out.”
Senior tennis player Eric Pickard agreed.
“It’d be harder for a man than a woman to come out,” Pickard said. “Because the attributes that are looked positively on in athletics are similar for men and women: being competitive, being aggressive, strong, fast. Generally in a guy who’s gay, we associate that with being feminine – with being weaker. Whereas in female athletics, maybe having qualities that are generally associated with a lesbian are being stronger, more aggressive – and that’s good in sports.”
McLaughlin has wrestled against a gay opponent and said he would not be uncomfortable having a gay teammate. But he’s well aware that not everyone would share his sentiments.
“I’m not going to be naive and be like, ‘This is the perfect wrestling team and if someone came out that wouldn’t be weird at all,’” he said. “There would probably be some tension on the team. I know that not everyone on the team feels the same way I do.”
But McLaughlin believes that personal opinions aside, the team is close enough to look beyond a person’s sexuality.
“I feel like at the U of O especially, and especially on our team, we’re a really close-knit group of friends,” McLaughlin said. “And if someone came forward and declared themselves homosexual I don’t think they would be beat up at all.”
Junior basketball player Bryce Taylor grew up in the Los Angeles area and said he’s interacted with a number of people who are gay, which has made him comfortable with the idea of having a gay teammate.
“Growing up where I did, being homophobic is kind of the minority because people are open-minded,” Taylor said. “It just shows how much further people can grow and expand their minds as far as not discriminating against another group of people. (Homophobia) is something that still bothers me a lot.”
Taylor said that he has debated gay issues with his teammates and some of their responses elicited a strong reaction from him.
“In our locker room, I’ve gotten into some pretty heated conversations with my teammates just about their opinion on gay people,” Taylor said. “That may have something to do with the way we’re raised, but it’s kind of weird for me that people still feel that way.
Taylor said the arguments were with current teammates, to which he explained that it’s not always a person’s choice to be gay.
“With the stigma that’s attached to being gay in our country, I don’t think anybody in their right mind would make the decision to just turn gay,” Taylor said. “You may not realize it, but at some point in time you become more in-touch with your sexuality and realize you’re not attracted to the opposite sex.”
Although some of his teammates disagree with his stance, Taylor doesn’t believe that it’s something the entire team needs to discuss.
“It’s something that varies from person to person,” Taylor said. “It doesn’t have any reflection on our program or Oregon athletics. It may need to be addressed in general but it’s one of those things that’s going to vary for everyone.”
With that it mind, Taylor doesn’t believe that sports programs are ready to embrace a high-profile gay athlete. There are still too many varying opinions toward homosexuality, he said.
“There’s too many homophobic people out there,” Taylor said. “There’s too many strong negative opinions about gay people.”
From football to cheerleading
Hill chose Oregon knowing that he wanted to become a cheerleader. People at the school, however, weren’t familiar with his background as a multi-sport athlete and cast him in the typical male cheerleader stereotype. While he’s grown used to the stereotypes, Hill’s tried to do everything to break them.
“It’s a hard thing for people to conceptually understand that I’m not the stereotypical gay male,” Hill said. “I didn’t let being gay shape who I was. I work on being myself and I think people respect me for that.”
He often hangs out with some of the boyfriends of the female cheerleaders, many of whom are athletes in other sports. While he gets along with those guys, he feels like they’re the exception.
“The ones I associate with, though, are the ones that are best about it,” Hill said. “(Homophobia) is definitely out there. I just hear things through the grapevine.”
When Ryan Keeling, a tight end on the football team, joined the cheerleading squad to help perform stunts in preparation for Nationals in January, he said he came in with preconceived notions of male cheerleaders.
“Everyone just kind of wonders (whether or not the male cheerleaders are gay),” said Keeling, who is
heterosexual.
His football teammates made light of his decision, but in a friendly, joking sort of way.
“At first guys on the football team were making fun of me,” Keeling said. “People can heckle and make fun all they want.”
Joining the team meant Keeling had to adjust himself to interacting with a gay person, which was an unfamiliar experience for him.
“I had never been around a homosexual person until I started doing this,” Keeling said. “I had a stereotype (of the cheerleaders) myself and being able to do this and being around different types of people has helped broaden my horizons and made me realize they’re no different than me.”
With the cheerleading experience, Keeling feels that he’s more well-adjusted to the idea of interacting with gay people than some of his teammates would be. He said he joined the cheerleading team closed-minded toward homosexuality, but has since had his perception completely altered.
“Guys don’t really realize what being gay means,” Keeling said. “I think they have a stereotype of gay being some flaming, really outgoing person, but really, they’re just normal guys.”
Hill’s glad that he can change people’s perspective.
“I feel that when I do meet someone that’s never come across somebody that was gay, I tend to change that stereotype,” Hill said. “I like to represent the gay culture and lifestyle in a positive way.”
Friction in the locker room
Showering with the team was a bit uncomfortable for Hill after he came out, and he felt the need to have his vision always directed away from everyone else.
“Why should you be looking around?” Hill said of his thoughts. “That’s a bit foul.”
McLaughlin agreed that regardless of how comfortable a team might be with the concept of a teammate who is gay, it might take an adjustment to get back to the same air of familiarity that was present in the locker room before the teammate came out.
“Honestly, I think it might (cause some friction),” McLaughlin said. “(For instance), if I was in the locker room with an athlete and I knew his sexual preferences were men, and I turned around and he’s just sitting there staring at me, it’d be a little awkward. It’d be like, ‘c’mon buddy, stop.’”
Using a hypothetical scenario, McLaughlin explained why a locker-room situation could initially be uncomfortable.
“I don’t know if it would constantly be like, ‘Where’s Joe? Where’s Joe? I gotta hop in the shower (because Joe is not around),” McLaughlin said. “Okay, is he here? I gotta go take a shower.’ I don’t think it would go to that degree. But knowing someone’s sexual preferences would probably change the type of interaction you have with them. I wouldn’t want to do anything that might lead them on.”
McLaughlin compared the situation to an interaction between a heterosexual relationship with a one-sided attraction.
“If I knew a girl liked me, I’m not going to lead her on unless I felt the same way,” he said. “I’m not going to go up to (the gay teammate) and give him the old hand-slap and hold it for a little while and be like, ‘You know what I’m saying, buddy?’ Now I know how he feels about that and that might be uncomfortable for both of us. You’ve got to be sensitive to how that person is.”
But as shown by Tim Hardaway’s homophobic reaction to former NBA player John Amaechi’s coming out, not everyone will exhibit the same sensitivity as McLaughlin.
Reaction to Hardaway’s comments
Kent and his team realize that some people have negative attitudes toward gay people, but say those views should never be discussed publicly.
“I was shocked at what he said,” Leunen said. “Even though certain people may feel that way, it’s not something you should come out and say.”
Kent said: “What Tim said was totally inappropriate. It was shocking to me that would come out of his mouth.”
Taylor was also taken aback.
“It’s offensive and makes black people look bad and makes athletes look bad,” Taylor said.
Leunen said that athletes like Hardaway cause gay teammates to keep their sexuality a secret from others. If they feel like they’re going to be targeted by homophobic teammates, it’s best to not reveal their sexuality.
“That’s why no one comes out in general,” Leunen said. “Just because of the fear.”
Because of that fear, coming out as a gay man in sports is by no means an easy task. But Hill is glad that people like Amaechi are finally stepping forward.
“It’s cool that society’s in a place where we can talk about gay athletes,” Hill said.
But Hill said that any discussion should extend beyond homosexuality in sports.
“People’s own backgrounds determine how they experience the possibility of someone coming out,” Hill said. “Teams don’t need to focus on issues of people being gay, but that people are different and come from different backgrounds, different lifestyles, and they need to be accepting of those things.”
Stefanie Loh contributed to this report
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