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Debate:Why are there so few homosexual athletes (view source)
Revision as of 04:56, November 4, 2008
, 04:56, November 4, 2008no edit summary
:::Back to the point: if a student receives these jibes, it's usually a reflection of his performance. If there was a star quarterback who was gay, the jibes wouldn't happen because he's excelled and met or exceeded expectations. However, this doesn't happen, because it seems that homosexuals generally do not seem to excel in sports. I doubt that once Martina Navratilova aced past her opponents on the court there were still insults being thrown about how her lesbianism effects her play.
:::Back to the point: if a student receives these jibes, it's usually a reflection of his performance. If there was a star quarterback who was gay, the jibes wouldn't happen because he's excelled and met or exceeded expectations. However, this doesn't happen, because it seems that homosexuals generally do not seem to excel in sports. I doubt that once Martina Navratilova aced past her opponents on the court there were still insults being thrown about how her lesbianism effects her play.
:::The comparison to Christian/Muslim slurs is misguided. Those are insults about someone's beliefs, which have nothing to do with their performance on field, court, pool, etc. A homosexual might become attracted to his opponents or teammates, and that could have a profound effect on the game. In contrast, a Christian isn't going to throw the game because he wants to pray with one of his teammates (sorry for the inappropriate parallel that sets up). It's just a different ballpark. -[[User:Foxtrot|Foxtrot]] 22:50, 3 November 2008 (EST)
:::The comparison to Christian/Muslim slurs is misguided. Those are insults about someone's beliefs, which have nothing to do with their performance on field, court, pool, etc. A homosexual might become attracted to his opponents or teammates, and that could have a profound effect on the game. In contrast, a Christian isn't going to throw the game because he wants to pray with one of his teammates (sorry for the inappropriate parallel that sets up). It's just a different ballpark. -[[User:Foxtrot|Foxtrot]] 22:50, 3 November 2008 (EST)
::::You appear to have entirely missed my point. Why would ''anyone'' want to participate in an activity in which they were ''only'' referred to in demeaning and offensive terms - if indeed something about them was used as the ''default insult''? The point is not that athletes are berated for poor performance; it's that the berating almost always takes (took?) the form of antigay slurs. If nobody knows that you're gay, does that make it less insulting, or frightening? If you're the star player, is it less offensive because some ''other'' player gets the demeaning label? It may not be enough to say "oh, never mind what I called him, ''you're'' one of the ''good'' ones." The Christian/Muslim analogy is entirely appropriate: how many Christians would make it to major league sports if they had to run a ten year gauntlet of a very hostile Jihadist environment? Wouldn't the Jihadists wonder why Christians were such poor athletes, as evidenced by the lack of openly practicing Christians in professional sports?
::::As for whether a homosexual athlete might be attracted to a teammate or opponent - so? A straight athlete can hate a particular teammate or prefer a particular opponent; they can play favorites; athletes change teams and have divided loyalties; best friends have petty arguments; ballhogs are resented by others; teammates compete amongst themselves for playing time, etc. The interpersonal dynamics of team sports are highly complex and ever-changing. If a teammate hits on me, is that worse than if he assaults my sister? Or sabotages my equipment? Or gets MVP instead of me?--[[User:Brossa|Brossa]] 23:56, 3 November 2008 (EST)
:Yet, military service requires the same things cited above (strong will, teamwork). [[User:BHarlan|BHarlan]] 19:58, 3 November 2008 (EST)
:Yet, military service requires the same things cited above (strong will, teamwork). [[User:BHarlan|BHarlan]] 19:58, 3 November 2008 (EST)