Puerto Rican boxer Orlando Cruz has become the first active fighter to reveal that he is gay, describing himself as “a proud gay man”.
He has become one of a very small group of athletes in the competitive sports world to come out, the only problem this throws up for me is that he, even in today’s world, had initial reservations and as he put it had to develop “physically” and “mentally” to get to this stage.
While Cruz coming out, openly revealing, and being proud of the fact that he is gay is a huge step forward in terms of progress in the world of the sport, it also highlights the magnitude of the problems that still exist.
It may be a little different for Cruz in that he is a boxer, which is an individual and at times quite solitary sport, but in other sports particularly team sports, there still seems to be this atmosphere of fear and pressure, especially when referring to the dressing room environment, where in those sports athletes maybe terrified to reveal their gay for fear of reprisal.
But for now I think we should pay tribute to Cruz for setting an example and having the courage to come out while still active in his sport.
No comments:
Post a Comment