Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are!

I have to hand it to Linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo for his courageous stand to back Gay marriage and encourage athletes in the NFL to ‘come out’.   Whether there are four or more Gay jocks (I doubt there are less) who could reveal their sexuality at a news conference is not the issue.  The issue is whether these macho guys have the (you-know-what) to be the outlanders, to risk loss of acceptance by their teammates, to risk abuse in the locker room, certain abuse on the playing field and the certain condemnation of many fans.  Their fear is real and profound.  It’s a painful decision that shouldn’t have to be.

Our culture denies that people are what people are:  diverse.  Diversity is not a choice any more than blue eyes are for one or brown for another.  It’s about expectations and stereotypes, and of one’s discomfort when another is honest enough to reveal the true man that God made.

Peace,

emory

“The belief that one’s own view of reality is the only reality is the most
dangerous of all delusions.”
  Paul Watzlawick (Philosopher and Psychiatrist, 1921- 2007)