|
|
|
|
|
|||
 |
          |
|
Covering Gays & Sports |
|
Out and proud Boston Herald, September 30, 2003 Former Beaver and NFL star speaks on homosexuality The Daily Barometer, May 1 5, 2003 Gay former football player tells of tough times San Francisco Examiner, April 15, 2003 Former NFL player discusses coming out Bloomington Herald-Times, April 9, 2003 Koufax Shuts Out Dodgers Los Angeles Times, Around St. Paul (excerpt) Minneapolis Star Tribune, Football: America's favorite homoerotic sport Salon, The Closet in the Locker Room Pacific Magazine, January 2003 Gays remain outcasts in sports The Daily Camera,
|
|
|
Boston Herald, September 30, 2003 Out and proud by Ed Gray Tuesday, September 30, 2003 I'm out. I didn't strike out. I wasn't thrown out. And above all, I wasn't forced out. I'm out because I no longer, in good conscience, choose to ignore the unabashed homophobia that is so cavalierly tolerated within the world of sports. I'm out, because the silence of a closeted gay man only serves to give his implicit approval to bigotry. I'm out, because I refuse to continue hiding from the truth that an openly gay man has as much right as a straight man to play sports or report on them. Frankly, I'm out because I can't come up with a single logical reason why I should have denied myself the right to live and work as openly and freely as everyone else. Nor should anyone find a reason why an openly gay athlete should be denied the right to play a team sport without fear of becoming a target of prejudice or physical harm. In the cases of both a gay athlete and a gay sportswriter, homophobic athletes always come up with the same sorry excuse to justify the perpetuation of prejudice on the basis of sexual orientation - the locker room. What, exactly, does a straight athlete have to fear from a gay teammate or sportswriter? Any man secure in his heterosexuality should not have a care in the world when a gay man is present in the locker room. He is there only to earn a living, not to infiltrate the locker room in a covert operation to ``convert'' straight athletes. There are infinitely more friendly and healthy environments in which a self-respecting gay man would prefer to explore his sexuality than a locker room full of straight guys. Click here for the full-length story The Daily Barometer, Speaker comes full circle in addressing OSU Former Beaver and NFL star speaks on homosexuality By Chris Godwin, Barometer Staff Writer Esera Tuaolo, OSU alumnus and former nose tackle for the Green Bay Packers, spoke Wednesday night to an enthusiastic audience. Tuaolo is one of a handful of former professional athletes who has come forth in the media and professed his homosexuality. The event was sponsored by the Asian Pacific American Education Office, Asian Pacific American Student Union, Casa Educacional, Dean of Students, Intercollegiate Athletics, MUPC and VP for Student Affairs. The evening opened with members of the OSU Hula Club performing two dances, one of which was from the Disney movie "Lilo and Stitch." Once the dancing finished, Tuaolo took the podium and explained what it was like being a gay Asian Pacific football player at OSU and in the NFL. His speech started with heartfelt praise of OSU and how good it felt for him to be back. The energetic crowd settled down once Tuaolo began to tell his story. "There were times when I could almost have committed suicide. If you haven't seen a miracle before, you're looking at one right now 'cause I'm supposed to be a statistic. I shouldn't be here," Tuaolo said. He told of how sometimes after going to a club or hanging out with teammates, driving home at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour, he would contemplate turning sharply in hopes of ending his life. The former athlete continued on to explain his downward spiral into alcohol addiction and the anxiety attacks he experienced. What was causing the capable athlete's anxiety was the lying he had to do. He recalled when the first anxiety attack occurred. It was in his first game with the Packers after he had sacked "unsackable Cunningham." The fear that someone would see his name or hear about him and would "out" him took over. Click here for the full-length story San Francisco Examiner, Gay former football player tells of tough times By Kathy Schrenk of The Examiner Staff REDWOOD CITY - Esera Tuaolo seemed to be leading a dream existence. He was a star college football player at Oregon State University and was picked in the second round of the 1990 NFL draft by the Green Bay Packers. He played in Super Bowl XXXIII with the Atlanta Falcons. The Hawaii native's singing talents were as great as his athletic abilities. He sang the national anthem in uniform as a rookie before a televised Monday night game and at the 1999 Pro Bowl. But throughout his time as a high school, college and professional football player, including nine years in the NFL, Tuaolo was miserable. He became a heavy drinker and often contemplated suicide. Tuaolo was depressed over hiding his homosexuality. Tuaolo told a CaŅada College audience in Redwood City on Thursday that, after he became aware of his sexual orientation, he felt he had to hide it in order to be successful in sports. After all, his coach once addressed his team with the following statement: "You guys played like faggots - except Esera." "I couldn't be myself. ... It was so exhausting," he said. "I had to do all these things to throw the scent of the dogs off. I had to date women. I had to go to strip clubs. I had to make sure people saw me take a woman home." It was during his first NFL game that he realized how hard the charade would be. The Packers were playing the Philadelphia Eagles and the "unsackable" quarterback Randall Cunningham. The Packers' starting defensive lineman was scratched from the game at the last minute, and Tuaolo was shoved into the spotlight. It was like slow motion, he said. He saw Cunningham - and he got to him. After the sack, Tuaolo heard his name echoing throughout the stadium. That moment brought on an anxiety attack, which he described as a "stabbing pain." He was terrified someone would tell the Packers' management or the media that he was gay and he would lose everything. "I couldn't breathe. I went home so fearful. I was so afraid, I turned to alcohol. Tequila was a good friend of mine. I drank and I drank and I drank until I dropped and I prayed to God that I wouldn't wake up. "There were many times in my life when I thought about killing myself." Click here for the full-length story Bloomington Herald-Times, Former NFL player discusses coming out By Steve Hinnefeld, Herald-Times Staff Writer Esera Tuaolo was living the American dream, the "picket fence" life. He had a home in the Minneapolis suburbs, a loving partner, two beautiful kids and a new career as an actor and singer. But on a rafting trip to the Grand Canyon, he realized the dream wasn't yet perfect. Recognized by another rafter as a former National Football League player, he fell back into old patterns of denial. He introduced his partner, Mitchell, as merely his "best friend." He showed pictures of his children but didn't reveal they were Mitchell's kids too. "Then I looked at my partner, my husband, and I could see in his eyes he wanted to cry," Tuaolo told an Indiana University audience Tuesday. "We said, 'No more. We're not going to do this any more.'" Months later, the couple allowed HBO's "Real Sports" to air a feature story about their relationship. Tuaolo, who kept his homosexuality hidden through a nine-year NFL career, came out publicly on Oct. 29, 2002. "I found my voice in the eyes of my children," Tuaolo told nearly 100 people at IU's Willkie Auditorium. "I just want you to know that you are looking at a miracle now. I am living that picket fence ... No more lies." Tuaolo spoke as part of National Day of Silence activities. The event - stretched to a week at IU - recognizes the difficulty gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people face in trying to live publicly in an often hostile world. Click here for the full-length story Is Sandy Koufax gay? Wait, that's not the issue. Last week's media storm was all about journalistic ethics. Wasn't it? By King Kaufman I can understand why Jane Leavy is upset. The Post called her a blackmailer, and how annoying for her that News Corp. doesn't just own the Post and the Dodgers, it owns HarperCollins, which published Leavy's book. Libeled by your own publisher. That's gotta sting, though I don't buy the idea of a vast News Corp. conspiracy that has the newspaper printing rumors from the publishing company as part of a plan to boost sales of a book that was already a bestseller. Different companies in a conglomerate cooperating in nefarious schemes is pretty far-fetched in the media world, where getting, say, the city desk and the national desk to talk to each other is a major achievement. But what's Sandy Koufax so mad about? Click here for the full-length story Los Angeles Times, Koufax Shuts Out Dodgers Koufax, a very private man who established a standard for pitching
excellence in four of the most dominant seasons in the game's history from
1963-66, recently informed the Dodgers he would no longer attend spring
training here at Dodgertown, visit Dodger Stadium or participate in
activities while they are owned by the media conglomerate, because of a
report in the New York Post that apparently intimated that he is Click here for the full-length story Minneapolis Star Tribune, Around St. Paul (excerpt) By Joe Kimball A leading role Former Minnesota Viking Esera Tuaolo has landed a role as the tenor in the Ordway Center's new production of "8-Track: The Sounds of the '70s." He's one of four leads in the musical, which runs March 18 to May 24 at the Ordway's McKnight Theatre. Also starring are Bradley Beahen, Aimee Bryant and Erin Schwab. Tuaolo spent nine years playing in the National Football League, including a Super Bowl appearance (obviously not with the Vikings), but he retired in 1999 to pursue his singing and acting career. Click here for the full-length story Golf For Women, B. Koebke wants to be treated like any other married person at her country club. The problem is, she's gay. Now she and her partner are suing for spousal rights in a landmark case with far-reaching implications. And you thought Augusta was controversial. By Marcia Chambers, Golf For Women Magazine Like many couples, B. Koebke and Kendall French had a familiar routine. After work, they would drive to Bernardo Heights Country Club, just north of San Diego. In the magical evening light, they would play nine holes, talk about their respective days, and have drinks or dinner in the club's bar afterward. "Our favorite night was Friday, because so many other couples were there," says French. Click here for the full-length story Salon, Football: America's favorite homoerotic sport A tight embrace in the end zone, a gentle head-butt, a slap on the fanny - it's all just innocent celebration. Isn't it? By King Kaufman The best TV commercial going during the playoffs is the Pepsi-Lay's potato chip ad in which four collegiate-type guys watch a football game on TV together. They go to comical lengths not to touch each other - knees that accidentally meet jerk in opposite directions, hands that simultaneously land on a soda bottle recoil as though it were on fire. The camera cuts to a shot of the old alma mater scoring a touchdown on the tube, then back to the boys. They're having an orgy, rolling all over the couch, hugging for joy. Click here for the full-length story Pacific
Magazine, The Closet in the Locker Room Samoan NFL Player's Coming Out Sparks Media Flap By Scott Whitney "He's a sweetheart," says LA publicist Howard Bagman. Bagman, an openly-gay Hollywood PR man, was brought in to handle the "coming out" of former Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings player, Esera Tuaolo, who announced in November that he was gay. The announcement, which these days should have been a rather routine tabloid personality story, ended up reverberating through the U.S. sports media as the super macho locker room culture of the National Football League began responding to Tuaolo's announcement. Click here for the full-length story The
Daily Camera, Gays remain outcasts in sports By Ryan Thorburn, Camera Sports Writer The calender will soon read 2003. But when it comes to tolerance for gay people, it's more like the Stone Ages in the sports world. In Major League Baseball, New York Mets superstar Mike Piazza held a press conference last season to announce he was heterosexual. Julian Tavarez, a pitcher for the Chicago Cubs at the time, responded to boos from paying customers in San Francisco by saying: "Why should I care about the fans? They're a bunch of faggots here." Click here for the full-length story
|
|
|
|
| [back to the top] | |||||||
|
