A New Kind of Record

First openly gay men expected to compete in Pyeongcheng Winter Olympics

The Olympic Games demonstrate the peak of human strength, bravery, and dedication. Every four years, the greatest athletes in the world gather to break records and compete for the title of Olympic champion. However, the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongcheng, South Korea are breaking a new kind of record. Three men, expected to be announced to the Canadian and American Olympic teams in the coming days, are to be the first openly gay Olympic athletes competing at a Winter Olympics.

On January 7, 2018 Adam Rippon was announced as a member of the American Olympic team as a figure skater. After first emerging on the figure skating scene in 2009, Rippon has competed in countless national and international competitions, frequently placing in the top 5. Rippon is best known for his quadruple lutz, an extremely difficult jump, as well as his “Rippon lutz”, the same jump with only three rotations while maintaining one arm in the air. This will be the first Olympics for the 28-year-old, who came out in 2015.

Expected to be announced before the end of the month as an addition to the American Olympic team is Gus Kenworthy. The freestyle skier competed at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics while closeted, taking home the silver medal. He has also won AFP World Championships overall titles, as well as placing first at the World Cup Men’s Halfpipe two years in a row. Kenworthy gained popularity after he became the face of the stray dog crisis in Sochi during the 2014 Olympics, which resulted in Kenworthy staying in Russia an extra month after competing to try and house many of the dogs, including adopting five himself.

Another addition was announced on January 15th, 2018, this time to the Canadian team, with seasoned pairs figure skaters, Eric Radford and Meagan Duhamel. Radford and his partner are seven-time Canadian national champions, two-time world champions, and Olympic silver medalists in the team event at Sochi in 2014. In December of that year, Radford came out as gay, making this 2018 Olympics his first as a publically gay athlete.

 Openly gay, lesbian and bisexual athletes are a rarity when it comes to the Olympic Games. The summer Olympics are known to have a larger percentage of LGBTQ+ athletes, with 23 out of 10,768 athletes at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, and 64 LGBTQ+ athletes out of 10,444 athletes at the Summer Olympics in Rio. However, the majority of these openly LGBTQ+ athletes are female, and the numbers severely decrease when looking at the Winter Olympics. In 2010 at the Vancouver Olympic Games, only six out of 2,566 athletes were openly bisexual or lesbian, and no openly gay men competed. In Sochi in 2014, only seven openly lesbian athletes competed, who were again, all women.

There are a number of reasons given for the lack of openly gay male athletes in the past 2000 years of Olympic games. First and foremost, extreme masculinity is fostered through competitive sports, and many fear rejection by teammates or fellow athletes if they come out as gay due to the implication their sexual orientation makes them weaker or effeminate. Many athletes also rely on sponsorship funding in order to achieve their Olympic dreams, and there is a fear that coming out would result in a loss of much needed sponsor funds. For countries where being gay is illegal, such as Jamaica, it goes without saying that a publically out athlete would become a social pariah, and never be nominated to the Olympic team. At the Sochi Olympics, gay rights took centre stage as the Russian government refused to build a Pride House for LGBTQ+ athletes, spectators, and coaches. The 2013 law banning “gay propaganda” was cited as the reason for the refusal. This led many LGBTQ+ athletes to fear for their safety and treatment by Russian officials.

However, Rippon, Kenworthy, and Radford strive to change the Olympic environment to be welcoming for all sexual orientations. By being the first openly gay men to compete in a Winter Olympics, these men hope to dismiss fears of social rejection and lack of funding by demonstrating their positive experience of coming out in sport. Kenworthy even received increased sponsorship after coming out from companies such as Visa and Under Armor. Their message to young closeted athletes is not one of strife and struggle, but of equal if not surpassing success to straight athletes. Come February 9th, these men will not only be blazing a trail for LGBTQ+ athletes behind them, but they will be thriving on this trail. As figure skater Adam Rippon put it when asked about competing as an openly gay athlete, “it’s exactly like being a straight athlete except with better eyebrows.”

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Why are there so few out LGBTQ+ Athletes?

Hyper Heterosexism culture has stymied any potential movement for individuals to come out publicly. 

As 2018 begins, LGBTQ+ rights have never been so prominent. The clear majority of individuals are supportive and push for pro LGBTQ+ rights, with more and more individuals coming out without fear of being discriminated against. The same can not be said for professional male athletes. 

However, there was a wave of athletes that publicly came out between 2013 and 2014. This was the hopeful beginning of an avalanche of individuals to come out. 

Football Player Michael Sam, who was a star Defensive End for the Missouri Tigers in university, as well as the 2013 recipient for Southeastern Conference’s Defensive Player of the Year. Sam came out publicly prior to his senior season, in 2013. He was drafted in the seventh round of the 2014 National Football League Draft, yet has never played a snap in the NFL. 

National Basketball Association veteran big man Jason Collins was the first openly gay player to play in one of the four major professional leagues. He came out publicly at the end of the 2013-14 NBA season. Collins was drafted 18th overall in 2001, and played a total of 14 NBA seasons, retiring in 2014. As he stated in his first-person piece for Sports Illustrated “if I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I am raising my hand.” 

Robbie Rogers, whom is a former Major League Soccer player, came out as publicly gay in 2013. He also played professionally in England. 

After Jason Collins public announcement, Rogers believed that “a movement was coming.” 

However, since these athletes’ bravery, there have been no more athletes to come out publicly while playing. Three different sports, all with a cornerstone individual, yet unfortunately for Rogers, no movement has come. 

It has been approximated that one in ten people are gay. It is a seemingly mythological sentiment, because of a lack of proper research methods. Yet it is certain that there are athletes now who live in the closet whilst playing. It isn’t the case that LGBTQ+ identities are rising in prevalence, but rather a stymied culture within sports that inhibit one. 

With regards to homophobia, Wade Davis, a gay former NFL player, believes it isn’t unique within sports 

“I’m not saying it doesn’t exist in the sports world, but I think it is reinforced in the sports world, but you learn you can’t be out much sooner. When I realized I was gay in the 10th grade, I knew immediately what I was feeling was not OK, and that didn’t come from me playing little league football. It came from television. It came from everywhere.” It is not the homophobia that impacts people so much, but rather the blatant hyper heterosexism within locker rooms. Rampant dialogue concerning women and sex is paramount, and for gay athletes, it is something that they can not relate to. 

It seems that in female professional sport, there are more individuals whom are publicly out. Most notably the Women’s National Basketball Association. One can say that being heterosexual in the WNBA leads one to be made fun of, a complete role reversal of male athletics. The culture emanating from the WNBA is a parallel to the NBA, with women mirroring the men, whether that be through on court playing, or off court attitudes. However, it is certain that female athletic teams are more open to LGBTQ+ athletes. Brittney Griner and Megan Rapinoe are just some examples of these decorated gay athletes. 

Crucially, one’s sexual orientation should by no means play any role in an individual’s skill to play a sport. What is done in one’s private life is exactly that, private. Yet it is disheartening to hear that there has not been more movement within locker rooms to change the culture. These locker rooms are stuck in a 1960’s dialogue while the rest of society has grossly advanced LGBTQ+ rights.

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Another year, another dominant StFX hockey team

As the AUS regular season winds down in ice hockey, there is a familiar site at the top of the standings. StFX is off to another rollicking season as they have garnered a 19-1-4 record on the year, good for second in the AUS, behind University of New Brunswick. 

Jagger Dirk is the key cog on the Defense, with 22 points on the year for the senior from Penticton, BC. Dirk was a former player for the Kootenay Ice of the Western Hockey League. He had a very successful five-year career with them, contributing 48 points in his final year with the junior club. In his fourth year with StFX, Dirk has solidified himself as the number one Defenseman in the AUS, as he has already surpassed last year’s point total by nine. 

The three-headed monster of Holden Cook, Matt Needham and Michael Clarke have provided timely scoring, contributing eight game winning goals on the year. 

Oshawa born Cook is the leading the team in points, with 29. Prior to StFX, Cook was a shut-down forward for the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League. His point scoring was modest at best in the OHL, but StFX has provided a unique opportunity for him to flourish. 

Ontario-born Clarke, along with Needham, are tied for second on the team with 27 points. 

Leading the way in goal has been second year Halifax native Chase Marchand. He is leading the league in both save percentage (.931) and goals against average (2.10). 

The X-Men is led by head coach Brad Peddle. He is in his 13th year at the helm of StFX. He previously played for StFX as a student from 1995-1999. Through his guidance, the team has rattled off 12 consecutive AUS playoff appearances, including five University Cup championship appearances. He is still looking for an elusive national championship, which would be the first since 2004, coached under Danny Flynn. 

Peddle stressed the importance of garnering character players for the team. “We really try to recruit guys who will buy in to what StFX is about and will fit into the culture that we have created. Great People, great students and great hockey players.” 

StFX is locked in a two-horse battle for first in AUS this year with UNB. The squads have split the season series so far at two-a-piece. StFX has bested UNB in the past two AUS finals, however it was UNB who defeated StFX in the 2016 National Championship, which took place in Halifax. They are also victors from the year after, defeating the University of Saskatchewan. StFX is hungry for another crack at the defending champions, should they play in the playoffs. Luckily, the team is laden with good, experienced character players, with many of them having played in that heartbreaking final in 2016. 

“X and UNB seemed to have played against each other for as long as I remember in the playoffs. And at the end of the day, it is just two good hockey programs bringing out the best in one another.”

Coach Peddle had the opportunity to coach the U Sports All Star team in December, as they played two games against the Canadian World Junior team. The team defeated Team Canada in back to back matches. Holden Cook, Jagger Dirk and Michael Clarke were all selected for the team. 

On the experience, Peddle commented: “Players didn’t know each other very well so we had to try to bring them together quickly. This year we did some team building activities in hope that it paid off, and it did!” He was an assistant coach with the team the previous year. 

With six games left on the year, the team looks to garner a number one spot in the AUS Playoffs. The final two home games are against Dalhousie and Moncton on the 2nd and 3rd of February.

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Indigenous symbols in professional sport, insult or honor?

Throughout professional sports, a wide-ranging usage of indigenous symbols has come to the forefront of moral and societal values. Teams that still use Native American imagery include: Atlanta Braves, Washington Redskins, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Indians, Chicago Blackhawks and countless high schools and colleges. One can not ignore the brazen mistreatment of indigenous individuals throughout North American history so the question persists: Is it honor and positive recognition, or insult and degradation for these logos to still be used today?

The term ‘Redskin’ has been referred to as a derogatory term for Native Americans in the United States. Nowadays, the word is scarcely utilized in day-to-day lingo. Unfortunately, public backlash and political pressures to change the name have been highly refuted by the team owner Dan Snyder. He was quoted in 2013 as saying: “We’ll never change the name. It’s that simple. NEVER- you can use caps.” The perverseness of how referring to a professional sports team as a “Red-Skin” still exists in 2017 is mind blowing. Yet, only real change can occur from the top, and without an ownership change, the name will more than likely stick around.

The Cleveland Indians have a convoluted and complicated history surrounding their name. Indians was formulated in 1915, after going through several other names such as Naps, Blues and Spiders. Their primary logo (until recently) is of Chief Wahoo. Chief wahoo is a cartoon caricature of a stereotypical American Indian face. In 2014, team owner Paul Dolan indicated that the team would use a block C as their primary logo, yet the Wahoo symbol is still emblazoned on side of jerseys and some home caps. “We are people, not mascots, not logos, not imagery, Chief Wahoo does not represent anybody that I know or anybody in my tribe or family” says Potawatomi Tribe member Carla Getz.

The Chicago Blackhawks were one of the founding ‘Original Six’ teams of the NHL. They were named after an infantry battalion in World War I that paid homage to the great warrior ‘Black Hawk’, who was a prominent figure for the state of Illinois. The name and logo have been scarcely modified, with ‘Black Hawks’ changing to Blackhawks in the 1980s. For locals and fans, the name represents an umbrella of shared ideals. It represents a history of athletic achievement and hardships with thousands of players and fans throughout more than half a century. The name does not represent Native American’s stereotyped history.

The Kansas City Chiefs arguably have the tamest idealization of indigenous symbols. Their logo has been an arrowhead with ‘KC’ in it since the team’s name change from Texans in 1963. Arrowhead is ironically the name of their football stadium. Kansas City has never felt the need to change the name of the team, as the logo and name are an embracement of the countries heritage and their roots as an organization and as a city.

To some, these names and logos can be seen as a means of honoring Indigenous individuals and to remember the hardships they had to face during a time of immense oppression. For others, one can point at the fact that by changing a name of a team, you are essentially starting anew. The uniqueness of having teams having the same name since the (for example) 1915 Indians kindles nostalgic feelings. This nostalgia embeds itself into patriarchy, especially in the United States. General Lee confederate statues and Christopher Columbus monuments are still erected throughout the US, so expecting sweeping changes to occur are unfounded. Unfortunately, the solution seems to lie (as always) at the top, with the billionaire owners of the teams. To expect my grandfather to change his mind on what kind of soup he wants is hard enough, so a name/logo reengineering is highly unlikely for these owners, as both their age (average of 70 in all four major sports) and ethnicity (primarily Caucasian) ooze a grandfather-esque tinge.

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