MSN has the strangest article about how gay, male athletes should come out of the closet and reveal their personal sexual preferences.

They compared the as yet to be experienced event to Jackie Robinson playing for the Dodgers. Here's the money quote: "It will be a great day in sports, in all of America, when that male pioneer steps forward the way Robinson did more than 58 years ago."

This is what makes me mad. Jackie Robinson was discriminated against because of something he could not hide or keep to himself. His race. To compare someone's race - the color of their skin, the shape of their eyes, to a sexual preference is beyond insulting. There is nothing visible that will reveal a gay person. He is not in danger of losing his job simply by walking down the street and posessing a certain color skin.

Your sexuality is personal. It is individual to you. If an athlete were to prefer masturbation as his sole form of sexual gratification, would we consider him a champion of human rights because he announced it on national television?

One's race is not subjective or nuanced in the way sexual preferences are. The comparison of the civil rights struggle to homosexuals debating on whether or not to tell people they like boys, trivializes the whole thing in ways it ought not.

Why is machismo under attack anyway? It is to men what cosmetics are to women. Why is it so intimidating? Feminists fear and hate it. Weak men, both gay and straight, fear and hate it. And there is more and more of a refusal to channel it into something worthwhile, like a committed protector of a family or community. The only time it's excused is when some gangsta is brandishing a weapon and slapping a maniacal, gyrating booty. But turn a guy into a soldier or a father with rules, and suddenly he's a walking hard-on looking for his next rape victim. But it isn't really gays and women who need to get out of his testosterone saturated way. It's pansies. It's those who would seek to destroy what he creates because of jealousy or insecurity. It's demanding acceptance from those for whom you have not earned it. Some try to portray it as brains over brawn, but that isn't the case. If there were brains involved, no one would be pouting over someone they don't respect not liking them.


Machismo is not limited to straight men. But homosexuality is not conducive to it. We all instinctively know the reasons why, which is why macho gays, athletes included, have a harder time coming out with their sexuality than the sweet little band geek who loves to cook. To someone like that, coming out of the closet is practically redundant. To an athlete in a sport dominated by macho men, his sexuality is secondary to his game. And if your focus becomes or is perceived to be your sexuality and not your game, you will not be respected regardless of your sexual preferences.