Our latest at EBONY: An analysis of Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo's announcement that he will advocate for equality at the Super Bowl. Here's a snip:
Ayanbadejo "has totally squashed the ‘dumb jock’ stereotype,” former pro-basketball player DeMarco Majors told EBONY.com.
Wade Davis played for the Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks. Davis has come out as openly gay after retirement."It's extremely important that Brendon is Black and supporting [gay rights] because of the false perception that the Black community is more homophobic than others," said Davis.
Public opposition to gay rights and same-sex marriage is rapidly eroding—but the locker rooms and clubhouses of the four major pro-sports leagues remain among the last bastions of homophobia. There are no openly gay players in basketball football, hockey or baseball.
Despite evidence to the contrary—such as numerous surveys or voting patterns—the “perception” of pervasive homophobia in the Black community has morphed into a media narrative. A number of Black professional athletes have emerged in recent years to counter the stereotype—such as Charles Barkley, Magic Johnson, Michael Strahan, Robert Griffin III, Donte Stallworth and others.
Read the full piece HERE.
You may recall that I interviewed Wade Davis, DeMarco Majors and Will Sheridan on "Coming Out in the Locker Room" for the newish anthology For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Still Not Enough. Keith Boykin is the editor.
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