{"id":35321,"date":"2011-04-16T14:45:32","date_gmt":"2011-04-16T19:45:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/?p=35321"},"modified":"2011-10-23T16:42:09","modified_gmt":"2011-10-23T21:42:09","slug":"pushing-back-against-homophobia-in-sports","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/2011\/04\/16\/pushing-back-against-homophobia-in-sports\/","title":{"rendered":"Pushing Back against Homophobia in Sports"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ilysse W. sent in a link to a story about a recent response to homophobia at a men’s volleyball match in Brazil, which she thought was particularly interesting given L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant’s recent homophobic outburst at a game and the conversations it has sparked about homophobia in sports. Bryant has been in the news for apparently calling a referee a “fucking faggot” (video at TMZ<\/a>). The NBA has fined him $100,000, though Bryant says he will appeal the fine and that his words shouldn’t be “taken literally” (via ESPN<\/a>):<\/p>\n

The concern that I have is for those that follow what I say and are inspired by how I play or look to me as a role model or whatever it is, for them not to take what is said as a message of hate or a license to degrade or embarrass or tease. That’s something I don’t want to see happen. It’s important for me to talk about that issue because it’s OK to be who you are, and I don’t want this issue to be a part of something or to magnify something that shouldn’t be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

At a recent men’s volleyball match in Brazil, members of the crowd chanted “bicha”<\/a>, the equivalent of “faggot,” at a gay player:<\/p>\n

<\/object><\/p>\n

Afterward, due to media scrutiny, the player, Michael, publicly acknowledged that he is gay.<\/p>\n

In a gesture of solidarity, at the team’s next match, the players wore pink warmup shirts, and one wore a rainbow-colored jersey:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A banner was unfurled in the stadium that said V\u00f4lei Futuro Against Prejudice, and fans held up pink thundersticks (noisemakers) with Michael’s name on them in support:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

(Images via Asterisk<\/a>.)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, back in the U.S., the Lakers say they are teaming with GLAAD to try to eliminate homophobic slurs in basketball<\/a>. I suspect they’ve got plenty of work to do.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ilysse W. sent in a link to a story about a recent response to homophobia at a men’s volleyball match in Brazil, which she thought was particularly interesting given L.A. Lakers star Kobe Bryant’s recent homophobic outburst at a game and the conversations it has sparked about homophobia in sports. Bryant has been in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1813,283,54,108],"class_list":["post-35321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-nation-brazil","tag-prejudicediscrimination","tag-sexual-orientation","tag-sports"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35321","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35321"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40884,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35321\/revisions\/40884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/socimages\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}