Boston Herald Writer Steve Buckley: 'I'm Gay'
January 06, 2011 01:30 PM EST
views: 229
Steve Buckley, the long-time sportswriter at the Boston Herald, has taken his bold shots at sports figures around the globe for decades. And yet the words he's probably lost more sleep over than any he's ever written appeared in today's column:
"I'm gay."
The world of sports likes to consider itself an evolving place. And yet the stigma still attached to being openly gay is embarrassing and silly. Consider the following: There are no current athletes in any of the four major professional sports who have come out of the closet. Zero.
Simple math tells us that dozens are, indeed, gay. They just don't feel comfortable admitting it.
So consider for a second the courage and personal strength it took for steve buckley to report this in the paper, on an otherwise quiet Thursday morning in Boston.
He is a sportswriter. That means he lives in two worlds where open homosexuality is often met with painful derision. He's a journalist - a profession long considered a "good old boy" network - and a person whose job it is to follow each of the major professional sports. Being openly gay simply isn't the norm.
Steve Buckley has been at it awhile, and he's considered one of the best in Boston. But nothing he's ever written has been more powerful than today's column. It wasn't a lengthy, look-at-me revelation. It wasn't a plea for support or a diatribe about gay rights. It was a simple tale about a man revealing everything about himself to the public that has read his words on a daily basis for years.
There are those who will view Steve Buckley negatively. And those are the same people who keep professional athletes closeted, the ones too naive, the ones stuck in the stone age, the ones who don't realize Buckley's sexuality has no bearing on anyone's life but his own. None of the millions of words he's penned before should take on new connotation to anyone. But the ones he wrote this morning should.
Buckley, ultimately, made the announcement for himself. He was tired of carrying around the secret he's held for far too long. But he also opened the door for other prominent figures in the world of sports to embrace their sexuality, as well.
It's probably a long way off, but who knows, maybe he opened the door for an athlete or two to come out of the closet somewhere down the line.
Really, though, the long-term impact on other people is meaningless. What's important is that Steve Buckley felt comfortable enough to share his personal secret with the rest of the world. And for that he should be commended. There is more strength in what Buckley did this morning than there has ever been in a home run or slam dunk.
Steve Buckley is gay. And he thought the rest of the world should know about it.
Here's hoping it's that easy for others in the future.
January 06, 2011 01:30 PM EST
views: 229
Steve Buckley, the long-time sportswriter at the Boston Herald, has taken his bold shots at sports figures around the globe for decades. And yet the words he's probably lost more sleep over than any he's ever written appeared in today's column:
"I'm gay."
The world of sports likes to consider itself an evolving place. And yet the stigma still attached to being openly gay is embarrassing and silly. Consider the following: There are no current athletes in any of the four major professional sports who have come out of the closet. Zero.
Simple math tells us that dozens are, indeed, gay. They just don't feel comfortable admitting it.
So consider for a second the courage and personal strength it took for steve buckley to report this in the paper, on an otherwise quiet Thursday morning in Boston.
He is a sportswriter. That means he lives in two worlds where open homosexuality is often met with painful derision. He's a journalist - a profession long considered a "good old boy" network - and a person whose job it is to follow each of the major professional sports. Being openly gay simply isn't the norm.
Steve Buckley has been at it awhile, and he's considered one of the best in Boston. But nothing he's ever written has been more powerful than today's column. It wasn't a lengthy, look-at-me revelation. It wasn't a plea for support or a diatribe about gay rights. It was a simple tale about a man revealing everything about himself to the public that has read his words on a daily basis for years.
There are those who will view Steve Buckley negatively. And those are the same people who keep professional athletes closeted, the ones too naive, the ones stuck in the stone age, the ones who don't realize Buckley's sexuality has no bearing on anyone's life but his own. None of the millions of words he's penned before should take on new connotation to anyone. But the ones he wrote this morning should.
Buckley, ultimately, made the announcement for himself. He was tired of carrying around the secret he's held for far too long. But he also opened the door for other prominent figures in the world of sports to embrace their sexuality, as well.
It's probably a long way off, but who knows, maybe he opened the door for an athlete or two to come out of the closet somewhere down the line.
Really, though, the long-term impact on other people is meaningless. What's important is that Steve Buckley felt comfortable enough to share his personal secret with the rest of the world. And for that he should be commended. There is more strength in what Buckley did this morning than there has ever been in a home run or slam dunk.
Steve Buckley is gay. And he thought the rest of the world should know about it.
Here's hoping it's that easy for others in the future.
