A couple of days ago I watched a video that made me emotional, and for once it wasn’t dogs greeting their returning soldier owners home from deployment.
It was a video of a tall, muscle-bound man receiving a call. The call informed him that he been drafted by the NFL’s St Louis Rams. He had been waiting three days for the call, and was finally picked at number 249 out of 256.
That man was defensive linebacker Michael Sam. During the call, Sam was crying tears of joy and relief, literally bent over with the force of emotion. His partner stood by him the entire time, stroking his arm tenderly, letting him know he was supported; that he was loved.
He has evidence that things are changing: that it is now be possible to be judged by what you do and how you do it, not who you fall in love with.
After the call finished, Sam hugged his partner and they kissed in celebration. Even though I love sport and enjoy the NFL, this is not the kind of video that would typically move me to tears. What brought me to tears was that I was witnessing a historic moment. Michael Sam’s partner, the person standing by his side, wiping tears from his eyes, and embracing and kissing in joyous celebration was Vito Cammasino - a man.
It is rare to see two men kiss on television. It is rarer still to see an interracial couple kiss on television. And it might actually be the first time any of this has happened under the sporting world spotlight.
It has been an interesting week to be a sports-loving same-sex loving person. In Australia, the NRL took positive steps forward by suspending a young player for using homophobic slurs on the field. Unfortunately, this prompted argument after argument (including from popular columnists with a large audience) trying to justify the player’s actions in various (unsuccessful) ways.
Time and energy was spent attempting to make these people understand how important it is that the culture around sport (especially men’s team sport) keeps evolving until the day that all queer people can feel as comfortable and safe as anyone else when loving, watching, playing, or coaching. Time and energy was spent trying to convince people of the power of their words, trying to make them understand why the language they use is so important, and how the casual homophobia they espouse could be crushing someone’s will to live.
This story, and the reaction to it, largely forced us to focus on the negative. We focused on the minority of people who are hateful and unwilling to change. We strained to convince people to stop using words that may make a closeted young footballer think the world hates him, and that would make him believe that he will never be able to follow his dreams of playing football while also being gay.
Michael Sam coming out, getting drafted, and letting us into his personal life as a happy gay man allows us to focus on the positives. Instead of pointing out the bigots, we can now point to Michael Sam. That young football player hearing the word ‘fag’ and ‘homo’ in the locker room or on the pitch now has video proof that you can be a gay man, you can be happy, you can kiss your boyfriend, and you can play the game you love.
He has evidence that things are changing: that it is now be possible to be judged by what you do and how you do it, not who you fall in love with.
Of course, this doesn’t mean the end of homophobia in sport, or automatically guarantees a happy ending for Michael Sam. Seething just below the surface, evident in areas like social media, is a wide array of angry people who were disgusted at television stations broadcasting Sam’s moment and affection between two men (it seems to be less controversial when female athletes come out, as many have).
When Sam came out earlier this year as a college player, he said, "I’m not afraid to tell the world who I am. I’m Michael Sam: I’m a college graduate. I’m African American, and I’m gay." There were homophobic comments from all areas of the sport. People debated whether other players would accept him in the locker room (and as professionals and humans the answer should be a forthright yes). Already, the Miami Dolphins have had to fine player Don Jones for critical tweets he wrote about Sam kissing his partner. It is going to be a rocky road, but the swift action taken by the team in this instance is a positive sign.
All of the reactions, both good and bad, mean that barriers are being broken, teams and leagues are being forced to confront homophobia and homophobic language, and eventually this means that more progress will be made. Hopefully Sam will make the roster and have a successful playing career – a kind of reward from tolerant Jesus for his bravery.
Maybe thousands of football-loving Americans who don’t know any gay people will have their pre-conceived notions of what ‘gay’ is shattered. Maybe Michael Sam’s name will become schoolyard retaliation to a homophobic slur.
And maybe one of the kids struggling with their sexuality in rural Alabama, or one of the 43 percent of black gay youth that have thought about or attempted suicide will be able to hold onto the idea of Michael Sam, and it will save their lives.
