Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2012 15:26:42 GMT -5
It does seem to me that certain schools (or communities) tend to be a bit more religious. i.e. team prays before games, etc. I can see how openly gay players would try to avoid those programs. There may be no open discrimination, but it would be hard to feel like part of a team when in the back of your head you know that many of your teammates think your sexuality is wrong. Just because someone is Christian and/or prays before games, etc. doesn't mean that they are discriminatory against persons with different sexual preferences. I'm Christian, go to church most Sundays, and could care less if someone is gay. Of the guys from church that I know well enough to know, they don't care either. Yet I know plenty of "non-Church-going-Christians" that would discriminate. Ok.... I wasn't referring to actual, verifiable discrimination. As an example, I'm gay. I've had a couple co-workers who are very religious. They have been nothing but nice to me. I could never be as comfortable around them as I was my more "liberal" minded co-workers. It is hard to not get out of the back of your mind that your coworker thinks you are going to hell. Know what I mean? That's what I'm saying. I'm Christian, and as a Christian, I am taught to accept people for who they are. I'm taught that God loves me no matter what my short comings and misgivings are. We (our church) had a very talented young (gay) man who was a featured singer in the choir, did a lot of special music at services, etc. He was active in the youth ministry and everyone loved him for who he was. He asked the church board to affix a symbol to the big sign at the entrance that signified that GLBT are welcome at the church. The board decided against the symbol, stating that "all are welcome at God's table", not just GLBT, not just a certain race, nor a certain income level. ALL are welcome. Unfortunately the young man did leave the congregation. [edit] - I'm removing this... I'm not sure what to thing, but I don't object! So I object to your statement, VolleyTX.
I'm a little confused... are you saying that homosexuality is a "shortcoming" or a "misgiving?" I want to understand your point and not jump to conclusions. BTW, your church sounds like a great place filled with good, decent people. I wish all Christian churches were so accepting.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Jan 20, 2012 15:43:20 GMT -5
The only reason you would have teams "full of lesbians," as you put it, is if they were made unwelcome anywhere else. The reality is that recruits, straight or gay, choose which school to play at almost entirely based on athletics and academics. While the characters and personalities of prospective team members have some influence, the notion that you can tell who is what based just on a weekend visit is very misguided. If you think a lot of recruits don't make their decisions based on who their potential teammates might be, you are just plain wrong. Last year, a top recruit in our state told me, "Why would I want to play volleyball at XXXX University? They're all lesbians." Back to my original point: Surely everyone here can understand why a girl might not want to play on a team that has this known (or even perceived) demographic? It's no different (to me) than a non-Christian who doesn't want to go to a Christian school to play, or a white girl who doesn't want to play at a predominantly black school. I may have missed it, but I didn't see where this thread ventured into the same thing about lesbian coaches. Some girls don't want to play for a coach who is a lesbian either. Is that right or wrong? I don't know. What does the sexual orientation of an athlete have anything to do with their ability to be a good teammate? If I read between the lines, I get the feeling that you're implying that gay athletes are some type of predator, waiting for some poor, innocent straight athlete to join the team so that they can force them into some homoerotic orgy or something... I just cannot understand how race, sexual orientation, or religion has ANYTHING to do with being an athlete. Like Bofa said, it is the institution's responsibility to remove hostility and discrimination based on defining characteristics, not "force" potential student athletes to consider these non-factors when choosing whom to play for. None of these has anything to do with a person's ability to be an athlete or a teammate.
|
|
|
Post by azvb on Jan 21, 2012 11:46:03 GMT -5
Wondering if coed teams (cheerleading, bowling, track and field, swimming) have rules about dating a teammate? My roommate was a high jumper, so was her boyfriend. They broke up, she quit the team. Couldn't be around him every day.
Dating teammates (straight or gay) can cause some real problems with team chemistry. Not sure if a coach would be allowed to "ban" dating a teammate, would they?
|
|
|
Post by mikegarrison on Jan 21, 2012 19:12:22 GMT -5
Wondering if coed teams (cheerleading, bowling, track and field, swimming) have rules about dating a teammate? My roommate was a high jumper, so was her boyfriend. They broke up, she quit the team. Couldn't be around him every day. Workplace romances can suck that way. Rules forbidding them also suck, though. Catch 22. When I was at MIT my dorm's housemaster was married to the ex-wife of another professor. They were both tenured profs in the same dept. Must have been awkward.
|
|