TOPEKA, KANSAS
Martin and Susan Gabrinsky are outraged by NFL Draft pick Michael Sam’s announcement that he is gay.
“This is a terrible influence on our gay children. For years we have supported our son, Gavin, telling him he could be anything he wanted to be, but this is too much. Ever since the draft, he’s determined to play football.”
“It’s a dangerous sport,” Gavin’s father Martin added, “and for decades this has been off limits to gay children. Now he is talking about cornerbacks, double nickel defenses and something to do with slots. I can’t even follow it.”
Sam’s announcement has been widely heralded as a positive step for gay rights and visibility.
Steve Grimes, President of the youth football league in Topeka, called it “unintended consequences of the announcement. We expected a handful of football players to come out as gay, but we didn’t expect hundreds of gay children to come out as football players.”
Timmy Killen, 8, said “I have always loved football and wanted to play. I dreamed of being a free safety, wandering end zones and intercepting errant passes. I always figured I’d have a career in hairdressing or musical theater, but now maybe I can make it in the NFL someday.”
The phenomenon is not restricted to younger children, as groups of older gay men are “coming out” as football players as well.
Jeff Davies, 32, told The Daily Flogger, “for years those of us who loved football and who were out lived in a closet of shame and embarrassment for our love of athletics. Now, with this announcement, we can finally declare, publicly, our love of sport.”
Photo credit: Ed Yourdon cc: by nc sa
