Gays Again

Just got back from Doughty Street. I really enjoyed tonight. I was on with two very nice people, Mike Denham from the wonderful Burning our Money blog and Mark Pack, a historian. I also got to rant at length about a certan blogspat that I don't like to talk about because I don't like to give airtime to that blogging fascist who wants us all to conform to what he considers a "real" political blog.

And finally I found a story worth blogging about in the papers. John Amaechi is apparently about to come out as the first openly gay professional basketball player in the states. I find this story interesting because I have long been fascinated with the lack of open homosexuals in the sports world. Famously the only openly gay footballer we've ever had in this country famously killed himself. Homosexuality seems to conjur up a lot more fear and hatred in the US than here. John Amaeichi is English and apparently plays for the English basketball team (I didn't know we had one!). Is it possible that the wonderfully accepting society we've fostered in Britain means our sportstars feel more able to come out and still be accepted. Has Graham Norton managed to take gay rights across the atlantic?

What I think is important about this is that once one person has the courage to stand up and be honest then it paves the way for others to do so. Premiership football has often been cited as helping to promote better race relations. If we had some gay premiership footballers then it could promote more acceptance of homosexuality.

So basically I applaud John Amaeichi's decision and I hope it gives other people the courage they need to come out.

(queue the homophobic backlash in the comments section)