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Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Amaechi v. Hardaway

Two former NBA players show us the best and worst of the world of sports.

By Rev. Irene Monroe
Washington Blade
(Originally published on March 2, 2007)

Homophobia is part and parcel of the world of male professional sports, and so, too, in the African-American hip-hop community.

Thardawaystatement Tim Hardaway, a retired professional basketball player, is of this generation of hip-hop athletes. And in an interview on a Miami sports radio station, Hardaway was asked how he would interact with a gay teammate. The topic came up because of former NBA player John Amaechi’s recent announcement that he is gay.

“You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people,” Hardaway said. “I’m homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States.”

His vitriol, sadly, hurt more than just his post-career endorsement deals. It hurt the hundreds of young lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender sports enthusiasts and athletes that revered him.

“His words pollute the atmosphere,” Amaechi responded. “It creates an atmosphere that allows young gays and lesbians to be harassed in school, creates an atmosphere where in 33 states you can lose your job, and where anti-gay and lesbian issues are used for political gain. It’s an atmosphere that hurts all of us, not just gay people.”

For many of us in the black community, we were saddened by Hardaway’s remarks, but certainly not surprised. And although the NBA banished Hardaway from its All-Star weekend in Las Vegas because of his anti-gay remarks, and a number of public relations apologies immediately followed, Hardaway nonetheless expressed his true animus toward gays that even his first public apology couldn’t conceal. 

“Yes, I regret it. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said I hate gay people or anything like that,” Hardaway said. “That was my mistake.”

But Hardaway's homophobia is shaped by a particular type of black masculinity. There is now a black hyper-masculinity and urban aesthetic shaped by hip-hop culture and “video-mercials” that not only denigrates women, but also unabashedly demonizes gay people. And those who aspire to this image of masculinity care little about its deleterious effects on children — straight or gay.

The aggressive posturing and repudiation of gay people allow athletes like Hardaway to feel safe in the locker room by maintaining the myth that all the guys gathered on their team are heterosexual and sexual attraction among them does not exist.

“I don’t think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room,” Hardaway said during that Miami interview. “If you have 12 other ballplayers in your locker room that’s upset and can’t concentrate and always worried about him in the locker room or on the court or whatever, it’s going to be hard for your teammates to win and accept him as a teammate.”

This myth allows homophobic men like Hardaway to enjoy the homo-social setting of the male locker room that creates male bonding — and the physical and emotional intimacy that goes on among them displayed as slaps on the buttocks, hugging and kissing on the cheeks in a homoerotic context — while such behavior outside of the locker would be labeled as gay.

In his book, Amaechi states, “The NBA locker room was the most flamboyant place I’ve ever been. Guys flaunted their perfect bodies. They bragged about sexual exploits. They primped in front of the mirror, applying cologne and hair gel by the bucketful. They tried on each other’s $10,000 suits, admired each other’s rings and necklaces. It was an intense camaraderie that felt completely natural to them.”

However, gay professional athletes must constantly monitor how they are being perceived by teammates, coaches and endorsers to avoid suspicion. They are expected to maintain a public silence so that their identity does not tarnish the rest of the team.

Today’s society awards celebrity status to professional athletes of all races, and the popularity of black hip-hop athletes has reached unprecedented levels; their influences go far beyond the court and field.

Sports can provide innumerable opportunities to teach valuable life lessons and can be a powerful influence in addressing myriad social issues. Eliminating homophobia should be one of them. That’s something Hardaway and his hip-hop cohorts need to think about.

Afro-Netizen on Tuesday, March 06, 2007 at 02:42 PM in Arts & Entertainment, Commentary/Opinion |

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