Here's the story about UMass's Derrick Gordon at Outsports. And here's Sport Illustrated's post. And here are some idiotic comments at Sports Illustrated:
jasonleegrenier: Honestly I don't see why pro and college players have to announce anything about their sexual preference. Who cares. This is 2014. Get over yourself and stop worrying about what others think.
Dan13: Pretty soon we'll have people announcing how they like to do it, or preferred breast size, etc... WHO CARES!
Chuckster: WHO CARES!! What you do behind closed doors does NOT need to be told to the public, so long as it's legal. Geez!!! Why is it they feel this has to be front page news. Apparently, you get notoriety for it so here goes...... "I'm heterosexual...... I like women!" THERE! WHEW! I feel SO MUCH BETTER! Move on people
They said the same thing when college football player Michael Sam came out earlier this year. Straight people don't run around announcing that they're straight! Why do gay people have talk about their sexuality! Blah! Blah! Blah! I addressed this idiotic gripe when Michael Sam came out...
Rightwing dopes—of course—are demanding to know why Sam had to come out at all: "Sam, who cares about your sexual preference?", asks a conservative blogger. We actually do care about the sexual preferences of pro-athletes (or about-to-go-pro athletes)—their orientations, their escapades, their taste in Kardashians—but since everyone is presumed to be straight until they say otherwise (a not unreasonable assumption, as most people are straight), only gay or bi athletes are in the position of having to announce their sexual orientations. No one objects when the straight-by-default assumption essentially (and loudly and accurately) announces a heterosexual athlete's sexual orientation—but let a gay person announce his sexual orientation and watch the rightwingers have aneurysms.