Title

John Amaechi: Changing the Way Sport Reporters Examine Gay Athletes

Authors

Authors

E. M. Kian;E. Anderson

Abstract

In 2007, John Amaechi became the first former National Basketball Association (NBA) player to publicly announce he was gay. Former NBA star Tim Hardaway made a series of homophobic remarks a week later. A textual analysis was used to analyze narratives on Amaechi's revelation and/or Hardaway's comments published in 50 international newspapers. Four dominant themes emerged from the data. While most of these themes supported narratives that gay males remain unwelcome in men's team sports, all were challenged consistently, thus, showing the fluidity of hegemonic masculinity and the increasing societal acceptance of gays and gay lifestyles. Moreover, print media writers exhibited little homophobia and frequently called for more acceptance of gays, particularly within sport.

Journal Title

Journal of Homosexuality

Volume

56

Issue/Number

7

Publication Date

1-1-2009

Document Type

Article

First Page

799

Last Page

818

WOS Identifier

WOS:000270453900001

ISSN

0091-8369

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