John Amaechi: Changing the Way Sport Reporters Examine Gay Athletes

    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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