In high school and college sports, gay athletes are feeling more free to come out

The LA Times is running a fascinating story on openly gay athletes in high school and college sports. (Registration may be required to view the story.) Basically, while professional male athletes still wait until after they retire to come out, a number of younger athletes are living openly gay lives, sometimes participating in sports while also being active in groups for LGBT students.

The most encouraging parts of the story are the numerous anecdotes about acceptance. While many athletes take a slow road to coming out, numerous others have found acceptance from their teammates. One hockey player had a teammate offer to set him up with a friend while another runner found herself comforted by teammates when her girlfriend cheated on her.

Interestingly, the article notes that gay male and female athletes face slightly different challenges, even though they both find themselves battling homophobia. Gay male athletes like David Kopay, Billy Bean and John Amaechi came out after retiring to avoid dealing with homophobia while being a professional athlete. Meanwhile, a number of lesbian athletes -- such as Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King and Sheryl Swoopes have come out while still actively playing.

As the article notes, increased numbers of openly gay athletes in high school and college sports matches polls that suggest younger people are more accepting of LGBT people and, therefore, finding it less scandalous when a teammate comes out. Slowly, views towards gays are changing and one of the less gay-friendly realms are starting to open up. At the very least, I'd say it's a good time for a series about a gay athlete.

(The above photo is by Joshua Roberts, for The Times)