Gay Community Putting Too Much Press On Robbie Rogers To Become Gay Jackie Robinson Of Sports.

Robbie Rogers came out of the closet last month and recently he conducted two interviews with the Guardian and the New York Times. Rogers gave very candid answers he acknowledged that he retired from soccer because he believes he cannot be openly gay and compete. However, on numerous gay websites such as Outsports.com, Queerty, Towleroad, gay men have attacked Rogers calling him a coward. What right do people have to make Robbie Rogers into something he doesn’t want to be? The pressure for a gay male athlete to become the gay Jackie Robinson is a lot of pressure.

How can gay men call Rogers a coward when gay men we know how hard it is to come out? The crabs in the barrel syndrome is so common in the gay community it is disgusting!

Rogers also stated that since he came out no closeted gay male soccer players have emailed him or contacted him he was disappointed. The fear the gay male athletes have in professional sports is very real.

The mainstream media, are very politically correct, everyone is saying the right things, that the time is right for a gay male athlete to come out in a team sport. However, if the time is right why hasn’t anyone done it? Why? Why is it in the year 2013, no professional male athlete has come out in the NBA, NHL, NFL, MLB, golf, tennis, soccer? If society is so progressive as people say why is there still this intense fear that the closeted gay male athletes have?

According to Rogers, he only came out to his family in October 2012. The young man is clearly still struggling to accept his homosexuality. In the New York Times, Rogers says he doesn’t go to gay bars and he doesn’t pick up men. Rogers seems brand new, he is still trying to make sense of his life as an openly gay man. Rogers is also a Catholic, his family is very religious.

The gay community we are our own worst enemy. Some gay people place so much expectations on gay celebrities to be role models to push the gay movement forward. Yet some gay and lesbian people, don’t care to understand some gay stars don’t want to be spokespersons for the movement.

For instance, Jodie Foster the Academy award-winning lesbian actress refuses to be a gay role model and I applaud Foster’s decision. Foster is a very private woman, and she’s living her life on her own terms not for the gay community but for herself. In Robbie Roger’s case, he knows more about the homophobia in professional soccer than the general public. Rogers says the straight male soccer players are hypocritical, on the one hand they claim to support Rogers yet he says they also make gay jokes in the change room.

I think people expect too much from gay celebrities, we place our goals, dreams, and aspirations on these people yet we forget they are people too. Robbie Rogers has done a lot of good just by coming out. If Rogers doesn’t want to compete in professional soccer again it is his personal choice. No one has the right to lecture to Rogers that he must become the gay Jackie Robinson. Rogers is cognizant, he will be subjected to homophobia from fans, and perhaps even other soccer players if he competed again. Rogers feels he can’t handle dealing with gay slurs and negativity when he is competing. Rogers is being honest, he probably doesn’t want to be placed on to a pedestal and have the media put so much scrutiny on him. The pressure to be perfect would be overwhelming.

Gay Argentina Soap Botineras: Manuel & Lalo Make Love For The First Time.

Three years ago, the soap Botineras in Argentina had a very popular gay storyline about two soccer players Manuel and Lalo.

I can honestly say, this is one of the best gay male romances I have ever seen! I can’t imagine, a gay storyline like this being broadcast on North American television. The sensuality, passion, desire, and the love Manuel and Lalo have for each other is just incredible. The story is simple, Manuel is thirty years old, his professional soccer career is almost over.

However, Manuel is closeted he’s married to a woman Lily and he has two children. Lalo, is only eighteen he’s just starting his soccer career and Manuel falls for the younger man. Compared to North American soaps or television shows with gay storylines, this gay storyline is about love.

This soap illustrates the difficulty a gay male soccer players would have coming out of the closet. Lalo doesn’t want to come out because he’s afraid it might destroy his career. Manuel’s wife Lily eventually finds out the truth that her husband is having an affair with Lalo. There is a lot of drama in this story.

Although, Queer as Folk gets a lot of attention for being sexually explicit, the love scenes were mechanical and not loving. The romance between Manuel and Lalo is all about love, tenderness, and devotion. It is very rare to watch a soap with gay male characters who show tenderness, compassion, and comfort each other. Often, the actors who do play gay male characters are uncomfortable or awkward in the gay love scenes. Here the actors who play Manuel and Lalo give a tremendous performance, and make the audience actually believe their characters are in love.