Thomas abuse shows big sports create small minds

We're in the year 2010. Former Wales rugby union captain is a big, strapping sportsman. He has also recently come out as gay after a failed marriage to his childhood sweetheart Jemma. Since switching codes earlier this year, joining rugby league side the Celtic Crusaders in March of this year, he encountered no problems initially. And then, in his second game for his new club, it became apparent why so few current professional sportsmen in the public eye find the courage to leave the closet.
In a match away to Castleford on May 7, he was subjected to some shocking homophobic abuse from a small section of the home crowd. There were sections of the crowd who were reportedly telling those chanting to stop it, and Castleford have banned three fans and been fined £40,000 by three RFL. But this just portrays a larger societal problem - sport is unaccepting of those who are different, especially gay sportsmen. Other than the recent revelation, Thomas is just a normal professional sportsman, but the announcement that he is gay make him an easy target. Sports fans will do anything to try and give their team an advantage, and this extends to bigotry and prejudice. Thomas's lifestyle choice has been accepted by his ex-wife, her family, his own family, his teammates, and his opponents on the pitch. So why couldn't all of those watching the action follow suit? As is often the case, the minority is generally louder than the majority. Prior to Thomas, the most high profile rugby league player to out himself was Ian Roberts, a former Australian international who played in the 1980s and 90s. He also made his announcement towards the end of his playing career, in 1995, but was supported from all corners of the game and never suffered any prejudice. So is this a damning indictment on British society or the sport of rugby league that there has been such a regression in fifteen years? Thomas, to his credit, has taken a stoic stance, trying not to let the 'bullies' effect him, so he can get on with his burgeoning rugby league career. Because that's what they are, bullies, and there is no place for them in sport at any level.
Although Castleford took the necessary action, the club thought the huge fine was excessive. But maybe the RFL needs to set an example of them, not just for rugby league, but for any sport. Take the sport with the most widespread coverage, football. There has only been one professional football who has been openly 'out' - former Norwich City and Nottingham Forest striker Justin Fashanu, brother of John. Following a sporadically successful and nomadic career, he came out in 1990 at the age of 29. And football turned it's back, none more so than his brother, who disowned him. Many former teammates spoke out in anger against him, claiming there was no place for 'gays' in a team sport, and Fashanu himself admitted although he was generally accepted on the pitch, colleagues would still joke maliciously at his expense and there was the inevitable abuse from the crowd. His story ended on May 3 1998, hanged from a deserted lock-up in Shoreditch after visiting a gay sauna - not exactly a glowing endorsement for being open and honest. And more than 20 years after he announced to the Sun that he was gay, no professional footballers have followed his example. Statistics and the law of averages suggest there must be more gay footballers out there, as statistically one in ten men are gay. But Fashanu's story is not going to encourage players to follow his suit, especially when you consider the unfounded taunting subjected on the straight Graeme Le Saux by Robbie Fowler on the pitch, around the time when Fashanu met his sad end.
But in the year 2010, shouldn't football, rugby league and all sports be more accepting. People are different, but they shouldn't be prejudiced against. There has been racism in sport for many years, but this has generally been consigned to Eastern Europe in recent years, as people react to something they are not used to. But what makes fans at sports' events turn from civilised, respectable humans into neanderthals when they walk through the turnstiles. I bet the three Castleford fans which have been banned wouldn't have singled Thomas out in the street for being gay had they walked past him.
The number of out gay sportsmen worldwide are few and far between - one of the most high profile in terms of team sports was former British basketball player John Amaechi, who played for Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz in the NBA. He came out in his autobiography after he has retired in 2007, and had previously spoken about how much trouble a gay professional would have in his sport: 'minorities are poorly represented. There are hardly any Hispanic players, no Asian-Americans, so that there are no openly-gay players is no real surprise. It would be like an alien dropping from space, people wouldn't really know what to do with it.' Maybe this is true of all sports - those involved, both on the inside and the outside, don't know how to deal with people who are different than them, so they judge. But Amaechi was surprised that the reaction in the USA after his announcement, saying, 'I expected the wrath of a nation, but it never materialised. In that respect it's good that Amaechi has been accepted to an extent, but there should never have been that worry in his mind, there should be more tolerance in the 21st century. And who knows how different it would have been if Amaechi had still be at the pinnacle of his chosen sport - he would have been a much easier target.
Sport needs to adopt a more universal encompassing attitude. So many clubs try and portray a family atmosphere, but this is sometimes not reflected by what we see and hear in the crowds. Maybe it will take a truly global superstar, someone with a profile as high as Roger Federer or Tiger Woods to announce they're gay to start changing perceptions. As Thomas himself said after the homophobic abuse, 'perhaps we need to go through this for these few people to realise no-one else will stand for it, and then it hopefully won't happen to the next person who comes out.' But with the insular ways of the current sporting world, I wouldn't expect either of these things to happen anytime soon.