I decided to post something like this because of my experience yesterday. So here's what happened;
Yesterday I went to a beach volleyball competition because I really felt like I needed to play because my skills were getting rusty (signs of aging) but my teammates weren't there because they are all busy, some were 'sick' and I was free that time so I tried my luck to look for some random people just to be in a 'team'. For you to play in a team there should be 4 people in every court, they call this Co-Ed for some reason (minimum of 1 female in every team and the rest could be guys). Okay, so this lady (I forgot her name) who I met like 10 minutes ago tried to hook me up with this guy who doesn't have any team and was looking for people too. His name was G and our conversation started like this:
Me: (I didn't say anything yet b/c I was surprised). John and you are?
G: G. Are you good at this?
G: Awesome. All we need is a guy and a girl and we are all set.
M: No worries. Yeah. Let's hope more people will come.
G: Alright, I'll see you later so we can warm up.
M: Okay. [End of Conversation]
There was more exchange of conversation but I wasn't able to respond more than I should be because I was pissed off at how he started the conversation.
He wasn't that good by the way and we got eliminated right away. I don't blame him because beach volleyball is a team sport and playing with him wasn't the problem anyway. There was just a lack of chemistry b/c we're all playing in a new team. He was nice and very friendly though.
I just don't get why does he have to know if I'm straight or not before he could let me on 'his' team and play. Is being gay, bisexual, etc. a liability and does it make you less of a player or athlete. I wouldn't mind answering that question anyway if it came later than I expected it but man what a way to start a conversation.
Athletes who made their own name despite of being gay, bisexual or lesbian are the one's who I look up to the most. NBA's Jason Collins of the Brooklyn Nets is one of the myriad athletes that I'm so proud of. He came out as gay after the 2012-13 NBA season concluded. As we all know basketball is a vigorous and a testosterone-pumping sport but a gay man manage to perform well and has been competing with the best players in NBA. After he came out, he was featured on the cover of Time Magazine's "100 Most Influential People in the World." How amazing is that?
Label: a brief description given for purposes of identification.
We use labels for convenience but sometimes we tend to go over what truly labeling is. Let's admit it, we go from simple labeling to stereotyping people at some point in our lives. It's human nature, but at least have the humility to consider that person as being a unique person that he/she is before we label them gay, lesbian, bisexual. There is no black and white for being the person that we all are. We are all different and unique in our own way. For me, I don't really care about labels because that could hurt me or I could hurt someone if I were to label them. People just need to open their minds and they need to be sensitive before they say such hurtful things.
People not only in the LGBTQ community but also suffering for eating disorders like Anorexia or Bulimia Nervosa don't deserve such social stigma just because of these awful labels people are placing on them. We don't have the right to judge or tell them how live their life and please, please, give them the respect that they deserve. Everybody's facing their own struggles and we are all fighting different battle everyday. Be kind.
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