While promoting his new documentary “Rodman: For Better or Worse,” retired NBA superstar Dennis Rodman took a moment to talk about the changing attitudes towards LGBTQ athletes in professional sports and his relationship with gay men over the course of his career, among other things.
“I don’t know why people haven’t came out before,” Rodman tells Business Insider. “It’s cool that people are coming out being, you know, gay or homosexual or whatever, lesbian and stuff like that.”
Rodman goes on to say that he estimates 10-20% of pro athletes are probably LGBTQ.
“I wouldn’t be surprised, literally, I’ve said it all along, if 10% or 20% of people in the NBA, or any sports, [are] gay,” the controversial athlete says.
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“I wouldn’t be surprised. It wouldn’t shock me at all. I think today, it wouldn’t shock anyone. I think that’d be more acceptable now than anything.”
Rodman then brings up Ryan Russell, the NFL free agent who recently came out as bisexual in an ESPN article.
“It don’t matter if [you’re in] sports or entertainer or actor or whatever in the world,” Rodman says. “Who cares? Okay. Who cares? You know, as long as he play and perform, does it matter?”
Related: Newly out Ryan Russell has something to tell the NFL about LGBTQ athletes
He also reflects that time he posed in drag for the now iconic 1995 cover of Sports Illustrated and how it impacted his relationship with the gay community.
“They didn’t know the fact that when [they] shot that cover for the Sports Illustrated that that was the best-selling Sports Illustrated ever,” Rodman says.
“And then the gay community started to reach out to me and said, ‘Wow, we never knew that our community can be represented like that in sports.’ And people didn’t know at the time that I was doing that.”
But Rodman says, despite the cover’s huge cultural impact, for him it was never that big a deal.
“I was, you know, doing all the drag clubs, I was dressing in drag. I was dressing in women’s clothes. I was doing lingerie and stuff like that and people in the gay community started embracing me.”
“If you’re gay,” Rodman says, “I didn’t give a damn.”
Watch the trailer for Rodman: For Better or Worse below.
RIGay
I suddenly feel compelled to move to the Korean peninsula and hug a dictator.
JoseGonzalez1647
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startenout
By all means, GO!
Donston
I watched the doc. It was fairly well done and insightful. The dude had /has a lot of issues. Certain moments made me uncomfortable, because it seems as if there were things the participants wanted to say (including Rodman himself), but they were scared to “go there”. It is funny how all these retired athletes keep talking about there being so many homosexual, homo-leaning, homo affections, gay men in sports. Yet, no active player would dare admit that. They present “queer issues” as being some separate and outside entity, disconnected from whatever sport they’re in. That’s even the case when they show support.
Rex Huskey
a most unattractive chap.
Chrisk
So he does some drag and wears lingerie and the whole gay community was very impressed. Gosh we just didn’t know there were guys like us in sports.
Alfy
I mean aren’t all these super type A celebrities and politicians like that, they will get off to male/female/trans/robots whatever. They have the money and fame and power to bang anything, even kids if they don’t get caught…. Epstein said he had to cum in a young girl 3 times a day and it was required like breathing to him, that’s why he offed himself … The boy actors get abused and raped, but with promises that they will be rich and famous… the sports stars are banging each other cause who can keep up with that but no one is gay… Roy Cohn said I’m not gay I just have sex with men.
Donston
Um, why are we talking about sleeping with underage girls? I get what you’re trying to say, but that post comes off like an unnecessarily icky and bitter rant.
I’ve always felt that “gay” has more to do with accepting where you are on the romantic/sexual/affection/relationship spectrum rather than with homosexuality or behaviors. While coming out and whatever identities someone embraces are personal choices. And the entertainment industry, the political world, the sports world will always support public manipulation for the sake of branding. All of this is stuff folks need to accept.
lmdoane55
#Boring! reeks of desperation
trsxyz
Totally agree
justgeo
When was this POS not nasty or ugly?????
Ajs33308
I was with a few friends a few years back having lunch on the ocean in Fort Lauderdale, Dennis sat down at our table and the conversation was all gay
jdr11201
Love the man,
He broke the mold, God Bless Him.
TheAbsoluteTRUTH
I was in the taxi business in the 90’s and the 2000’s in ft lauderdale fl and on multiple occasions rodman and his buddy would go to the boardwalk and johnny’s two stripper bars, they were into it