I swear, every time a major newspaper profiles somebody who is gay in sports, the story becomes less and less interesting. This isn’t to say Kirk Walker, the gay Oregon State softball coach profiled by the NYT, isn’t an interesting person or doesn’t have an interesting story to tell. It’s just that even the reporters penning these stories are starting to realize that being openly gay does not a newspeg make.
Tucked away at the end of a cul-de-sac in a leafy suburban neighborhood, Kirk Walker lives the life of a role model quietly.
No rainbow flags hang from the front of his house; political causes have never stirred him. And truth be told, Walker, the longtime Oregon State softball coach, has always been so absorbed by his work that he has not given much thought to being possibly the only publicly gay man coaching a Division I sport.
[…]
To be gay in 2010 is something met with a shrug of the shoulders in many places. Though court and legislative battles are still being waged over same-sex marriage and other civil liberties, acceptance has become the norm.
We’ve managed to write our own life stories into oblivion. Progress?
[photo via]
Kieran
Wow, an openly gay man is acceptable to coach the girls softball team at Oregon State? We have finally arrived.
wmcarpenter
“We’ve managed to write our own life stories into oblivion. Progress?”
Chuckles at the closing line, but I think this does speak to a kind of progress. Maybe it seems less remarkable to folks who aren’t really into sports.
Chris
@Kieran: Yeah I agree with you, when he coaches a BOYS softball team and be free of the whole ‘oooohhh he’s gay so he must want to f**k them’ then we can say we’ve arrived.