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American sociologist and Professor of Sports Studies highlights the declining significance of homophobia in sport
The Lecture, titled Changing the game: Gay athletes, sport and the declining significance of homophobia, first explains how we came to value sport in western cultures, before exploring the extreme homophobia of the1980s. It is here that Professor Anderson shows how homophobia served as the central policing agent in young boysâ€...
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When I came out of the closet as America's first openly gay high school coach in 1993, my loyal distance runners experienced overt and institutionalized homophobia. When one of my athletes was brutally beaten by a football player, the media sought me as a voice on issues of homophobia and sport. Over the years, I saw how much sporting culture promoted homophobia and misogyny. I decided to give up coaching and return to academia to earn a doctorate in sociology. Researching the experiences of openly gay athletes, I identified ways homophobia polices the lives of both gay and straight men. My research reveals how homophobia is on the rapid decline and forms of inclusive masculinity are on the rise. This cultural paradigm shift is permiting men of various sexual identities to experience a wider range of sexual and gendered behaviors.
