December 15, 2000

A rocky journey for an openly gay high school track coach

Trailblazing

The true story of America's first openly gay track coach by Eric Anderson

Alyson, $13.95

Reviewed by Kaizaad Kotwal

The world of athletics and sexuality is fraught with danger and complexities that are germane to the world of sport. No one understands this better than Eric Anderson, author of Trailblazing and America's first openly gay track coach. At 32, Anderson is pursuing his Ph.D. in sociology at the University of California at Irvine in the area of homosexuality and masculinity in sport. And his journey as academic and activist has been a rocky and interesting one, chronicled brilliantly and passionately in his book.

The book has changed Anderson's life. "But," he explains, "it wasn't the writing that changed my life, rather it was the events chronicled in the book that changed my life."

And how could they not? Anderson's professional and personal trajectory of not only being out in the school system but also being openly gay in athletics is a true profile in courage. Anderson aptly summarizes this voyage when he writes, "Over time I would watch my dreams erode. In the next four years I would experience my greatest struggles, fears, and anger, all the while also experiencing incredible joy, pride, and love."

Anderson, in a phone interview from California, said that he started writing the book as a log of two world-class athletes that he had the privilege of coaching at Huntington Beach High School in conservative Orange County. As Anderson began to document, the lives of these two runners he realized that "everything about their lives was influenced by his life and the log became a sort of journal. Here's what happened to them, to me, to us.”

What Anderson is talking about is the fact that while he was examining the lives of his runners his own life was inextricably linked to them and the fact that he was gay was an intrinsic part of who he was.

There are two moments in Anderson's saga of coming out as a coach that he identifies as life-changing, two events that as they were happening made him realize that things would never be the same again. The first was "the day I walked out of the principal's office and threw away the resignation letter," said Anderson as though it were just yesterday. The other more touching moment was when Jake, one of his runners, came up to him and said, "We didn't want them to rob you of your glory too." Anderson has always been grateful for the "wisdom of the kids.”

I asked Anderson if he was surprised at the openness of his students and their overwhelming acceptance of his true self. He believes that all those kids were very special but he is also honestly aware of "how many kids didn't come to my program because I was gay."

When Anderson first came out the team size dropped from 21 to 9 and then rebounded once he established his brilliance as a coach and once people started to see gayness in "real" people. "We know that the best way to decrease homophobia,” Anderson explained, "is to actually meet a gay person."

And almost everyone that met Anderson, from the athletes to their parents realized that as a coach and human being, Anderson was the best of the best. Even the most hardened, bureaucratic administrators eventually realized that the mettle of a human being is not measured by one's sexuality but by one's talent, compassion, strength, honesty and humanity all qualities that Anderson has exemplified and lived by.

·

Anderson believes that the world of professional sports in the nexus of sexuality "is changing before our very eyes." Anderson believes that the more professional athletes come out the more it "trickles down."

"But it also trickles up," he adds, “as more and more young athletes come out it has effects at the top."

I point out to Anderson that while there seem to be more and more athletes coming out, four major sports have yet to see a major sports figure come out while being active in their field. Yes, there is Martina Navratilova, Billie Jean King, Greg Lougainis, Rudy Galindo and others in tennis, ice-skating, swimming and diving. But where are the baseball players, football players, basketball players or golfers? Anderson acknowledges that we still have along way to go, but he is adamant about how far we have come.

Anderson attributes the greater openness to homosexuality in sports to the greater openness in society at large. “A plethora of student athletes are coming out and this was completely unseen before."

Anderson refers to the case of Corey Johnson, a football student-athlete who came out recently in high school. “But Corey is not the first openly gay athlete,” Anderson continued, "in fact there are 26 openly gay students in sports today." As these students come out they are refusing to hide their sexual orientation and Anderson believes that this eventually will trickle up to the college and professional levels.

And Anderson may very well be right. In countries like England and Australia, gay rugby and soccer players have already burst out of the professional athletic closets. But like many progressive trends from Europe and elsewhere, these incidents have yet to cross the Atlantic into the world of football, baseball and basketball. In America there are always the rumor mills, churning out speculation, accurate or not, about certain pro-athletes who may or may not be gay. And yes, athletes like American baseball star Billy Bean have come out, but only after retirement.

Anderson truly believes that even in the pro sports attitudes are beginning to change. He refers to a commercial for Visa credit cards where there is a spoof on Steve Young and Jerry Rice playing into rumors about being gay. “Even simply talking about it is progress," argues Anderson.

Our chat becomes increasingly interesting and intense as Anderson's passion and knowledge about sexual orientation and sports becomes abundantly evident. We talked at length about why the issue of orientation is different in sports than it might be in society at large.

Anderson's theories on this are downright fascinating and hit the mark completely.

"Athletics is one of the last terrains," he explains, "which recapitulates the ugly gender order."

In the world of athletics there are still widely-held beliefs that women are inferior to men and where women are paid a lot less than men. "Sport is that last institution where men are at the top of the hierarchy of the patriarchal system," explains Anderson. What Anderson is astutely pointing to is the fact that while men's dominance has been challenged by women in just about every field, sports is the one arena where men are trying to cling on to the last vestiges of the notion of male dominance and male-centered hierarchies. Hence, as their territorial dominance diminishes, the fervor of that dominance increases to greater levels of testosterone and machismo, creating a world in which femininity, perceived or real, has very little place.

"As women are catching up to men

Here's a reality that should be both sobering and encouraging. If indeed the percentage of homosexuality in the population at large is at least ten percent, then surely the world of sports should have at least the same percentage of gay and lesbian athletes.

Anderson refers to a random sampling of 26 openly gay high school athletes of which 4 are state champions, roughly 16 percent. What Anderson is alluding to is the fact that in the elite echelons of athletics there must be at least ten percent who are gay, if not

more.

Anderson defends his hypothesis by saying that, "What better environment in which gay individuals can hide as overachievers who are too busy to date women, not to mention the homoerotic environment."

This arena of masculinity, while being excessively homophobic, can also be intensely homoerotic, and in many ways this only reinforces the homophobia to give in to or even acknowledge the homoeroticism in sports, particularly Greco-Roman wrestling, is not only taboo but considered a weakness.

Part of Anderson's work these days as an activist is going to athletic programs in schools and colleges to open up discourse about the taboo of sexuality.

Anderson sees encouraging change all around him and he believes that the coach plays a vital role in how open the program is to its gay players. He believes that the trickle down effect can be set in motion by the attitudes of the coaches and other administrators.

Anderson refers to a recent case of two female athletes in Texas who were suspended for hugging.

Anderson's book is an absolute must, not only for athletes and their friends and parents, but also for anyone who needs an example of living honestly and openly under fire. The book is written with such candid frankness and warmth that it is difficult to put down. The book is paced beautifully, from the deeply personal to the profoundly political, and it reads like a well run race, perfect from the starting block to the finish line.

Truth be told, Anderson's athletes, featured prominently in the book, are also deeply inspirational for the openness, acceptance and humanity that they display for their coach and by extension for the ability of gay people to live openly with the support of their allies. All his athletes have gone on to do very well and many still remain friends with their courageous and talented coach. These kids are winners on and off the track. Anderson, above all, taught his students that "standing up for something was truly great." Being a trailblazer is rarely fun and games.

Who says that there are no great role models in sports these days?

Kaizaad Kotwal is a Chronicle contributing writer in Columbus.

TBHI AMARY'S FAT VERY GAY TRACK BAR

in certain sports men become interested in super-aggressive and hypermasculine sports like professional wrestling," said Anderson. Gay men, whether in culture at large or in the sub-culture of athletics, are seen as not truly male. Thus, if openly gay men, who are seen as feminine, start to assert their dominance and success in sport, then "what is left to define 'truly real men,' Anderson asks rhetorically. Hence, sport remains one of the last bastions of institutionalized homophobia.

GRAI

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

Eric Anderson