Gay Athletes: Dave Kopay - Page 3
He was the first professional athlete to come out, and he continues to actively represent the gay and lesbian community

by Deborah Levinson 

In the past Kopay has noted that he had a brief encounter with former teammate, Jerry Smith (who later died of AIDs) and that was actually his first "coming out" experience. The first time that there was an acknowledgement of the relations and relationship.

Since Kopay first came out publicly in 1975 there have been other athletes who have shared their personal lives with us. Martina Navratolova. Greg Louganis. Billy Bean. Glenn Burke. Muffin Spencer-Devlin.

All those athletes have something in common, they either play or played an individual sport or did not come out until after they retired. Even today, in 2001, there are no professional athletes on team sports who are "out" (at least not in the United States).

Kopay is pretty certain that there are gay professional athletes who have not come out, and so am I. Heck, I even know who one of them is...

First page > About Dave Kopay > Page 1, 2, 3

Contribute to G/L Issues

to help with our expenses