Racquet Boy

Sports is an extremely heterosexually dominated social sphere where discrimination and homophobia seem to be deeply and structurally embedded. As long as queer people
conceal their homosexuality there is space for them in mainstream sport. Silence remains the most powerful and important tool of discrimination. The sports world has attempted to tolerate gay athletes when
they are contributing to the overarching ethos of sport—winning—but tries to taint the creation of a gay identity within sports that would see homosexuality and athleticism as compatible. By proving themselves
successful in sports, gay athletes show that hegemony is not an essential component of athleticism and that perhaps it is possibile to soften masculinity within the sporting realm.