It's where bonding happens, hidden actions committed and secret words said. The locker is the most sacred place for any sports team as they cannot be bothered by media, fans or outsiders. They can be themselves, interact with their teammates and get close. What does that insinuate or allow for? Physical interactions are as much a part of locker room interactions as any other aspect.
An OutSports.com blog post outlines the narrative of ex-Purdue football player Dorien Bryant who is now openly gay. He claims to have had many teammates who "weren't exactly straight." Bryant is not the first to claim such, as many tales and legends are spoken of athletes acting "gay" our touching one another in "gay" ways inside the locker room. But what does this all mean? What can we take from these wives tales?
What we can be sure of is that homosexual tendencies have existed for centuries. Before the term gay was even created, there were men sleeping with men and it was not questioned. Today, closeted men and women who grow up knowing internally that they are gay or lesbian may be inclined to be themselves and act out in the intimate setting of a locker room. I can remember many team locker rooms when I played hockey where there was touching, slapping and insinuations that clearly weren't hetero-normative.
We need not ignore such actions or take them to signify immature boys or girls are just fooling around. Additionally, we don't want to insinuate everyone is LGBT if you touch another person of the same gender; however, what should occur is a discussion of LGBT identities and lives within an intimate team environments. Let athletes know that being gay, lesbian, bi or trans is ok and welcomed. Rather than hiding and chastising these actions, let's learn from them and hopefully eradicate that awful closet for which so many are bound to.
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