“Progress … Slowly, but Surely”: The Sports Media Workplace, Gay Sports Journalists, and LGBT Media Representation in Sport

Abstract

Sport has become an increasingly liberal environment for sexual minorities. This has resulted in an increase of LGBT athletes (especially gay male athletes) coming out of the closet, and being positively framed by sports media. Little is known, however, about how these shifts impact gay men in sports media. Through 12 semi-structured interviews, this article is the first empirical examination of openly gay male sports journalists’ experiences in the sports media workplace. Adopting inclusive masculinity theory (IMT), results indicate that, despite the continued presence of heterosexism, all participants were “out” to colleagues, and almost all were unconditionally accepted when doing so. Additionally, findings indicate a nuanced perspective that contrasts with the oft-sensationalist reporting of LGBT issues by sports media. This article therefore extends the current body of IMT research on improved attitudes toward sexual minorities in sports media.

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