Columbia University wrestling coach
Hudson Taylor has said he believes the sports world is ready to
accept openly gay athletes.
In a Thursday appearance on MSNBC,
Taylor, who founded the anti-homophobia website AthleteAlly.com,
talked to host Thomas Roberts about his advocacy.
The openly straight Taylor said he
decided to act after years of complacency.
“I sat silently as I heard homophobia
used in the locker room day in and day out,” he said. “It wasn't
until I got to college when some of my friends came out that I really
realized how degrading and demeaning that language is.”
“And as a captain on my wrestling
team, as an all-American, I have the power and the ability to do
something about it.”
When asked if he believes the sports
world is ready to embrace openly gay athletes, Taylor answered
“absolutely.”
“Absolutely,” he said. “I mean,
I think the athletic community is ready for that. We have athletes
coming out and there is just more and more people getting on board
every day.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this
page.)