Updated: Oct 26, 2005, 10:53 AM

Vote: What role do sports play?


Sheryl Swoopes has been one of the best, and most marketable, basketball players in the world for more than a decade, recently winning WNBA MVP honors at age 34 after averaging 18.6 points and 4.3 assists per game for the Houston Comets. But according to Swoopes, all that success came with a steep price when she had to keep secret the fact that she is gay.

That ended when Swoopes came out in an interview with ESPN the Magazine, but is the story just beginning?

What does it mean that Swoopes became the first superstar in American pro team sports to come out? Are sports a melting pot of ideas, or should this be a non-story? Will other athletes follow Swoopes' lead, and what about her assertion that male athletes may feel they have more to lose by coming out?
  • 1) Is this a big story?
  • 2) Will Swoopes' announcement prompt more athletes to come out?
  • 3) Are you surprised an athlete of Swoopes' stature came out while still active?
  • 4) Does Swoopes' announcement change your opinion of her?
  • 5) Will Swoopes' announcement make her any less marketable?
  • 6) What impact will Swoopes' announcement have on women's basketball?
  • 7) Are sports fans more tolerant of openly gay female athletes than male athletes?
  • 8) Would it bother you if the star of your favorite team came out?
  • 9) How long will it be until a star player in the NBA, NFL, NHL or MLB comes out?
  • 10) How would you rate the tolerance of sports fans compared to the general public?

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