Posted on 03/22/2004 12:00:23 PM PST by Therapist
hen I tee off at the L.P.G.A. Tour's first major of the season, the Kraft Nabisco Championship in Rancho Mirage, Calif., later this week, I'll be wearing a new sponsor's logo on my hat and shirt. This is hardly news in the world of sports, where sponsorships and logos are entrenched in the profession, but I'm pretty sure my circumstances will generate some clubhouse chatter.
You see, my sponsor, Olivia, is one of the world's largest and most respected companies catering to lesbian travelers, and this represents the first time a company like this has sponsored a professional athlete — a gay professional athlete.
Before they signed me I was a passenger on an Olivia cruise, and over time I developed a relationship with the owners. When they came to me a few weeks ago with this wild idea, I took it seriously.
What professional athletes wouldn't want a lucrative relationship with a company they believed in — particularly one with a complementary social mission? I was not so naïve as to think that this was the only factor in my decision-making process.
Inherent in this sponsorship is my coming out. It's a bit of a curiosity, because I've never been in the closet. For more than 25 years, I've been very comfortable with the fact that I'm gay. I came out to my family when I was 19, and my friends and associates on the Tour are all aware that I am gay. I have never, until now, felt the need to discuss it in the news media. I have reached a point in my life, at age 44, when I have the financial stability and emotional and intellectual wherewithal to make this leap.
I know that coming out in today's politically supercharged environment surrounding gay issues has the potential to spin into something I do not intend.
I have strong feelings about gay and lesbian rights: I vote; I have my beliefs. I support causes and I support people, gay and straight, who have inspired me through the years. But first and foremost, I am a proud and blessed member of the L.P.G.A. and a professional athlete, not an activist.
One thing I love about golf is that it brings people together. A 250-yard drive down the middle of the fairway or a long putt for birdie doesn't have a political party, a race or a sexual orientation. For that moment, everything comes down to simple athletic ability, physics and the love of the game.
I've played and loved golf for more than three decades, and I've been in the L.P.G.A. for more than 20 years. It has given me a wonderful living and a demanding but stimulating schedule. I've had the opportunity to meet many remarkable people associated with golf.
I've talked to many of them about this opportunity over the last couple of weeks. I called family, friends, other players, business associates, mentors and L.P.G.A. staff members. Clearly it was not a decision I took lightly. To my delight, they all made it clear that they thought this was a great opportunity, and they encouraged me to go for it.
Many of them reminded me that times have changed. I wouldn't have this opportunity as an athlete and our society wouldn't be as liberated as it is if it weren't for all the professional athletes and so many others who have had the courage to come out of the closet. It certainly made my decision easier knowing that others had gone down this road before me. And all of their lives have been enriched as a result.
It is tremendously important that I consider my fans and how they may respond to this new chapter in my life. The support and the loyalty of my fans far exceeds anything I might have earned on the course. I count this as one of the true blessings in my life. The last thing I want to do is upset this balance.
Although I am proud of my 13 championships and know that I have a tremendously competitive spirit that keeps me in the running most of the time, this decision involves exposing those fans to a new facet of my life. That can be daunting.
As any gay person can tell you, coming out involves making yourself incredibly vulnerable. Every gay person knows other gay people who have been rejected by family or friends. It seems that the relationships that remain are inevitably stronger and more open as a result. I'm optimistic that my fans will see me as the same competitive, hard-working Rosie I've always been and respect this new aspect of my life as I respect their diversity.
I'm sure some people will criticize me for coming out so late. To them, I say simply, I wasn't ready until now. If the gay-rights movement is about anything, it should be about letting people come out on their own timetable and on their own terms.
I'm sure others will criticize me for coming out at all. I remind them that I'm the same person I was yesterday. This is just about me being myself, publicly. It is only one facet of a very diverse life. If they look around them, they will understand that society has evolved to the point where this is the right decision. For me.
To the rest of you, I say: "Fine, I'm gay. Now let's go play golf."
Rosie Jones, one of the best putters on the L.P.G.A. Tour, has 13 career victories.
I'd guess at least 50% of ALL female professional athletes are lesbians.
Next you'll be telling me that some pro tennis players are lesbians, too.
?
And to you, Rosie, I say, I don't care if you're Hibernian...just go play the game and keep your sex life to yourself.
Hey, there's always Helen Alfredsson.
There are some rumblings already about trans-gendered M2F types participating in professional sports. There are only two outcomes that I can forsee:
1) They let them into women's sports and that pretty much ends women's sports since, despite the Feminazi protestations to the contrary, the male musculature is stronger. So ends the sports component of Title IX.
2) They try to force the men's sports to take them and that will not be allowed since there is so much $$ on the line -- and in the end the market makes the call. The colleges that allow it will find themselves ostracised (agents will no longer scout there) and pro teams that allow it will have no fans.
This is soooo funny, I can't stand it!
What with the needlepoint and all. :o)
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