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| Pictured: Someone brave Photo Credit: WWE.com |
Darren Young has officially announced that he is gay, via a three-minute video sent to TMZ.com. I believe this marks the first time an active worker has come out of the closet during tenure in a major wrestling company. Pat Patterson never came out publicly, and Chris Kanyon announced his sexual preference after his retirement. Young is the second male athlete to make his announcement this year. Jason Collins in the National Basketball Association came out of the closet earlier this year. Yeah, yeah, I know that wrestling isn't a "legitimate" sport, but the industry seems to have a lot of the same constraints of machismo and intolerance that team sports in America seem to have, so I'm counting it.
First thing's first, unlike Collins, a veteran at the tail end of his career, Young still very much has the rest of his in front of him. Furthermore, he is in the most visible wrestling company in the world, one that has not had the best record towards homosexuals in character at least. I cannot and will not speak to the backstage atmosphere, and the fact that Patterson held so much influence despite his sexuality being the worst kept secret in pro wrestling history might give me a little hope that Young will at least get protection from the front office. Again, I'm not going to speculate about the locker room because I don't know what anyone in that locker room thinks about gay people in general. However, if what Jonathan Coachman said about homosexuality in the locker room was correct, then Young probably has nothing to worry about professionally.
However, I fear what might happen the next time Young steps out in front of a wrestling crowd. As a heel, he's already predisposed to getting booed, but I'm afraid that he may end up getting some unsavory homophobic chants the first time he's got extended offense in a tag match. To be quite honest, I'm not really that afraid of the smart-ass-smart-mark dudes making ironic chants either. The Middle American crowds are the ones that I'm most afraid of, the ones in red states who listen to dudes like Mike Huckabee or Pat Robertson on the reg. I'm afraid I just made some leaps here, and I hope those generalizations are proven wrong. However, I feel like we're just starting out on the road towards acceptance of homosexuals in America, and that path is light years long, it seems.
Young's prospects in front of crowds or on tours don't even begin to take into account countries where he might not get such a favorable reaction from outside forces. Remember, Russia just passed laws banning open displays of homosexuality, and I'm pretty sure that they may not even let Young into the country the next time WWE heads over to the largest former Soviet republic. Young's sexuality will also keep him out of the Middle East, where they're about as tolerant towards the gays as I am towards wasps and yellow jackets who creep into my office. WWE is a truly global business, and if the backlash against him on international tours is as bad as I expect, then he might end up missing out on even going.
Those reasons are why this announcement is so huge, even if he played it off in the video as nonchalant. In a perfect world, yes, any announcement of homosexuality wouldn't be a big deal because to whom you are attracted is about as banal and private as you can get. However, years of religious stigma and intolerant societal infrastructure have made it that our vociferous support of men and women coming out of the closet is absolutely necessary. Because the hate is loud, we have to be louder in our applause.
However, while our applause is needed, WWE can make the strongest statement possible by being as nonchalant about it as Young is. As with any public announcement in wrestling, especially with WWE, people are already suspecting that this could be a work, or at least a real life announcement tied into a greater work. The worst thing WWE could do is change Young's character one bit to reflect his change in sexuality. He should still huddle up with Titus O'Neil and do the MILLIONS OF DOLLARS dance upon his entrance. He should still have the same character affectations and mannerisms. Nothing should change at all about his on-screen persona. Refusing to change the character would speak louder than any reaction, hateful or supportive, ever could.
Regardless of what happens, Young needs to be commended for his bravery in coming out. He's going to face roadblocks, but hopefully, they are easily circumnavigated for him. I doubt they will be, but hey, the best thing we as fans can do is support him the same as we did yesterday. Gay rights are a struggle everywhere, but we as wrestling fans are in the unique position of possibly being ahead of the curve. Let's set the example this time instead of lagging behind. Let's show the world that we're not all backwards in our mindsets and that we can accept one of our guys that we root for or boo but whose work we certainly enjoy as gay, even though the rest of society lags behind us for a change.