Americans More Accepting Of Gay Athletes.

In the most recent national opinion study by Witeck-Combs Communications and Harris Interactive, nearly two-thirds (65%) of all Americans state that they would not change their opinions of ‘favorite’ male or female professional athletes if the athletes revealed they are gay or lesbian. Ironically, when also asked how they think ‘other sports fans would feel’ toward an openly gay or lesbian sports figure, about eight out of ten (78%) believe that ‘others’ would have less favorable
opinions.

“In many tests of public opinion, when Americans are asked about their own discriminatory feelings — it’s not unusual to hear them say that they,themselves, are more tolerant than others,” said Bob Witeck, CEO of Witeck-Combs Communications. “In this instance, however, the gap seems remarkably wide between one’s own views and those prejudices thought to be held by other people.”

“When it comes to openly gay sports figures, this gap suggests a couple of possibilities,” according to Witeck. “First, it may be that individuals decide to conceal their true attitudes towards gay sports figures, and thereby, appear more socially tolerant by projecting discriminatory views on the ‘general public.’ Or perhaps sports fans are more accepting than we realized, and the perception of public stigma or bigotry is possibly much greater than the reality.”

Public acceptance of openly gay athletes, however, seems apparent through the responses of a separate survey question that asked individuals to choose a label or use a word to describe an active, popular male athlete who reveals that he is gay. Three-quarters (76%) of all responses used positive expressions and labels, such as ‘honest,’ ‘being himself,’ ‘courageous,’ ‘heroic’ or ‘fair-minded.’ Only a third (32%) of all responses relied on negative and critical expressions such as ‘sad,’ ‘publicity-seeking,’ ‘perverted,’ ‘militant,’ ‘disrespectful,’ ‘sinful,’ ‘amoral,’ ‘sick/mentally unstable,’ or other similar adjectives.(1) Not surprisingly, almost half of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) respondents in the sample said they would have a ‘favorable’ opinion of any athlete, male or female, who disclose their sexual orientation as gay or lesbian.

These are highlights of a nationwide Witeck-Combs Communications/Harris Interactive study of 2,191 adults, of whom about six percent (6%) self-identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (GLBT). The survey was conducted online between July 23 and 29, 2002 by Harris Interactive, a worldwide market research and consulting firm, in conjunction with Witeck-Combs Communications, Inc., a strategic public relations and marketing communications firm with special expertise in the GLBT market.

“Clearly, the ‘last closet’ — the door to the locker room — is opening up, as these findings underscore,” said Dan Woog, author of the upcoming ‘Jocks 2: Coming Out To Play,’ sequel to his first title on gays in sports, ‘Jocks.’

“Americans understand that gay men and lesbians are truly everywhere, and the world continues to rotate. The biggest problem, it turns out, is not homophobia, but perhaps the perceived negative reaction of others — fans, sportswriters and sponsors.”

Americans’ responses to this survey also revealed noteworthy distinctions in fan attitudes surrounding popular team sports and individual athletic competition. Large numbers of respondents(2) believe that fans for major team sports, such as football (64%), ice hockey (61%), rugby (55%), basketball (48%), and baseball (46%) would be ‘not accepting at all’ of openly declared gay, lesbian and bisexual competitors.

On the other hand, far fewer adults believe that fans of individual sports, such as swimming (10%), diving (9%), gymnastics (9%), as well as figure skating (8%) or tennis (8%) would be ‘not accepting at all’ of openly gay, lesbian or bisexual athletes.

Bob Witeck adds, “While team vs. individual sports appears to be a possible factor shaping fans’ perceptions about GLBT athletes, there may be other considerations such as television or other media exposure.” He concluded, “How aggressive or ‘macho’ a sport or competition is perceived may also change varying impressions among fans about gay and lesbian competitors.” For instance, NASCAR auto racing was the only individual sport that registered as strongly as team sports, with almost half (55%) of all respondents saying that they believe these fans would be ‘not accepting at all’ of openly gay or lesbian participants.

“Americans seem to have strong views about their favorite athletes, and that seems just as evident in the opinions we’ve tapped concerning gay and lesbian athletes,” stated David Krane, senior vice president, Harris Interactive. “These findings may be helpful not only to individual athletes and their followers, but also to sports franchises, team owners and corporate sponsors who constantly seek to learn how public opinion is evolving.”

Notes on reading tables GLBT refers to gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender respondents. The percentage of respondents has been included for each item. An asterisk (*) signifies a value of less than one-half percent. A dash represents a value of zero. Percentages may not always add up to 100% because of computer rounding or the acceptance of multiple answers from respondents answering that question.

To view charts CLICK above on ‘More Images’.

Methodology

This study was conducted online within the United States between July 23 and 29, 2002, among a nationwide cross section of 2,191 adults. Figures for age, sex, race, education, region and income were weighted where necessary to bring them into line with their actual proportions in the population. “Propensity score” weighting was also used to adjust for respondents’ propensity to be online.

In theory, with a probability sample of this size, one can say with 95 percent certainty that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 2 percentage points of what they would be if the entire adult population
had been polled with complete accuracy. However, this is not a probability sample.

For more information at http://www.witeckcombs.com