NFL
By: Brock Vierra
Kevin Maxen is the assistant strength and conditioning coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He is the first American pro sports coach to publicly announce that he is gay.
Now Maxen isn’t the first gay man to coach a professional team nor will he be the last. There is undoubtedly, a hidden history of queer men working in professional sports, especially in America.
It’s noted that several members of the Green Bay Packers front office were gay during the coaching tenure of Vince Lombardi, while many players have stated that they have had gay teammates. Lombardi himself coached a gay player Jerry Smith who came out after his playing career had ended.
Michael Sam made headlines when he came out before the 2014 NFL Draft. He would go on to be the first openly gay man drafted into the NFL and upon his selection, he kissed his partner on national television to the support of some and the dismay of others. Carl Nassib became the first openly gay man to play in both an NFL regular season game and an NFL playoff game during the 2022-2023 season.
Queer people have come a long way in the world in the fight for equal rights and representation, but the battle has just begun and is not over by a long shot. Keep in mind that Sam was drafted less than 10 years ago.
Though in modern society, it is socially acceptable for the most part to be a member of the LGBTQI2S+ community, it still isn’t a safe thing to be queer.
Queer people in this country have had and continue to face a variety of prejudices that have not only hindered their ability to operate as a person in society, but their ability to exist.
I am 24 years old. I have multiple family members that are queer, I have friends, co-workers, and acquaintances that are queer. Had this been 20 years ago, it would’ve been a crime for them to get married. Had it been 10 years ago, it would be a coin flip dependent on the state you live in.
So it didn’t necessarily shock me with the amount of “who cares” stated by individuals under the social media posts that broke the news. Let’s be real, there’s a variety of people who do not care about the barriers broken around this country.
Just look around the MLB on Jackie Robinson Day. We’ve seen drag queens be put under attack, pride parades be deemed as “unnecessary” by straight individuals, and a whole host of actions to diminish the achievements of queer people around the country.
Many want to act like being queer isn’t a big thing anymore and that it’s now a normal part of society, but kids are still thrown on the street for coming out, bullied for living their realities, and face a higher threat of being sexually assaulted or killed for their sexual orientation.
My home state of Hawaii was so angered that same-sex couples would dare challenge the State of Hawaii’s refusal to issue a marriage license to anyone besides straight people in 1993 that in 1994, Hawaii enacted a statute banning gay marriage, and in November of 1998, the people of Hawaii voted overwhelmingly to put in a constitutional amendment that specifically banned same-sex marriage. To put this in the context of time, I was born less than two months after this occurred.
I will never forget as a guy growing up in Hawaii, watching the anti-gay movements that took protesters to the streets. I won’t forget the struggles that the people I loved had to face. Oh and before you say this was a long time ago, one of the leading voices of that constitutional amendment was Mike Gabbard. Gabbard continues to fight against same-sex marriage as he serves as a member of the Hawaii State Senate. His daughter Tulsi was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Hawaii’s 2nd district. She also ran for President in 2020.
Kevin Maxen is just one guy who is trying to do his job the best he can and live his life in the way he knows how. The issue is that people exist who are trying to stop that. Now homophobia in sports may be on a downward turn but it still exists and until we get to a point where barriers are no longer things to knock down, it is important to celebrate it when they do. We must honor the work and achievements of the past while still pushing forward against opposition.
For me, I am a straight man who sits behind a computer. I’ve never had to worry about losing my life because of who I am. I will never forget watching the film Paris is Burning. I will never forget Venus Xtravaganza. She was a drag performer in New York City who murdered in 1988 at the age of 23 because she dared to live as she was meant to.
That is why we keep fighting. That is why Kevin Maxen needs to live his dreams while simultaneously living his truth. We should not have to dare to live as we are. So we celebrate every victory and we do not give up after any defeat because in 2013, Hawaii legalized same-sex marriage and the U.S. Supreme Court would follow suit in 2015.
We fight for players and coaches like Michael Sam, Carl Nassib, and Kevin Maxen, because people like Jerry Smith didn’t have enough people fighting for him. When I was 23, it was the best year of my life. I made so many memories, went on so many adventures and I lived my truth, something Venus Xtravaganza never got to do.
I made it to 24, but she didn’t. She mattered. Representation matters. In sports, in society, and life. We should be free to pursue all for which we want to be so when someone says “who cares,” I care and this is why.
