Wrestlers Come Out As Allies

David Lalo, Anthony Buxton and Steven Keith [l to r] 

There are few sports with a more macho image than wrestling, and yet there are many wrestlers who are openly LGBTQ-friendly. Hudson Taylor comes to mind first and foremost, but he has some gay-ally competition coming after him in the Harvard wrestling team.

Last Tuesday, on National Coming Out Day, before their afternoon practice, members of the Harvard varsity wrestling team posed for a picture on the steps in front of the Malkin Athletic Center. But rather than wear\their wrestling uniforms in this photo, the team chose to come in gay pride attire and rainbow pins that read “Proud Ally.”

Harvard College Queer Students and Allies co-president Emma Wang said that this year her group wanted to emphasize the importance of coming out as an ally: “Sometimes it’s difficult to be very vocal as an ally. We want them to feel included because they play such an important role.”

According to Harvard wrestler David Lalo, it was a non-resident tutor Robert Joseph “RJ” Jenkins, who inspired the team to participate in National Coming Out Day: “[R.J.] has made a tremendous impact across our team...[and]...we wanted to show him we support the LGBT community.”

Jenkins, who is openly gay, said that he casually brought up the idea of wearing the pins one day while speaking with several athletes in the Lowell dining hall and was pleasantly surprised when they responded positively to his proposal: “I started to imagine it as an opportunity for them to come out as allies. To think about a day for allies to come out and say, ‘I accept these people in my life. I accept them for who they are.’”

The team decided that their close friendship with Jenkins was the guiding force in coming out as LGBTQ allies. Steven Keith wore a shirt that read, “Some Kids R Gay. That’s OK.” Others wore shirts that rad: "Some dudes marry dudes. Get over it."

Timothy P. McCarthy, director of the Sexuality, Gender, and Human Rights program at Harvard, remembers a time when LGBTQ students at Harvard faced a lot of stigma, and he sees this display of solidarity between the wrestling team and LGBTQ students as a major step forward.

RJ Jenkins believes the wrestling team, and other athletes, could become the new leaders in efforts to combat discrimination against LGBTQ-identified individuals. And it's nice to see anyone come forward as an ally to the gay community, but it's even more promising when those allies come from the world of sports, which has often been considered a very homophobic group.

Perhaps the Harvard wrestling team can help hange that.

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