Caitlyn Jenner and the meaning of courage
The latest buzz over Caitlyn Jenner is finally dying down, more than two weeks after ESPN presented the 1976 Olympic gold-medalist turned LGBT activist with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYS, one of the highest honors in all of sports.
Jenner moved many, including herself, to tears with her acceptance speech. “Trans people deserve something vital,” she said. “They deserve your respect.”
Most of us can agree that Jenner deserves respect. But does she deserve the Arthur Ashe award?
The news of the award polarized sportswriters, media personalities, and bloggers everywhere. While many saw the decision as an important step toward getting the public to fully comprehend transgender struggles, others rolled their eyes at the idea of a millionaire MTV star dealing with those struggles, trans or not.
Critics accused ESPN of choosing Jenner as a way to maximize ratings for the ESPYS program, allowing her fame to overshadow more-deserving nominees whose stories better exemplify courage in sports.
In particular, many were outrage that the award did not go to college student Lauren Hill, who played basketball for her school, worked as an assistant coach, and raised over a million dollars in cancer researching before succumbing to the disease herself on April 10.
“Make no mistake, what Caitlyn did was courageous,” said Kevin Frazier on Entertainment Tonight. “But Lauren’s journey was not about glamour or publicity.”
Some even believe ESPN partnered with E! Network to promote Jenner’s upcoming reality show, I Am Cait. Described by Jenner as a platform aid to transgender youth, the series will likely echo much of what was said during her speech Wednesday night.
“It’s a tabloid play,” said sportswriter Bob Costas on The Dan Patrick Show.
However, ESPN has also seen a lot of support, not all of which can be dismissed as reality show fandom.
Michael Waterloo is an editor for FlipSide PA – as Google describes “an entertainment website covering the fun side of life.” Waterloo hates sensationalism as much as the next guy – he frequently refers to ESPN in his blogs as the “TMZ of sports” – but he also believes that negating Jenner’s struggles simply because she is rich and famous violates journalistic integrity.
In a recent article, Waterloo consulted the dictionary for the true definition of CAITLYN JENNER (left) speaks at the ESPYS in July upon accepting the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. In 1976, Jenner (then Bruce, right) won the gold medal in the decathalon at the Olympics in Montreal. Jenner began her transition from male to female earlier this year. courage: “The strength to do something that frightens one.”
He reminded readers that although the hurdles of sick and disabled athletes are real and serious, some of the greatest struggles people face are not so visible or easily understood from an outside perspective.
“It’s not the same type of courage that former United States Army soldier Noah Galloway, who lost most of his left arm and leg only to become a runner, displays,” wrote Waterloo. “But why do we have to quantify or compare courage?”
Even to concede that Jenner’s experience is a form of courage doesn’t mean that LGBT struggles necessarily have any place in a sports awards show.
However, many social activists see a crucial need for reform not just in schools, but on the playing field, too. Helen J. Carrol, sports project director for the National Center for Lesbian Rights, believes it was the “double factor of homophobia and sexism” that that cost Baylor University a championship win in 2013.
Team star Brittney Griner, a lesbian, was not playing her best. The previous year, Griner led Baylor with 26 points to win the same gam. This time around, she was struggling to play in the wake of a sad realization: “At Baylor, she was not allowed to be out publicly,” said Carrol in an interview for Refinery 29, a news magazine for women.
A shortage of lesbian coaches likely subtracts from the sense of community LGBT players like Griner need, Carrol believes.
Division I of Women’s NCAA does not sport a single outed coach.
“In 2015, that’s just archaic,” said Carrol. “The players are not going to feel like they can be out.”
Her senior year, Griner did not feel like a team player. She felt very alone.
So did Jason Collins, who, by the time of his retirement in 2014, was the only openly gay athlete to play in the NBA, NHL, NFL, or MLB. Collins only wishes situations like Jenner’s weren’t courageous.
He told Sports Illustrated: “When we get to the point where a gay pro athlete is no longer forced to live in fear that he’ll be shunned by teammates or outed by tabloids, when we get to the point where he plays while his significant other waits in the family room, when we get to the point where he’s not compelled to hide his true self and is able to live an authentic life, then coming out won’t be such a big deal. But we’re not there yet.”
Unlike Collins, most gay athletes do not come out until after retirement – and for good reason.
Some former NFL stars you probably had no idea were gay: Wade Davis, Kwame Harris, Roy Simmons, Esera Tuaolo.
Regardless, coming back to the ESPYS the Arthur Ashe award does not seem contingent on a strong sports element. ESPN’s website describes a rightful recipient as someone “possessing strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril, and the willingness to stand up for beliefs no matter what the cost.”
Whether or not Jenner lives up to that description is questionable, but not out of the question.