“This completely reads like they consider gay people some separate species who don’t exist in the sport” – Tennis fans react to ATP’s initiative promoting inclusion of LGBTQ+ community – Sportskeeda
In a bid to make the men’s tennis tour a more inclusive and better place, the ATP has launched a partnership with the non-profit organization ‘You Can Play’ to promote LGBTQ+ inclusion in the sport. The development came after the results of an LGBTQ+ survey conducted by the ATP among players. However, there were some startling observations from the survey, drawing varied reactions from tennis fans.
In a statement announcing the partnership and the findings of the survey, the ATP concluded that while there were “general positive attitudes of players towards gay people,” 75 percent of the 65 players who participated in the survey reported hearing the use of homophobic slurs from fellow players on tour.
“The survey identified social acceptance, conformity with social norms and banter as primary drivers of homophobic language use within tennis,” said an observation in the ATP statement.
While the intention of the survey was good and the eventual partnership with You Can Play is a step in the right direction, tennis fans on social media were miffed with some of the findings and observations that indicated the existence of a big problem.
“This completely reads like they consider gay people some separate species who don’t exist in the sport and certainly not in the locker room with them,” a fan wrote on Twitter, reacting to one of the observations.