Breaking the Silence: Lesbian Fans, the Internet, and the Sexual Politics of Women's Sport

Abstract

Women who play sports are often conflated as “lesbian.” Thus, athletes, coaches, and administrators in women's sport are constrained to never speak of the lesbians who play and work in sport. The injunction against speech keeps lesbians in the closet and controls all women in sport who must constantly monitor their appearance, behavior, and speech to ensure that they project an appropriately heterosexual image. The code of silence is, typically, justified by the assertion that fans and sponsors would abandon women's sport if lesbian participants were vocal and/or visible. Traditional media support the injunction to silence. They rarely speak of lesbians, and when they do, they typically marginalize and sensationalize lesbian participants. The authors analyze two threads of discussion on an Internet newsgroup devoted to women's basketball. The results indicate that the Internet offers fans a chance to challenge the code of silence and that contributors to this newsgroup are supportive of lesbians in sport.