Just last week, NFL superstar and rising LGBT ally, Brendon Ayanbadejo told the Baltimore Sun that, “At least four more NFL players were preparing to come out as gay.” Although that day may still come, MediaTakeOut has now stirred up speculation that Kerry Rhodes may be one of the league’s closeted players.
Yesterday, the webloid posted private vacation pictures of a man that appeared to be Rhodes getting extra friendly with another man in a tropical paradise.
MTO released no other details about the photos and there has yet to be any confirmation that it is Rhodes in the photos. The alleged man does bear a striking resemblance to the NFL star.
With no concrete information about the photos, we’re left to come up with our own assumptions about Rhodes’ sexuality. On one hand, if this is Rhodes, there’s the real possibility that the man he’s embracing is simply a close friend and that the two were enjoying a few laughs together. On the other hand, these could be intimate photos of Rhodes and his lover.
In any case, we won’t really know until Rhodes himself provides an answer, which he may never do. What is also true is that despite our culture’s ever-progressing outlook on the LGBT community, coming out of the closet is an extremely personal experience that comes with the risk of ostracism and emotional trauma. Being ripped from the closet can make that risk even more real and devastating, especially for someone in the public eye in a traditionally homophobic field of work.
Perhaps this is Rhodes’ coming out moment. We would hope that, if it is, it would be of his own will, like the four unknown NFL stars who may decide to come out in the future.
However, this wouldn’t be the first time that a star has been ripped out of the closet. Check out some other stars that were outed below. – nicholas robinson
