Sports: Air Force Academy Football Player Comes Out
(Photo Credits: Screengrab from Bradley Kim Instagram)
Bradley Kim, a defensive back at the Air Force Academy, came out publicly as gay in a post he shared in his Instagram account last Friday. He is said to be the first active football player at a service academy to do so.
Prior to his coming out in public, Kim already came out to his parents, Air Force teammates as well as his former high school teammates, various coaches, etc. and he said he received tremendous amount of support. And when he came out to his fellow defensive backs in their team, Kim said he received a standing ovation.
Kim revealed that self-acceptance seemed impossible when he was in high school and coming out? Even more so; in fact, for a long time he suffered from self-torment thinking that he has to “pretend like he’s someone else” but in the end, the need to be true to himself was stronger.
Kim told Outsports he hopes that by coming out to the public he’ll be able to reach out to those who are in similar situations struggling with the same things he had struggled with. “I want to be that example for kids that you can be gay, you can pursue your dreams, and you can have an athletic career.” He added, “My dreams got me to a D1 football program. I want to be there for people who don’t feel like they have anyone there for them, because I was that kid growing up in high school.”
Further, Kim admitted that he spent “too many years worrying what other people will think” and “letting it affect” what he does in his daily life but now he said he is done with that. “It doesn’t affect my ability to play football. It doesn’t affect my ability to serve my country. No one cares here. We all go through the same thing, we all go through basic training. What we go through going through the Academy goes way deeper than worrying about what someone will think.”
Air Force public affairs on the other hand, released a statement to The Colorado Springs Gazette, “The academy strives to foster a culture where everyone gives and receives dignity and respect so that each individual has the opportunity to fulfill their potential.”
Having said that, any Adam4Adam members reading this article who are/were athletes at school? Did you come out to your teammates? And for everyone, what is your very own coming out story (if there is one)?
Share with us your thoughts and stories in the comments section below.
Inspiring story. I hope more football players come out this season!
Coming out is a passe cliche. Coming out used to be about sexual identity, but that that has been trounced and now coming out is a political stance. It means that you’re bigoted against and intolerant of anyone who disagrees with you. I’m a man who fucks men and everyone in my life knows that, but I have never done the BS of “coming out as gay” because to me that would be like being African-American and “coming out as a slave”.
Okay, Matt is it passé or is it cliché? Not sure what is worse your grammar or your constant ignorant attitude, every day a rant on every post. EVERYBODY here gets moderated (I’ve been moderated), get over yourself! last few blogs you just whine about how unfair it is if you ‘disagree.’ Disagree ALL you want, and expect that if you start cursing and calling others out, then it isn’t hypocritical (nor ironic) that others call you out about how you represent yourself. I have seen SEVERAL guys comment about HOW you say WHAT you say and TODAY is a good example:
YOU make YOURSELF a TARGET when you write IGNORANT and BIGOTED statements (like the above, African Americans “coming out as slaves” in 1863 slavery was abolished in the US). Do you have ANY concept of how insanely ignorant and deeply toxic your comment makes you sound? While slavery wasn’t something one chose, it is certainly NOT comparable to SEXUALITY as an orientation, capacity, or preference. One might CHOOSE to do something sexual, however, scientist still debate the Nature vs Nurture argument. I follow the mixed up logic that no one ‘chooses to be a slave” by why bring African Americans into the fray? Other groups have been slaves, why them? Other groups have been marginalized, so why do you marginalize a group even more? Jumping to extreme points when stating opinion isn’t necessary. You could have made the same point by simply being THOUGHTFUL, CONSCIENTIOUS, and RELEVANT.
What you say here is often really interesting and funny, however, I wonder do you ever read what others like Lamar, Matt (Black), Marcus, or HungBlackTop4Fun (or others) have shared about what it is like to be Black and gay? Plenty of people come out because they are NOT afraid to claim their sexuality, and I know many who are NOT bigoted or intolerant of others who don’t come out too, therefore, your post is a fallacy, and the last sentence was not worthy of your obvious intellect. I’m not African American, and I cannot imagine what life has been for them if they live in the sublimely bigoted US, but HERE, THEY are my BROTHERS. Some guy went off on you a couple of blogs ago, I thought he was harsh, but deep down, I agreed with his point. Normally, I would come to the underdog’s defense, however, it often seems the things you say are meant to denigrate others. I enjoy the Blogs, and I appreciate that the moderators are attempting to bring more respectful discussion. Sometimes it turns into a terse debate, but debates aren’t won by who shouts the loudest or gets the most rude, in fact there is no judge here, so really there is no winning, so it just ends being disrespectful. I don’t believe men like us, men who know what it is like to be discriminated against for something we cannot change, would want to be unkind to others. So, perhaps it is time WE start putting some consideration into how we communicate here. Surely, we can speak our minds, and still treat each other with the courtesy and respect reserved for our BROTHERS too. Just a suggestion. -HL
Why do we continue to make a big deal out of men coming out? He is just another one of many that do this everyday. So he is a football player he serves in our military and will become an officer one day. The big deal is what?
Many gay men do good things. We all are not low life whores running around spreading hiv and std’s to everyone that will take our cock or fill our ass respectfully. To point out that a sports star, actor or a person in the spotlight demeans the rest of us. We are all humans being gay makes us no different or better than anyone.
Being able to be opently gay or lesbian in the military is a very recent development. From time to time investigators would go and find as many gay people as possible and have them discharged. The Navy was known for being the most aggressive in this respect, while the Army Medical Corps was one of the most tolerant. We now have a President who is doing his best to make the military straight again. People such as this athlete can inspire others to have the courage to not hide their true selves while they serve. It will be at least a generation before gays are fully accepted in the military culture. Those who have never been in the military can’t really understand this, and those who have will understand it.
He said it, “No one cares…”
I’d tackle him daily! He wouldn’t be a tight end for long.
Why is this even a story? He wont get the chance to play in the nfl. There are a few of you that will say yes he will and I say to you no he wont. Name one player in the nfl that’s a star that has told the world he gay? Do I think there gay players in the nfl hell yea. There not willing to risk loosening money over being gay. Sorry to say things but he will be another player not getting drafted to play in the nfl.
Here we go! Every time there is a coming out story, I see the “is he in the NFL”, or “Is he waving a flag?”. I saw this story and I wanted you to post it. He seems a cool guy, a regular Joe, in the military, plays Football for the Air Force, talented, and handsome, … so there it is, he also has the cCOURAGE to be himself and share it publicly. Perhaps he will be the trend setter that makes it easier for others to just be themselves! Thanks for posting Dave!
…more importantly, is he single? 🙂
Very proud of this brave and handsome young man! Bravo!!!
Well whoopie. Next!!!
Well, I think it matter’s to him, specifically, as it should. I also think its more about the ,oppressive- ignorance, all too often confronted in his chosen and rather “masculine” defined field of professionalism.
What’s “cliché” Matt, is that it apparently is a big deal, that we as gay men are just like African Americans; still breaking new ground, as such; it is and always was political, as its about freedom, its just that we know it for sure now.
He’s broadening the path of the ‘few and far in between’, previous path-finders have set, making it easier for more whom want to find the strength to not be intimidated and fearful.
Just for diversity of opinion, I am a gay, honorably discharged Navy veteran. I played by the rules while I was in, e.g., I did not “come out” and I refrained from engaging in sexual behavior with other men.
I strongly oppose compromising the U.S. military warrior culture, which was in place for centuries.
The 8 years of the maobama regime were an unmitigated disaster in my opinion. Maobama’s contempt for the military was repeatedly demonstrated, e.g., the hollowing out of units, programs, and budgets, the Bergdahl deal, the Manning commutation, the compromising of the warrior culture to accommodate a feminist/sexual deviancy mindset, and the purging of high-ranking officers who opposed maobama’s stupid, failed policies.
I support President Trump’s efforts to undo just about everything maobama did.
Trump is just plain dumb, what a joke of a ‘reality tv star’ of a president we have lmao! The problem here is that if you come out of the closet in the military or in the workforce shouldn’t be grounds for discrimination, yes, not everybody wants to announce their sexuality 24/7, but in a ‘free country’ that we live in, I find it plain dumb and bigoted to have sexual orientation grounds for open discrimination. They may as well say “we don’t like gays” out in the open then.
If you had respect for the military, then you’d have respect for the commander in chief too. Just say names correctly and cut out all the underlying hyperbole and dishonor.
The Greeks had a real and true warrior culture and were smart enough to see a man’s love for a man as a positive. Alexander the great was not afraid to love a man and if you are truly who you say you are, then there is nothing wrong with you being both a veteran and gay, so how did our military miss that possibility unless it is based on false pretense?
Trump doesn’t care one way or another what happens to you, the military industrial complex, or this nation – we are simply pawns in the “super elite richie’s” game … I get Obama was a pushover and many of his failed policies were based on appeasing the other side of the aisle, but at least that man did something. As someone who has served, I fully see a leader as someone who takes a stand and lives by it, yet that definition makes Obama the leader that Trump could never be. Also, leaders should DO, not make excuses or blame their predecessors. It doesn’t work in the military and it is not something I will accept from a POTUS!
Another candidate for the Human Rights Watch high-end upscale A-list gay on the Board and/or speaker circuit. How come we see no native American living on reservation without electricity or phone having their coming out celebrated? Can you say Gay Classism, and I don’t mean Classicism either. Yuck.
I was an Air Force officer, and I knew I was gay when I joined. There were only two things I really feared encountering in the event of going into combat: chemical/biological weapons, and being shot in the back by a bigoted soldier who thought he had the God-given right to do it. Thankfully our culture is changing for the better. There has been more than one situation where operational readiness has been affected by gays and lesbians being hunted out and discharged. We love our country as much as any straight person, and often work twice as hard to prove ourselves.