Dear Antiseptic,

Here we go again - down to personal attacks.
Never attacking the argument, always attacking
the arguers! Hypocrites? Dear oh dear!
Raise the bar on your own thread Anti, and don't
waste time on personal shots - they're so lame,
and tend to display intellectual bankruptcy.
Stick to the topic - and present your arguments.
It's more impressive. Otherwise you appear to
be out of your depth in these discussions.
I assume you'd prefer to be taken seriously.

Anyway, once again, just to remind you:

Akermanis stated quite clearly that gays should
stay in the closet. And that's all Akermanis has
a problem with! I'm actually beginning to wonder
if this is all a smokescreen - and perhaps he's
gay? (not that there's anything wrong with that).
He didn't say that he was against gays in sports -
merely that they should stay in the closet.

Think about it... expand your thinking!
Perhaps there's a reason why he wants gays to
remain in the closet for more personal reasons?
Why does he dye his hair blonde (and not his
facial hair)? How does he inter-act with the other
guys? This could be a bigger issue! ;-)

Foxy,

Jason Akermanis is married to Megan Legge who has given him two beautiful daughters, Charlotte (born 2005) and Sienna (born 2008).

http://www.zimbio.com/pictures/F4uvkWVUJWU/Celebrities+Attend+Emirates+Stakes+Day+2009

Foxy, you're being hypocritical here for several reasons:
1. You are happy to condone segregation of ablution facilities based on gender but not on expressed sexuality.
2. You accuse Akermanis of homophobia then, as an insult, turn around and accuse him of being latently gay.
3. you accuse me of "persona; attacks" when there have been several pages from you and the rest of the nitwitterati that contain nothing but personal attacks on me and on Akermanis
4. You constantly play the victim while hiding behind an "appeal to popularity" to make nasty personal attacks on others
5. you accuse me of "attacking the arguers, not the arguments", but you have not put forward an argument, merely childish innuendo and insult, while I have put forward a coherent and cogent argument that you continue to ignore in favour of said puerility. That might play well with the kiddies on their library tours, but it won't wash here.

Now, would you like to have a go at the topic, or are you going to continue with the grade 5 innuendo?

Cornflower, don't confuse the poor things with facts, you know how that confuses their pre3judices...

AKER is quite right.

He says he is uncomfortable about those who are OPENly gay ..

REASON ? should be obvious..if you know they are gay you will feel an awareness that they might be ogling you. If you don't know.. you won't have that awareness, perhaps you would only detect such behavior if it became more overt and noticable, in which case, with or without the 'public proclamation' you would still feel uncomfortable.

So.. homing in (Pericles) on the "only If I know" aspect is rather flimsy I feel.

Knowledge or orientation leads to a change in perception of others. Aker would still feel uncomfortable about being perved at by a man...it's as simple as that.
So would I...eeeeuuuuwwwwww one might say. The "openly" gay bloke in the locker room would definitely cause discomfort rather than the sly one you have to 'bust' eying you off. One he is busted.. you would have the same feeling. yuk.

The word 'homoPHOBIA' means an 'irrational' fear.. this is not about fear ..it is A)rational and B)NOT about fear as much as plain comfort zone.

You will not feel uncomfortable because you are 'afraid' but because you are ANNOYED about being leered at by men who have an unnatural and devient sexual fascination with male body parts and orifices.

Unfortunately, for even writing that last sentence, a person could be jailed in the UK. So..this is a very important debate.

GLASGOW, April 1, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – An American street preacher has been arrested and fined £1000 in Glasgow for telling passersby, in answer to a direct question, that homosexual activity is a sin. Shawn Holes was kept in jail overnight on March 18, and in the morning pled guilty to charges that he had made “homophobic remarks…aggravated by religious prejudice.”

NOTICE THIS "in answer to a direct QUESTION"....

Charges were dropped later.. because it is clear he was not 'irrationally fearful' of gays.
Be afraid.. be very afraid (Maurice Strong is coming:) OR.. YOU CAN VOTE THESE SCUMBAGS OUT! and CHANGE THE LAW-2 ELECTIONS COMING UP.

ALGOREisRICH:".if you know they are gay you will feel an awareness that they might be ogling you."

Quite so. I womder how many people here would knowingly shake hands with their garbo without going and washing them afterwards, but happily shake hands with all sorts of people in ignorance of what they might have been doing a few minutes before.

Knowledge changes perceptions.

I'm still interested in the reason that so many people feel that Akermanis's comfort and presumably that of others who feel similarly is so unworthy of consideration. Is anyone prepared to have a go at that?

In many workplaces, a claim that the behaviour, especially sexualised behaviour of a fellow emplyee makes one "uncomfortable" can lead to action against the other employee, up to and including dismissal. Why should that principal not apply to football? A footballer who declares as gay is making a statement about his sexuality which is highly inappropriate in the context of a roomful of men who have every right to feel comfortable and relaxed with each other's presence in a vulnerable situation - naked in the shower.

I think you'd have to be pretty insecure about your sexuality if you're worried that some other guy is looking at you with sexual interest, clothed or otherwise. Men who like to spend time together naked should just assume that some of their peers are gay, because some of them undoubtedly are, whether or not they're out of the closet.