ATLANTA – A click of a box on Joey Fisher’s Facebook page altered life for the University of Georgia hockey goalie — he had changed the “Interested In” box in his profile from “Women” to “Men.” The junior sociology major, who had been openly gay to his friends and family since his teens but never to his college teammates, might as well have shouted out his sexual orientation during practice. “News like that travels fast,” said Fisher, who was part of a panel discussion held in conjunction with the men’s Final Four weekend in Atlanta to raise awareness of the challenges gays face in college and professional sports. “We know the odds are very likely that at least a handful of these players are gay, lesbian, or transgender,” said Joe Solomonese, president of The Human Rights Campaign, one of the groups that sponsored the event. The panel included former NBA player John Amaechi, former baseball player Billy Bean, and former NFL players David Kopay and Esera Tuaolo — four of the six male athletes from the four major North American sports who have publicly discussed their homosexuality. The men came out after retiring. Fisher said he was surprised that his team supported him when he came out last summer. “After coming out, I felt I could be more open with my teammates,” he said. “Life beforehand was definitely more challenging.” But prejudice against homosexuality remains in sports, panel members said. “If a team and coaches make a stand like they have for other civil rights issues, that will be a help,” said Bean, who played from 1987 to 1995 for the Detroit Tigers, Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. Pat Griffin, director of It Takes a Team! — a project of Billie Jean King’s Women in Sports Foundation — said college athletes seem to be more accepting of gay teammates than in the past. “I think young athletes in colleges are way ahead of their coaches,” Griffin said. “It’s really important the coaches catch up because they set the tone for the team.” Fisher said his university’s nondiscrimination policy, which includes sexual orientation, made him more comfortable “when it came time to come out,” and that his coaches and senior team members have provided leadership to the rest of the team on the issue of homosexuality. Such acceptance allows the 5-foot-11, 160-pound goalie to be just another part of the team when the Ice Dogs hit the ice. “It’s an escape from everyday life for a couple hours,” Fisher said of hockey. “You can forget about all the rest of the world and focus on that one goal of keeping the puck out of the net.”

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