It Takes A Team! Director Pat Griffin interviewed out swimmer Andrew Langenfeld. Langenfeld is a junior at Purdue University.
What school do you attend and what sport do you play?
I’m a swimmer and from 2005-May 2007 I attended West Virginia University and then transferred to Purdue University in the fall of 2007.
How did you come out to your teammates? Your coaches? I came out to my teammates very slowly at the end of my freshman year of college. I found a good friend on the team, explained to them my situation and then just waited for the word to get out. By the time my sophomore year came around everyone knew, more or less, and from that point out whenever anyone asked I wouldn’t deny it. At the end of my freshman year I also went to Panera with my coach and sat down and talked about my situation as a gay athlete. He was very receptive and accepting. Here at Purdue I haven’t officially come out to my coaches, but I am out to my teammates, so I’m sure that my coaches know or have some idea. They seem to be supportive and accepting to this “inkling.”
How does your experience of competing as an openly GBLT athlete compare to competing while closeted? I feel that I am training and competing better, as well as just being a happier person. I’m truly enjoying my experience now at 100 percent. Now that I don’t need to hide my true identity I can focus more on my swimming, instead of whether someone will suspect that I’m gay or worrying about being rejected by teammates. I feel now that I’m truly balanced. I can now focus completely on the tasks in front of me, instead of having this insecurity in the back of my mind of someone finding out about my sexuality.
What do your teammates/coaches do to support and include you as an openly LGBT teammate? My teammates have been amazing. I’ve been blessed to be around such great guys that are completely inclusive of me and my other out teammates. They ask great questions and if they say something that might be slightly offensive, they try to learn about why it’s wrong and show remorse. It’s been amazing to see how some of them grow by being around diversity.
Have you had any negative experiences in athletics since coming out?
For the most part my experiences have been positive, but I remember at WVU after I had come out whenever I would become good friends with another guy, people would question as to whether or not we were together. I started to hang out with one of the guys on the team, and we became great friends and hung out a lot, but people on the team started talking behind our backs about us being “together,” which was farthest from the truth. My friend was upset about it, and we stopped hanging out so much.
What advice do you have for other LGBT athletes who are thinking about coming out to their coaches or teammates? The best piece of advice I have is to be sure of yourself and what you’re about to do. If you’re confident about this step you’re about to take, you will be able to handle any reaction you may get. If you know of a teammate that is very open and you feel comfortable talking about it with them confidentially first, maybe they can help you down the road with your coming-out process. The most important thing is to be safe and take things slowly. After you tell someone and they are positive and accepting about it, you will want to start to tell everyone right away, but I still feel that baby steps are the best way to tackle this.
How can teammates and coaches best support LGBT team members? I feel that teammates and coaches can be most supporting by making the atmosphere as inclusive as possible, by limiting statements about “sissies, fags, etc.” Common courtesy to everyone is appreciated, and being mature in speech and action goes a long way and can help people from feeling excluded.
What initiatives has your school taken to make athletics a safe and respectful place for LGBT athletes and coaches? Here at Purdue we have started a student-athlete-led GLBT group called “Our Group.” We are in the beginning stages, but we are coming together to start a support group and hope to be a liaison to the athletic department and the NCAA. We have made a proposal that we plan to send to the NCAA to start an LGBT-sponsored national group with branches like Purdue’s “Our Group” at NCAA institutions throughout the country with an accompanying Web site where athletes can register for anonymous accounts and communicate and ask questions in a safe environment. We’re also working on getting resources, such as a global list of sports psychologists and counselors that work with schools, who can be of aid to LGBT athletes dealing with issues regarding their sexuality and being an athlete.