Q&A: Robbie Rogers on the Supreme Court Legalizing Same-Sex Marriage

On Friday, the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 in favor of legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. This decision comes as a direct result of many brave individuals speaking out for decades about rights the Supreme Court has finally agreed should exist for everyone, regardless of sexual orientation.

And yet there is still more work to be done. Ask anyone in professional sports and they'll likely acknowledge that while marriage equality has now been granted, true equality has yet to be achieved.

Although a few leagues have taken the initiative to promote equality, such as the NHL and its You Can Play project, one can still count the number of active, openly gay athletes on one hand. The Los Angeles Galaxy's Robbie Rogers is one of the few.

Rogers will likely say that he had very little to do with the Supreme Court's ruling. But decisions of this magnitude are not flags planted into wild, untouched ground. Rogers is one of many who worked endlessly for this cause, and therefore deserves a place in history. After all, Rogers was the first openly gay professional male athlete in North American team sports history.

I spoke to Rogers over the phone on Friday afternoon to get his thoughts on the ruling and its impact on the sports world. The following transcript has been slightly edited for clarity.

Where were you when you heard about the news? What was your first reaction?

I was actually at my boyfriend's house. I was getting ready to go to practice, just having my coffee and breakfast. I, sadly, get my news on Twitter. I think that's how everybody gets their news now. We were just sitting together, looked at each other and smiled and just hugged each other. I texted him after training and said it's been such a great day and makes me so happy to think about everything that's gone down, not just today, but especially over the past two years. I don't know, it was kind of a special moment to share this morning and to read on Twitter what happened.

How many people have come up to you today, asked you about it, or reached out to you?

Countless. Countless people have sent emails, text messages, called.

Is it at all weird or awkward for you to be the face of this ruling in the sports world to some extent?

I don't feel like that at all. I don't feel like I'm the face of anything. I mean, obviously I've been the face of the LGBT community in sports, but I think this is much, much bigger than that. Much bigger than sports. There have been millions of people who have joined nonprofits, that have rallied, that have been part of an organization that has fought for equal rights for a really long time. I've only been out for three years now, only been in sports for two years where I was an out public figure. So it's much bigger than myself and much bigger than any one person.

In the sports world I think we can both agree there's still a lot of work to be done on the equality issue. As you said, it's bigger than the sports world, but what ramifications do you think there might be, if any, in the sports world?

I think there's tons of work to be done in the sports world. A perfect example is I am one of the only out gay athletes. There are some female athletes, there's Michael Sam, obviously Jason [Collins] just retired. There are some guys in college, but no other soccer players, baseball players, hockey players, NFL, NBA. There's obviously a problem. It obviously shows they're afraid to be themselves and be able to talk about their relationships and be open about that stuff. Until people are themselves and able to be themselves, then I think we'll continue to talk about it.

Do you think this ruling might lead to some athletes feeling more comfortable about coming out?

I mean, maybe in the long run, but in the past years, there haven't really been many professional athletes that have come out. I guess two years ago, I was hoping that by this time, there would be a few out soccer players in MLS, something I've done and it's not a big deal and I've really enjoyed my time and shown it's not going to be a problem for anyone. I thought that would make it more comfortable for some other soccer players, but there are no out soccer players in MLS which is crazy to me.

This reminds me of something you told one of our writers in December, which is that, "the U.S. is changing…I just think it's going to happen more slowly than we thought." A lot of the reaction to today's news has been people saying they wouldn't have believed this would happen ten years ago, that it seems like it's happened very quickly from their perspective. Does today's ruling change your opinion at all?

It's interesting for me. Like I said, I've only been out for three years and a year after I came out, or even less than that, they passed the marriage equality bill in California and then two years later now that marriage equality around the United States. For me, it happened really quickly. Obviously, for millions of people, it took a really long time to get all that done. In sports, I've been playing out professionally as a gay man for two and a half years and I just thought that when I came out, and Jason, and Michael, and different people, I thought it would be more of a domino effect to be totally honest with you. I'm a little surprised more athletes don't feel like they can take that step.

That being said, I think a lot of LGBT youth grow up thinking there's something not quite right with them. That they're not the same as their brothers and sisters, that they're I guess a little bit different. At one point, the government kind of supported that, those concerns. We weren't equal citizens in our own country. So now that our government backs us. I think that helps the LGBT youth think of themselves as equal citizens, that they are just like their brothers and sisters and their parents and can find someone they love and start a family. I think that's a huge step.

For the younger generation, I think it won't really be an issue with them. I think going into sports they'll be more willing to be out athletes and be themselves, but maybe my generation or the older generation is a little more difficult for them to take that step in the sports world.