“We love them! It’s only in the ‘heat of the moment'” Twitter reacts as ATP & You Can Play launch LGBTQ+ education partnership

“We love them! It’s only in the ‘heat of the moment'” Twitter reacts as ATP & You Can Play launch LGBTQ+ education partnership

ATP and You Can Play

The ATP is joining hands with You Can Play which is a group working to increase LGBTQ inclusion in sports. After 75 per cent of players who took part in a survey by the men’s tennis tour said they had heard other players use homophobic slurs. The tour confirmed on Friday that it is launching a multiyear education partnership with You Can Play, which has already worked in the past with the NHL, MLS and NASCAR.

The ATP’s anonymous online survey was circulated to hundreds of players last year from which 65 players responded with some agreeing to be interviewed. The ATP said its findings “indicated a strong fear of rejection, isolation from others on tour, and loneliness as being likely barriers to LGBTQ+ players publicly disclosing their sexuality to others.”The tour said many of the participants “were supportive of ATP taking action to combat homophobia.”

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Tennis Twitter reacts to the partnership between ATP & You Can Play

Chief executive of the ATP Massimo Calvelli said: “Tennis is one of the world’s most global and diverse sports. Through ATP Serves, it’s our goal to ensure the culture of tennis is as inclusive and welcoming as possible.“This requires us to take an honest look at ourselves and continue asking the right questions. Our LGBTQ+ survey showed overwhelming support amongst ATP players for greater action in this space and identified clear areas where we can be doing better.”

“We would like to thank everybody for their contributions to this process so far and, together with You Can Play, look forward to making meaningful progress in years to come,” added Massimo. Twitter users reacted to this partnership with some users saying there’s nothing wrong with players speaking out about homophobic slurs in the heat of the moment, not just because they hate the LGBTQ+ Community.

https://twitter.com/ethandnormandy/status/1550686492779069440?t=Fc0pEMqwhizI5mzQviV6Yw&s=19
https://twitter.com/peakrafa/status/1550533807161634817?t=Qf87sTQAQQWWoxg0Ho9Qng&s=19
https://twitter.com/crystallinevee/status/1550524824321138688?t=RDkMGFgVl_UtN_rjnj-eWA&s=19
https://twitter.com/osakaszn/status/1550514143622533123?t=533hcdQV8wYJevLtLFX4CA&s=19
https://twitter.com/bethanrena/status/1550510737147265026?t=XNAaC1UqL2vu3sAAZj8EAw&s=19

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