Jake Bain, the football player who first made headlines by coming out as gay at his high school assembly before signing to Indiana State, and later when the Westboro Baptist Church protested him, has quit the Indiana State football team. Bain also made the news after attending prom with his boyfriend, and caught the attention of Ellen DeGeneres.
The Indy Star reports: “Officials were notified earlier this month that Bain would not come back for his sophomore season so that he could focus on academics, said assistant director of athletic communications Tim McCaughan. A request to talk to Bain through the team and multiple personal messages left for him were not answered. Bain finished his freshman season playing in four games, according to team stats reported by the Sycamores.”
Bain told KSDK in April when he signed with Indiana State that it was difficult hearing things from other players on the field after people knew he was gay: “At the bottom of a pile a lot of times I would hear ‘stay down, you fag.’ I would hear, ‘this is no sport for gay people.’”
Added Bain: “My main reason for coming out was not necessarily for me. I have always been comfortable with myself and how people view me. For me, it was to try and reach out to people who aren’t comfortable coming out. I feel like, especially within athletics, there’s a stigma. I don’t think being an athlete and gay really collide.”
The Indy Star adds: “Bain was part of a panel at an inclusion forum held by the NCAA last week. It focused on making college athletes feel comfortable in sports and the classroom regardless of their differences.”
