(KCBS Radio) – A star swimmer at Stanford is alleging that he was “kicked off” the team because he is openly gay.
Abrahm Devine wrote in an Instagram post, “Plain and simple: there are surface level reasons I was kicked off the Stanford swim team, but I can tell you with certainty that it comes down to the fact that I am gay.”
A post shared by Abrahm DeVine (@abrahmdevine) on Sep 29, 2019 at 7:32pm PDT
Devine graduated in the spring but says he was not allowed to continue training with the team as a professional. During his four years at Stanford he became an NCAA champion, broke several school records and was named the Pac-12 Conference Swimmer of the Year. Devine has also competed at the World Championships twice as part of Team USA and says he is the only openly gay swimmer to compete at such a high level.
Stanford assistant athletics director Brian Risso said in a statement, “It is unfortunate Abe feels this way. That said, Abe wasn’t invited back to train as a postgraduate, for reasons entirely unrelated to his sexuality. We take pride in the inclusivity and supportiveness that exists on both our men’s and women’s teams, but we will continue to strive, as always, to improve those aspects of our culture.”
Devine says he is speaking out in order to bring attention to the “homophobic aspects of the athletic culture that exists today.” He says that while former coaches and teammates say they support him, they are ignorant of the homophobia that he experiences and fail to educate themselves or create change.
“Homophobia is systematic, intelligently and masterfully designed to keep me silent and to push me out… There are queer voices everywhere and all you have to do is listen. I am asking, begging for some sort of action,” he writes. “None of us are exempt from homophobia. It is your civil duty to educate yourself. If you choose not to, it is at my expense.”
