Abrahm DeVine, the 2018 NCAA champion in the 400 individual medley who came out a year ago and last week said he was kicked off the Stanford University swim team because he is gay, published a new Instagram post revealing the “surface level reason” he was dismissed from the team.
Additionally, while DeVine said in his original Instagram post that he was “kicked off the Stanford swim team” the Stanford Daily, who interviewed DeVine, clarified that “DeVine finished his collegiate career at Stanford earlier this year, but he was barred from the University's pro training group.”
DeVine told The Daily that he was dismissed “after he drank at a Team USA swim meet instead of showing up to support his teammates who were competing, a violation of the National Team's Honor Code.”
Said DeVine to The Daily: “I think that I wrote this entire Instagram post where every sentence is very important, but the only one that people are really focusing on is me calling out Stanford, and that makes my message sound very aggressive and that I'm out for blood, when in reality that is not what I wanted at all. I'm here to just say this is a systemic issue. … Between coaches and other athletes, I feel there is so much ignorance to what it means to be gay in a sports world that my character is not recognized. Although I feel I can participate by being silent and non-disruptive, I feel that my identity as a gay man is incompatible with the swimming world.”
In his latest Instagram post, DeVine said there were a few things he wanted address “before this issue leaves my page,” reflecting on what has happened over the past week and clarifying some things.
Of his statement that he was kicked off the team because of homophobia, DeVine asked, “Why is it that so many gay people resonate with this message? Isn't that alarming? And why are so many (mostly, but not entirely) straight people so quick to dismiss it?”
“This is part of what I touched on when I said ‘denial of experience',” DeVine continued. “All around us gay kids are quitting their sports teams, they are committing suicide, and they are hiding their core identity from the world. We cannot deny that something is going on in a world where ‘being gay doesn't matter.'”
“Homophobia is generally understood as an intentional and directed act,” DeVine added. “If that is your definition, I do not know how to engage you in any sort of meaningful conversation around this issue. I am not a dictionary. We all need to have a shared and elevated vocabulary in order to tackle complex problems. Homophobia is systematic. Period.”
And though DeVine maintains that homophobia was part of the dismissal, he revealed, “The ‘surface level reasons' I was referring to involved me drinking and breaking the rules of Team USA. I never meant to deny this or cover this up. On the subject of a systematic discrimination, it is juvenile to focus the conversation on the ethics of a 22 year old getting drunk. A more apt focus might be on why the only gay kid on the team sees no value in the honor code. And, when there are many athletes breaking it every year, why am I the only one being punished by both USA Swimming and Stanford Swimming?”
DeVine then apologized for disappointing gay kids: “To any gay kids reading this, I am sorry. I have always tried to portray a positive image, one where I am included. In reality, I have struggled to justify my participation in swimming for the last two years. I hate to spread this message, but it is my reality. However, being gay is an overwhelmingly amazing experience. It has revealed to me a hidden and beautiful world, so much love, a diverse perspective, and has given me strength beyond what most people can see. Don't let the bs stop you from being proud of who u r❤️”
