That’s whyAlone in the Game is such an important
marker for the national television market. The AT&T original feature-length documentary follows a group of athletes and sports figures from the biggest stages in American sports, including the NFL, NBA, MLS, and NCAA, among others, as it explores the ongoing struggles LGBTQ athletes face at the professional, collegiate and Olympic levels. “It’s time to unveil such important and inspira-
tional stories. We’re giving viewers a rare look into the lives of these elite athlete’s unique journeys and open their eyes to the daily challenges these athletes face on and off the field of play,”said David McFarland,Alone in the Game creator and executive producer. “With added attention to this issue, I’m hopeful we can affect real change at the highest levels of American sport and that the next genera- tion of LGBTQ athletes will be judged by their athletic performance, rather than their sexual orientation or gender identity.” The Rage Monthly had the chance to chat with
three of the subjects who make up the long list of luminaries from that world: Layana White and Haley Videckis, who are a couple and Ryan O’Callaghan. All three were asked about how they came to
be involved withAlone in the Game, O’Callaghan responded first, “About a year ago last June, I did my public outing throughOutsports. Through that article I got connected with David McFarlane and he told me about this project he had going on and
I was more than happy to take part.” Haley Videckis added what her and Layana White’s impetus was for their connection, “We actually were contacted by one of the producers that worked on the crew withAlone in the Game. They reached out and they wanted to set up an interview. That kind of sparked our involvement and once we began talking more they told us they were interested in following up and getting more of our story.” A central theme that runs through the documen-
tary, is the isolation that many professional athletes endure. Layana White discussed how life-changing participation was for her and partner Videckis. “Participating in the film, it actually made us feel that we weren’t as isolated. Knowing that other athletes are out there who experience what you have, in other sports and in the professional realm, I think that’s one of the major impacts of this documentary. Other athletes are going to know and coaches too, that there’s a lot of LGBT athletes playing right now.” O’Callaghan followed up with his perspective,
“What stands out for me more than anything right now, as far as being LGBT and in sports, is that there is not one single player or major league LGBT athlete out in the major five conferences…even after Jason Collin’s experience being very positive and Michael Sam getting drafted,” he said. “You know there’s definitely other players that are gay or bi that just haven’t had it in them yet, to actually come out. We all have a pretty similar story. Most of us have the
same inner turmoil to an extent and a couple of the other people in the film talk about wanting to end their lives.” “What makes my story different than the others,
was how I used football as a cover and how I planned on killing myself the entire time,” continued O’Callaghan. “Something made me not give up and I guess if someone gets anything specifically from my story, it’s that things do get better. I understand that will take a second to re-evaluate each individual situation and think maybe it won’t be the end of the world to come out. I never did that until the very end, and it was just so obvious what I should have done.” White also spoke to the mental health challenges
that can permeate an athlete’s life, in particular because of the isolation and how a film likeAlone in the Game can help. “I hope that especially younger athletes, the ones who are in high school and going to college, feel like they have other athletes to look up too. That there are other professional athletes out there. It’s also important for mental health. I know at the end of the film David [McFarland] has a crisis hotline and for me that’s really important, because when I was at Pepperdine I attempted suicide and that was a really hard time for me. I didn’t have anyone to go to, besides Haley and we were both going through the same thing. It’s really great that there’s visibility and that there’s a hotline people can reach out to and know they’re not the only one.” “We were in kind of a unique position because
JULY 2018 | RAGE monthly 51
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