In the ’80s, female reporters had to fight in order to become sports writers. It was a man’s world. Then, once male reporters discovered that women could write and broadcast about sports as well as they could, the next major issue became access to athletes.

Teams discovered that they could help their male brethren in the sports writing world by limiting access to male athletes. And how best to do that? Just make them available only in the locker room.

As we all know, athletes need to spend hours in the locker room before and after games. They need to be naked all the time so they can shower, get massaged, taped up and talk to reporters. It’s impossible for an athlete to respond to a question from reporters unless he’s naked. This is apparently not a problem for female athletes, who seem to be wiling to talk to any reporter who is willing to write about them. Finally, faced with federal lawsuits, teams were required to admit women reporters into the bastion of male bonding.

A new issue arising is whether teams, or those handling media relations for athletes, will give gay and lesbian reporters access to athletes. And we’re not even dealing with locker rooms.

Press Pass Q is an electronic newsletter geared for gay and lesbian publications.

It reports that Outsports.com reporter and New York Blade associate editor Cyd Zeigler Jr. reported that he was kept away from American Olympic medalists Paul and Morgan Hamm during an Aug. 26 press opportunity after he identified himself as writing for a gay publication. The Hamm media handlers worked for the public relations company Keith Sherman & Associates.

Why would media handlers want to discourage exposure in the gay press? After all, don’t publicists get paid for getting publicity?

The reality is that openly gay athletes have not fared well in the endorsement world. Greg Luganis didn’t find his face on a box of Wheaties. His feat as a diver was certainly comparable to Marc Phelps.

Even those athletes who are not “openly” gay, but “perceived” to be gay or lesbian, have not fared well. We are all aware of the great lengths broadcasters take to paint a female athlete as a “married mother.”

Manly men, of course, associate sports such as gymnastics, diving and body building as “gay” sports. Ironically, wrestling, which involves the most intimate bodily contact two males have short of oral or anal sex, is a “manly” sport.

In any event, is it any wonder why sports stars – and those who guide them – want to avoid any hint that they are gay or bisexual, lest they lose their marketability?

But an interview in a gay magazine doesn’t mean an athlete is gay or lesbian. And one wonders why an athlete would be so super-sensitive. Ian Thorpe may be a good example of an athlete who seems comfortable appearing in gay magazines, and he is even flattered by the gossip that he is gay.

Legally, prohibiting gay reporters (or reporters for gay publications) from interviewing a star is no different than denying African American reporters/publications access.

International sports stars who promote products advertised in any way in California are doing business in California. They are subject to California laws and jurisdiction. Website operators have had to respond to suits in California and elsewhere because, even though they may not be physically present in the state, they have contact with the state so as to make it fair for a state like California to exercise jurisdiction.

So, if these businesses are doing business in California – which they are – they are subject to California laws prohibiting discrimination based upon sexual orientation. If they are soliciting business from people living in San Diego, they are also subject to San Diego’s ordinances prohibiting discrimination based upon sexual orientation.

And, even though the PR company may have committed this act in Greece, U.S. companies do incur liability in the U.S. for their actions abroad. If a PR company discriminates against a publication because it’s gay, that’s the same (at least in California) as discriminating based upon race.