Power Jocks : College Baseball Player Chandler Whitney, Boyfriend of Conner Mertens, Comes Out

Whitney found complete acceptance from his Walla Walla Community College baseball team when he came out to them just days after his boyfriend, Conner Mertens, came out to his college football team.

Chandler Whitney wanted to come out to his Walla Walla Community College baseball team, he just didn't know how or when. Over winter break he had spent time with his boyfriend, Willamette University kicker Conner Mertens, and his friends and felt acceptance by Mertens' hometown friends. It was a relief to be open and honest about his relationship with them.

(above: Conner Mertens)

When he returned to school last month, Whitney was more at ease with his sexuality. He didn't want to hide from his teammates anymore.

 

"I'd been planning to do it at some point anyway," Whitney told Outsports, "and seeing the reaction to Conner's story calmed me down."

 

Last week when the baseball team gathered for the first practices of the new year, talk turned to stories from winter break. Because he'd spent much of the break with Mertens, Whitney felt the time was now. He stood up in front of the team, said he had contemplated whether to tell them a secret or not, and shared a "confession" he'd been holding back from them since they first met:

 

"I'm gay."

 

The team broke into spontaneous applause. It took Whitney off-guard.(keep reading)