When will sports finally be out?

We may be entering the final frontier.

Last week, during an interview with Out Magazine, American Olympic soccer player Megan Rapinoe confirmed that she is a lesbian, something that her friends, family, and yes, teammates have known for some time.

"I think they were trying to be respectful and that it's my job to say, 'I'm gay.' Which I am. For the record: I am gay," Rapinoe said, stressing that no one had ever before directly queried her about her sexual orientation.

Because why would they? Come to think of it, why would anyone ask that of another human being in 2012?

Set aside for a moment how incredibly intrusive that question is; why we are so wrapped up in who someone sleeps with defies logic and just plain tact. Are heterosexual teammates somehow better than homosexual ones? The last time I checked, sports were performed between the lines, not between the sheets.

But of course, we do still live in a society that mostly denies part of our citizenry the basic human right to marry as they desire, so perhaps we do have a misguided sense that somehow someone else's sexual orientation is any of our damn business.

"I feel like sports in general are still homophobic, in the sense that not a lot of people are out," Rapinoe continued. "I feel everyone is really craving [for] people to come out. People want — they need — to see that there are people like me playing soccer for the good ol' U.S. of A."

But Rapinoe is hardly alone. There have been gay athletes for generations, yet the vast majority of the ones we know about are women from individual sports.

Tennis superstars Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova both were revealed to be lesbians in 1981; King because of a palimony lawsuit brought forth by a former girlfriend, Navratilova volunteered the information freely.

There have been others. Golfers Rosie Jones, Patty Sheehan, and Sandra Haynie (who once dated Navratilova) are all openly gay. Tennis players Gigi Fernandez and Amelie Mauresmo are too. Olympic softball infielder Vicki Galindo's admission of her lesbianism and her teammates "unconditionally supportive" attitude helped catcher Lauren Lappin come out as well.

Four-time Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis so far is the most prominent male gay athlete, but today, 18 years after his revelation, that there has yet to be a similar proclamation from someone approaching his stature defies basic arithmetic.

Why is this?

There have been other men that have made similar announcements as their female counterparts, with two stark contrasts. One, as mentioned, there has been no one close to the status of Louganis to declare his homosexuality. Secondly, no one has dared make such announcement while still an active player.

In 2006, former NFL prospect Wade Davis acknowledged publically that he is gay, but never dared reveal that part of his life while trying to make a NFL roster.

"I think subconsciously, I understood that being gay -- the way I was raised -- was wrong," Davis told SB Nation.com. "And there was no way that my family, at least, in my mind, would accept me. And also that my football family would accept me. Just because of the perception of being gay meant that you were less masculine."

Former Packers defensive tackle Esera Tuaolo dispels that perception. Tuaolo spent 11 years in the NFL as a closeted player who only feared his secret being revealed. It wasn't until 2002, after he retired, that he could be true to himself. And for good reason.

"He would have been eaten alive and he would have been hated for it," former Packers receiver Sterling Sharpe told HBO's Real Sports program. "Had he come out on a Monday, with Wednesday, Thursday, Friday practices, he'd have never gotten to the other team."

But that was a full decade ago. In the past few years we have seen seismic attitudes shift towards homosexuals in society. According to a report in The New York Times, citing PollingReport.com's data of nine surveys taken in the last year, more Americans now support gay marriage than oppose it.

President Obama has publically endorsed gay marriage, as have Republicans Dick Cheney, Laura Bush, and former first daughters Barbara Bush and Jenna Bush-Hager. FOX News anchor Shepard Smith and avowed Republican commentator Meghan McCain have affirmed their support for equal rights as well.

These endorsements and ever evolving attitudes in American life may finally allow the final societal obstacle of major professional sports to be broken down.

"I know there have been a lot more than just Wade," Davis' former teammate Jevon Kearse told the gay website OutSports.com upon learning of Davis' sexual orientation. "It's just becoming more acceptable, which is a good thing so they can come out and not feel secluded."

Other current and former NFL players agree with Kearse, including former Packers running back Ahman Green, who has a gay brother and a lesbian sister.

"People are born that way," Green told OutSports.com. "You can't control it. Just like you're white, I'm black. But a lot of people don't think my way. I wish they did, because then there wouldn't be guys who wanted to stay hidden."

It seems illogical that there are not at least a few prominent – perhaps even Hall of Fame – athletes that continue to hide their sexuality even to this day. Considering that Sharpe's assessment of the locker room pulse towards gay players even still in the 1990s was somewhat universal, it is easy to see why.

But the time is coming. It may not be today or tomorrow, but just as Megan Rapinoe's announcement hardly caused a ripple on the sports landscape, there will be a day when a gay male athlete in a major team sport will cause nothing more than a shrug of one's shoulders.

Now someone just has to be the first to break that barrier.