DeVine graduated from Stanford this year, but he was eligible to swim for the team again as a postgrad. He claims the university didn’t invite him back because of his sexuality.
“Plain and simple: There are surface-level reasons I was kicked off the Stanford swim team,” he alleged via Instagram, “but I can tell you with certainty that it comes down to the fact that I am gay.”
“This is a pattern,” DeVine further charged. “Homophobia is systematic, intelligently and masterfully designed to keep me silent and to push me out. I am a talented, successful, educated, proud, gayman: I am a threat to the culture that holds sports teams together.”
He continued, “I want something to change, because I can’t take it anymore. My story is not unique. There are queer voices everywhere and all you have to do is listen. I am asking, begging for some sort of action. If you are reading this, this post is for you! Gay or straight, swimmer or not. None of us are exempt from homophobia. It is your civil duty to educate yourself. If you choose not to, it is at my expense.”
DeVine’s former Stanford coaches, Greg Meehan and Dan Schemmel, have both denied any homophobic motives in not inviting him back to the team.
“Abe wasn’t invited back to train with us this fall, as a postgraduate, for reasons entirely unrelated to his sexuality,” they said in a joint statement. “We take pride in the inclusivity and supportiveness that exists on both our men’s and women’s teams, but we will continue to strive, as always, to improve those aspects of our culture.”
Devine previously won NCAA championship for the 400-meter individual medley in 2018 and 2019, and represented Team USA at the World Aquatics Championships in South Korea.
