In the early 1980s, when the AIDS epidemic was escalating in the United States and domestic-partnership laws were still a novelty, Missy Meharg was playing field hockey at Delaware and dating men and women. She was lesbian, but same-sex relationships, she said, were "so not accepted," so she did what was expected.
In 2005, just a year after Massachusetts became the first state to legally recognize gay marriages and months after Pope John Paul called them "evil," Robbie Rogers was playing soccer at Maryland and closeted. His teammates went out and partied with female students. They dated them.