Miami Herald; Wednesday, November 27, 1991
Linda Robertson, Herald Sports Writer

Insert the name Chris Evert for Magic Johnson. Or Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Or Martina Navratilova.

Instead of being canonized, they would be wearing scarlet letters over their Nike logos. Navratilova, who is gay, would be doubly scorned.

Navratilova said out loud what many women and men have been thinking since basketball star Earvin Johnson said he was retiring from the Los Angeles Lakers and would become a national spokesman for AIDS awareness. "If it had happened to a heterosexual woman who had been with 100 or 200 men, they would call her a whore and a slut and the corporations would drop her like a lead balloon," Navratilova said.

Golfer Pat Bradley applauded Navratilova for speaking up.

"There certainly are areas of double standard, and this could be one of them," she said.

We've gone through sexual liberation and women's liberation, but not much has changed. While certain women are perceived as tramps, men are Casanovas or Don Juans. People chuckle over the absurd bragging of Wilt Chamberlain -- who claims he has slept with 20,000 women -- while they try to ban Madonna from MTV. Who is the real hazard to society?

James Bond is the dashing leading man, suavely seducing women on desert isles and life rafts. But soap opera star Erica Kane is the classic bitch, Marilyn Monroe is the classic bimbo, and Glenn Close's character in Fatal Attraction is the classic ambitious career woman from hell.

"What I don't understand is that Magic says he was just trying to accommodate these women," Navratilova said. "That is just terrible. Just think about the word. He's preaching the wrong message. He's saying it's OK to be promiscuous as long as you use a condom."

Magic said he can't remember the time or place or the woman who infected him. Perhaps he never even knew her name. "It's a matter of numbers," he said. And considering the minuscule chances of a man being infected by a woman, those numbers must have been quite high.

"Ayn Rand says you are who you sleep with, who you surround yourself with, your friends and your lovers, " Navratilova said. "What does it say for these men who hop in bed with a woman every five minutes? Be a gentleman. Have some self-respect."

Or at least show some respect for your sexual partner. Fooling around with Johnson and Chamberlain is like playing Russian roulette. Granted, most of these women were not ingenues. Many were undoubtedly groupies, looking for a thrill. But when has Johnson expressed remorse for the women who may become his fellow victims?

AIDS is a tragedy, no more so for Magic Johnson than for Rock Hudson or Kimberly Bergalis or the nameless heroin addict on the street.

It took courage for Johnson to come forward. But no more courage than it would take for Navratilova to make a similar announcement the day before Wimbledon. Johnson had to give an explanation. As a star in the public eye (and the tabloids' binoculars), he had to make the best of a bad situation.

"Always a classy guy," people said when they listened to Magic and saw his smile.

Not always.

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