Today we finally have our first openly gay professional athlete. Jason Collins, an NBA center, has come out publicly. “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” That simple statement may possibly help more people feel comfortable being different. Hopefully, he has opened a door to allow more players to come out and not worry about the backlash and can now live more comfortably in his skin. It is honorable to see someone tired of waiting for an athlete to come out and decided he did not care if he was the first.
The Washington Wizards center graces the May 6th cover of Sports Illustrated where he goes more in depth with his life. He had an average upbringing in the suburbs and went on to play for prestigious Stanford University. He started his career great with the New Jersey Nets where he reached the NBA Finals his rookie year. His career has fell off since his days in New Jersey, but his coming out has made more of an impact than most superstars’ careers. He has already received support from NBA commissioner David Stern who released this statement, “We are proud [Jason Collins] has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue.”
Hopefully we can get to a place in society where players being homosexual no longer makes national news and it is just accepted. However, if this helps one person come out of the closet more comfortably then this story needs to be on every media outlet!
