NBA Player Comes Out

[keen23]

NBA center Jason Collins has come out. Honestly, I'm surprised the that first "out" professional player is on a basketball team, less surprised that someone finally came out. I thought for sure it would happen within the next 1-2 years, so the timing was quicker than expected. It's fantastic that this man was brave enough to be "the first." And, I hope that he's able to continue to play without many incidents.

http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04 ... m-gay?lite (not broken, because it's a major news website and they don't care about a few hits from a website)

[Three and Done]

:clap:

A very courageous announcement.

[Peas n carrots]

I'm surprised it was the NBA too. Hopefully now more pro athletes will feel more comfortable coming out.

[lilwriter85]

I'm a bit surprised that it was someone in the NBA. I do wonder about the recent rumors about 4 NFL players planning to coming out.

[SpeshulTaterTot]

As everyone else has said, I'm not surprised a pro athlete has come out, I'm just surprised it's an NBA player. For some reason, I always figured it'd be a baseball player first. I have to admit I got a bit teary eyed when I read the article. Such a brave, brave thing to do!

[crazyforkate]

Good for him, and I hope that this creates a better environment for all gay athletes in the major leagues. What unbelievable pressure he must have been under.

[Emme]

What a beautifully written article! Good for him!!!!!

[ThisOlGirl]

Tebow gets canned and an NBA player comes out on the same day? To quote Nancy Grace--"THE DEVIL IS DANCING TONIGHT!!! :dancing-demon:

Or not. But I'm sure one of our fundies is furiously penning a "Sports have been taken over by teh debil" rant even as we speak.

[PennySycamore]

Jason Collins is not the first pro-athlete to come out although he is perhaps the first man to come out while still an active player. Sheryl Swoopes came out as a lesbian or maybe bi wile she was still playing for the Houston Comets. Heck Jason is not the first man; Out and proud Andrew Goldsmith played lacrosse professionally. Glenn Burke was an out major leaguer.

Rudy Galindo won the US Men's Figure Skating title while an out gay man. Several women golfers have come out and some women tennis pros like Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King. "Big" Bill Tilden was one of the great tennis players of the 30s (in fact, he was one of the greatest of the first half of the 20th Century) and everyone knew he was gay. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:L ... ted_States

[keen23]

Jason Collins is not the first pro-athlete to come out although he is perhaps the first man to come out while still an active player. Sheryl Swoopes came out as a lesbian or maybe bi wile she was still playing for the Houston Comets. Heck Jason is not the first man; Out and proud Andrew Goldsmith played lacrosse professionally. Glenn Burke was an out major leaguer.

Rudy Galindo won the US Men's Figure Skating title while an out gay man. Several women golfers have come out and some women tennis pros like Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King. "Big" Bill Tilden was one of the great tennis players of the 30s (in fact, he was one of the greatest of the first half of the 20th Century) and everyone knew he was gay. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:L ... ted_States

Ack! I thought I had specified that he was the first out male in the big four professional sports. I am aware that the WNBA has had out players for years. I apologize for the confusion.

[m_mdon]

Ack! I thought I had specified that he was the first out male in the big four professional sports. I am aware that the WNBA has had out players for years. I apologize for the confusion.

Not to diminish the importance of Jason Collins' announcement, but there have been male athletes outside of US professional sports that have been out for years. Gareth Thomas, who plays rugby in the UK has been out since 2009 and I believe there are a few in European soccer (for some reason I think they were from Sweden) as well. That being said, its an incredibly brave move by Collins. There is also the case of Joe Amaechi, a former NBA player who came out in 2007. He faced a lot of backlash from within the NBA, Tim Hardaway for example said that "First of all I wouldn't want him on my team. Second of all, if he was on my team I would really distance myself from him because I don't think that's right and I don't think he should be in the locker room when we're in the locker room". I hope that Collins won't face a similar reaction from players today.

I had always thought it would be a hockey player that would come out first, but in the long run, I don't think it really matters what sport they come from, it's the fact that he is an active (well he played this season, as of right now he's unsigned) player on a major US sports team, and was willing to take that step and be the first one. Bravo for him, and I wish him the best in the long run!

[Joan of Snarc]

I hope this news absolutely ruins the day of all homophobic bigots out there. Their little corner of religion-enforced hatred is getting smaller every year. Thank Spaghetti Monster.

[GolightlyGrrl]

Aaron Rodgers is raking in the big bucks, Tim Tebow gets shit-canned by the Jets, and now this lovely young man, Jason Collins, comes out. Good times, good times.

[lilwriter85]

Tebow gets canned and an NBA player comes out on the same day? To quote Nancy Grace--"THE DEVIL IS DANCING TONIGHT!!! :dancing-demon:

Or not. But I'm sure one of our fundies is furiously penning a "Sports have been taken over by teh debil" rant even as we speak.

I bet the Stinking Housewife and/or Lori "Nitwit" Alexander will have postings up like that by tomorrow or later this week. Lori seems pretty in tune with pop culture and sports. She has written about watching football with her hubby and one of her sons played basketball in college. The Stinking Housewife has been a roll lately because of the some of the recent LGBT news events that have happened. I don't think Zsu will write a posting about this. I believe she has stated a few times that she and the PP don't follow sports or other aspects of pop culture.

[lilwriter85]

Not to diminish the importance of Jason Collins' announcement, but there have been male athletes outside of US professional sports that have been out for years. Gareth Thomas, who plays rugby in the UK has been out since 2009 and I believe there are a few in European soccer (for some reason I think they were from Sweden) as well. That being said, its an incredibly brave move by Collins. There is also the case of Joe Amaechi, a former NBA player who came out in 2007. He faced a lot of backlash from within the NBA, Tim Hardaway for example said that "First of all I wouldn't want him on my team. Second of all, if he was on my team I would really distance myself from him because I don't think that's right and I don't think he should be in the locker room when we're in the locker room". I hope that Collins won't face a similar reaction from players today.

I had always thought it would be a hockey player that would come out first, but in the long run, I don't think it really matters what sport they come from, it's the fact that he is an active (well he played this season, as of right now he's unsigned) player on a major US sports team, and was willing to take that step and be the first one. Bravo for him, and I wish him the best in the long run!

I always though an active football or baseball player would come out first. There have been theories that the world of the NBA would be the toughest for a gay athlete. The reason for those theories was mainly because pro basketball teams are smaller. I wish Jason Collins well and I hope he doesn't encounter too many problems from other players.

[JenniferJuniper]

I always though an active football or baseball player would come out first. There have been theories that the world of the NBA would be the toughest for a gay athlete. The reason for those theories was mainly because pro basketball teams are smaller. I wish Jason Collins well and I hope he doesn't encounter too many problems from other players.

Different sport, of course, but the Boston Red Sox tweeted this today (Collins played briefly for the Celtics):

We salute you, @jasoncollins34 for your courage and leadership. Any time you want to throw out a first pitch at Fenway Park, let us know. Follow @RedSox

[Guest Anonymous]

I don't really understand American sports. I am British and, as a result, I may have been over-exposed to the story of John Amaechi (the British former NBA player who came out after he retired). Why is everyone so surprised that it is an NBA player? Please-and-thank-you.

[debrand]

I don't really understand American sports. I am British and, as a result, I may have been over-exposed to the story of John Amaechi (the British former NBA player who came out after he retired). Why is everyone so surprised that it is an NBA player? Please-and-thank-you.

I think that Americans have definite ideas about how a homosexual versus a heterosexual male should act. A figure skater coming out is no big deal because the beauty of their routines-despite the physical strength that is needed- appears to be more feminine. However, certain sports such as basketball or football are considered masculine and therefore can NOT have gay players.

Part of this is homophobia but part is also caused by television shows which depict a lot of gay men as very stereotypical in their behavior.

[MrMattyMatt]

I don't follow sports - is he any good? I smell a publicity stunt actually. (yes I am gay)

[Turtle]

Made the mistake of listening to the local radio this morning. One guy called in and said he wasn't homophobic or anything but he's worried about a gay athlete spreading HIV because people get injured in sports and bleed. And the poor non-gay athletes shouldn't have to take that risk.

FACE PALM.

[pamplemousse]

I don't follow sports - is he any good? I smell a publicity stunt actually. (yes I am gay)

I don't think he's considered a star player. However, he's been in the NBA for 12 years and has been on a playoff team 9 of those 12. I'm guessing he's more of a journeyman who can stay around in the league and help out teams that need a decent center.

It'll be nice to see the day when reaction to a player's coming out is something like, "Oh, he's gay. Whatever. BTW, did you see that game last night between the Bulls and the Heat? Noah absolutely pwned LeBron."

ETA: I don't think it's a publicity stunt.

[debrand]

I don't think he's considered a star player. However, he's been in the NBA for 12 years and has been on a playoff team 9 of those 12. I'm guessing he's more of a journeyman who can stay around in the league and help out teams that need a decent center.

It'll be nice to see the day when reaction to a player's coming out is something like, "Oh, he's gay. Whatever. BTW, did you see that game last night between the Bulls and the Heat? Noah absolutely pwned LeBron."

Me too. However, I don't think that this is publicity stunt.

[debrand]

Made the mistake of listening to the local radio this morning. One guy called in and said he wasn't homophobic or anything but he's worried about a gay athlete spreading HIV because people get injured in sports and bleed. And the poor non-gay athletes shouldn't have to take that risk.

FACE PALM.

This is why people like Collins are brave for coming out.

[JenniferJuniper]

I don't follow sports - is he any good? I smell a publicity stunt actually. (yes I am gay)

He's a journeyman type of player who will probably be winding down his career over the next couple of years. I don't see any benefit of a publicity stunt for him.

Here's why his brother says he did it:

What does Jason want out of this? He wants to live his life. He wants a relationship, he wants a family, he wants to settle down. He wants to move forward with his personal life while maintaining his life as a professional basketball player. That’s all, really.

[Jenny]

I was surprised to see this get so much coverage on the news. I wondered for a while if it was really worth all the coverage and while am not sure that a gay NBA player should be such a news event, I do think it's uplifting that this is the big news event right now instead of another shooting/bombing/etc.