While many athletes have come out as gay, and become gay icons, they previously have done this as part of a solo sport, like tennis, a less nationally popular team, or after retirement from the major team sports. Finally, a player in a nationally admired team has come out, NBA player Jason Collins came out as gay. Prior to his official coming out, he changed his number to 98, the year of Mathew Shepard’s bashing, as an ear tug to the gay community.  His final push toward full self acceptance and expression was the Boston Bombing, which he stated reminded him of the fleeting nature of life and the importance of living honestly. This is truly a great step in professional male sports, a sector that is notoriously womanizing, male chauvinist, discriminatory, and outright hateful. I have great gratitude to him for being the “kid in the classroom raising his hand” because no one else had the courage to do it. He was not the first to publicly state his orientation, but he was an important first for the community and for human rights. He will be very important to that young gay person who thinks that sports, masculine expression, and success are always coupled with heterosexuality. We are always in need of  another great example for inspiring the youth and suppressed adults to accept themselves and share their light with the world. The more we come out, the more voices there are in the media, the more common and less ‘other’ we seem to those still resistant to letting us move a step in from the margin, which leads to more acceptance and more equality.

Thank you Jason Collins, being your true self takes courage, no matter what your ‘coming out’ is.

READ THE ARTICLE HERE: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22341153