Admittedly, he does look pretty fabulous in this picture

“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.” –Jason Collins

I had never heard of Jason Collins before this week. After David Robinson retired from the Spurs, I pretty much stopped paying attention to professional basketball entirely, to the extent I ever gave it much attention. In the few days that I have had to learn about Jason Collins, though, I can say that I have tremendous respect for him. He does not have high stats, and he does not fit the concept of an NBA superstar by any stretch of the imagination. For twelve years, though, he has kept showing up. The Michael Jordans of the world (like I said, I haven’t followed the NBA for a while) could not become superstars if they didn’t have the support of players like Jason Collins. (I’m sure people who know more about basketball could dispute the specifics of this point, but that’s not what I want to talk about.)

The reason I heard about Jason Collins this week is that he is the first active male professional athlete to come out as gay. He is hardly the first professional athlete, as Martina Navratilova has more than three decades on him in this area, but it’s still kind of a big thing. Male professional sports are still rooted in traditional male gender norms, which is part of why I never much cared for them. The idea of an actively-playing athlete in the NBA still seems far-fetched, but here we are. I have no doubt there are others, as well as the NFL, Baseball, and the NHL, but whoever they are, they’re keeping it to themselves (and that’s totally their right, to be sure.) Collins wrote an eloquent, if occasionally egotistical, piece in the forthcoming issue of Sports Illustrated explaining his decision to come out.

The most you can do is stand up for what you believe in. I’m much happier since coming out to my friends and family. Being genuine and honest makes me happy. Continue reading →