Support and Move On

Jason Collins earlier this week became the first active male athlete in the four major sports to open up about his homosexuality.  In an article for Sports Illustrated, he put everything out in the open with the first line:

'I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay.'

 Not only is this great for him, but it is great for the sports world.  He has received support from athletes in other sports, teammates, sports commissioners, even the President.  The media has covered it the right way, speaking to all the support he has received and ignoring any negative comments.  But honestly, what kind of moron would speak negatively about this?  Someone that wouldn't mind being labeled a villain the rest of their life, that's who.  Reading the article, you can tell that this is a huge relief to Collins, and he struggled with the decision to come out.  The thing is, he doesn't want this to be a big deal.  It is what it is and he just wants to play basketball next year.  He is not a star in the NBA nor is he a big contributor off the bench.  He is a guy that in a year or two probably will not have a job just because there are always better players out there and he is not one of them.  But who knows, he may have chosen this time in his life to come out to ensure that he does get a job next year.  What kind of positive publicity would a team get signing him?  It would be huge.  He could be an evil genius choosing this time to ensure he gets a paycheck next year.  Okay, not really.  

He has said he appreciates the support, but he just wants everyone to move on past his announcement.  So far, so good.  His team is out of the playoffs and the focus is on the teams still playing.  I truly hope that once the NBA season starts next year, sports commentators do not focus on him during games just because he is openly gay.  The last thing that I am sure anyone wants to hear is 'and in comes Jason Collins and everyone knows that name because he is the first openly gay male athlete...'  It is not meant to be disrespectful, but it kind of is.  Think of it in this context:  substitute 'openly gay' for 'black' or 'white'.  It just seems shallow and in poor taste.  Just be happy for the man and move on.  Continue to support his decision to come out and move on.  He does not need to be treated any differently because of who he is.

Coming out as an athlete must be difficult.  It is macho man, testosterone driven society.  Those societies are always the ones that are slow to adapt to change.  You are always going to have closed minded fuckheads like Chris Culliver.   You are always going to have people that are not comfortable with themselves and therefore are uncomfortable with things that are not the same as them.  To counter that, you have people like Chris Kluwe who absolutely decimated a Maryland state delegate last year in a letter laced with both profanity and sound reasoning because of the man's comments.  If a team is suppose to be a 'family' should they not support their 'brothers'?  Should they have their back every second of every day whether it is on the field or off? 

As our country slowly becomes more and more accepting this kind of story it will no longer be a headliner type story.  It will end up being a little blip on the five o'clock news.  People will look at it and think 'okay, but how is he going to contribute to my team this year?'  Every social movement starts with the action of one.  And that one action can cause an avalanche.  And what a great avalanche it can be.