NBA player Jason Collins announces he is gay

[centrehice]

Not News

[MadMan1978]

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/0...ins/?mobile=wp

[gladdyontherise]

Not News

Yes, it IS news, regardless if anyone wants it to be or not.

[ajcorleone]

At 25 you are very knowledgable.But 10 years ago you were 15 and even though it can be looked up on the internet I remember the gay thing being big then.The Roseanne episode where she kissed a woamn,Grace on Fire,My so Called life all these tv shows were being trendy about being open and out.That is 10 years and longer so now just because a current journeyman NBA baller comes out I don't see the craze like this is a groundbreaking movement.Great for Collins he should live his life open and happy but I just don't see it as the huge groundbreaker other do

I want to add something else...

Another problem as to why this process has taken so long (the normalcy of gays) is because of all the misconceptions and outright lies that some people are told about homosexuals.

I remember growing up (and mind you I'm only 25 years old), and I really believed that gays were different than us in just about every aspect.

I remember thinking that many homosexuals were gay because they were raped as young boys....(obviously this is a lie).

I also remember thinking that gays preyed on straight guys and that I should be careful of them....(this is an egregious lie and encourages fear and hatred towards them)

I was in fact TOLD these things....by my parents, pastor, and other authority figures.

And I'm sure they were told by others as well.

Slowly these lies have disappeared and what do you know, they're not the boogeyman.

[boba]

Not coming out I think has a lot more (well maybe not a lot, but around the same amout) to do with just how awkward it would be for a team than people being against it. This is especially true for the NBA. These guys are forced to become very close with each other, they travel constantly with each other, room together, spend time in locker rooms together. They essentially are family with each other during the year. For this reason I still have a hard time believing many will come out in the future.

[shrewsbury]

I still find it odd, the first person to "come out" in on no roster and is not playing. wonder if he plans on writing a book?

[mrveggieman]

I had not heard of him....he came out in 2002 apparently.

Still, the majority of gay American athletes that have come out has been in the recent 5 years or so.

And let's not forget that for the first time, we actually had current NFL players advocating for gay rights, such as the Vikings punter Kluwe among a few others.

Here he is. I used to have a couple of his rookie cards when I was a kid.