staff editorial
On April 29, basketball player Jason Collins became the first professional athlete to publicly come out as gay. Collins, who played for the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards this season, made his announcement in an article in the May 6 issue of Sports Illustrated. He received an overwhelmingly positive response from fans, fellow athletes and the NBA for his decision to take the lead on the issue in an area of modern life that has remained stubbornly resistant to acceptance of gay participants.
“I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation,” said Collins.
While, some people believe that Collins’s action will encourage more gay athletes to follow his lead, others don’t expect major cultural changes in response to this event.