A gay player came out
today. Many comments I saw on this thing called the World Wide Web stated: What’s
the big deal? He is just trying to draw attention to himself. He is a part time
player who just wants his day in the sun. I am a heterosexual male with two
kids, no one is doing a story about me!
My only reply to these individuals,
and to the many other responses they garnered in defense of Jason Collins is,
Haters Gonna Hate. How else to describe these comments about the first openly
gay athlete in one of the four major sports in America. I will be happy when
this is not a story, when high school athlete can be openly gay in a locker
room and not have to face ridicule and mockery. That day is not today.
This story is a big deal.
He is the first. The first is always important. Is this as big as a deal as
Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier? No it is not, but it is still a big
deal and one we have been moving towards for a long time. Jason Collins should
be applauded and he will be my many. He will also have to deal with hate and
bigotry. If he did not have to deal with this, then this truly would be a
non-story.
There will always be individuals
who do not see homosexuals the way I do. I have friends and relatives who are,
and I love them. Others see their way of life as a sin, they can. It is there
American right to have this view and to tell others about it. They do not have
the right to tell these individuals whom they can marry or where they can work,
or to make them feel uncomfortable in the workplace. They can think it is
wrong, and they can say it is wrong, but to take any action on these beliefs is
wrong.
I applaud Jason Collins.
He is the first, but will not be the last. I can only hope that his brave
example will cause a multitude of other men in the four major sports to come
out and be who they are not only to their friends and families but to their teammates
and the rest of the world as well. Hatters Gonna Hate, but Lovers will always
Love, and will eventually win the day.
(That is at least what I keep telling myself to be
able to sleep at night)
