The name Jason Collins has been seriously making the rounds this week, as the 34 year old NBA player emerged from the proverbial closet. There have been mixed responses - an overwhelming majority of them favourable - to his courageous move to declare his sexual orientation, even as he continues to actively pursue his career in professional basketball. While there have been a few who have made their stance clear after retiring from professional sports, fewer still have done so while remaining active players. Of course, there are others of whom we know - Gareth Thomas and Billie Jean King, just to name a couple - who have been among the pioneers in this regard.
What is interesting to me, though, is that there are those who question the momentousness of Jason Collins' pronouncement. When we consider that in so many spheres of global society, being LGBT has meant, and often still does, mean career suicide - from politics, to education, to industry, and yes, very much so in sports - is it any wonder that actions such as these are not only welcomed, but celebrated by many who long to see a day where one's real or perceived sexual orientation is no longer a legitimized obstacle to actualizing one's full potential in a chosen field? It is, indeed, a momentous occasion.
Were we to recall policies of decades past, where the colour of one's skin was also a major obstacle - and in some spaces still is - we would realize that progress never came easily. Black people had to go for those jobs, protest, riot and even brave psychological and bodily harm, in order for much of that progress to be made; and we still haven't completely removed that hurdle. When we consider that being a woman meant that certain jobs and career advancement opportunities were automatically out of reach, we realize that we have made progress; though it is still not enough.
While some may find my paralleling of these struggles unnerving, unfair, or perhaps even offensive to their delicate sensibilities, the fact still remains that they are very similar, regardless. It has been said that the gay rights movement is the civil rights movement of our time. Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, and many other notables of our time seem to concur.
Jason Collins also revealed that the number 98, which he has been wearing for a good portion of his career, has been a silent tribute to slain teenager Matthew Shepard, of Laramie, Wyoming renown. It is a testament to the kind of soul that is Jason Collins. It is sometimes too easy to forget those who have been bullied, savaged and murdered by those who simply would not take the time, or make the effort, to be compassionate and understanding of those they perceived as different.
I also find it very interesting that the first actively playing sportsman to come out as gay, also happens to be Black. The Black community has been known to be very unforgiving of those within the community who identify as LGBT. I cannot say that I have seen or heard a great outpouring of vitriol from the Black community regarding Jason Collins' "controversial" declaration. I am sure there are those who see his gay identity as an affront to Negritude, or perhaps even see him as a weak person; an exemplar of Western immorality. Yet, the global Black community has not seemed to be particularly injured by this pronouncement. I, honestly, was expecting the first sportsman to publicly identify as gay, to be White. You can consider that for a moment, and make of it what you may.
The point is that this is a very big first step, in a very long journey towards seeing the arena of professional sports sexually liberalized, for lack of a better term. Perhaps with Jason Collins' very obvious victory, more sportsmen and women will be empowered to follow suit and over time, it is hoped, LGBT players won't feel the need to hide essential parts of who they are from their team mates. There have been many male, professional sports stars who are known to their team mates, and even to the public, as womanizers. If players' sexual lives were proscribed, then we wouldn't know of them. Would we? It seems a double standard - of gross and gargantuan proportions - to expect LGBT players to hide themselves, when their heterosexual counterparts are free to flaunt themselves. Doesn't it?
So, I say kudos to Jason Collins, and to all the other brave souls out there in their various careers who have come out, or are seriously considering doing so. I pray you find the wholeness you seek. Too often have I heard people say that they don't care who is gay, as long as they keep their private lives to themselves. To that I say, "Bollocks," to borrow a colourful term from the British. What is good for the goose, is also good for the gander, so to speak. Live and let live. Now, perhaps we can create world peace, or eliminate poverty, or solve the global energy crisis and find a way for us and future generations to survive without such a great dependence on fossil fuels. That would be outstanding.
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What is interesting to me, though, is that there are those who question the momentousness of Jason Collins' pronouncement. When we consider that in so many spheres of global society, being LGBT has meant, and often still does, mean career suicide - from politics, to education, to industry, and yes, very much so in sports - is it any wonder that actions such as these are not only welcomed, but celebrated by many who long to see a day where one's real or perceived sexual orientation is no longer a legitimized obstacle to actualizing one's full potential in a chosen field? It is, indeed, a momentous occasion.
Were we to recall policies of decades past, where the colour of one's skin was also a major obstacle - and in some spaces still is - we would realize that progress never came easily. Black people had to go for those jobs, protest, riot and even brave psychological and bodily harm, in order for much of that progress to be made; and we still haven't completely removed that hurdle. When we consider that being a woman meant that certain jobs and career advancement opportunities were automatically out of reach, we realize that we have made progress; though it is still not enough.
While some may find my paralleling of these struggles unnerving, unfair, or perhaps even offensive to their delicate sensibilities, the fact still remains that they are very similar, regardless. It has been said that the gay rights movement is the civil rights movement of our time. Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, and many other notables of our time seem to concur.
Jason Collins also revealed that the number 98, which he has been wearing for a good portion of his career, has been a silent tribute to slain teenager Matthew Shepard, of Laramie, Wyoming renown. It is a testament to the kind of soul that is Jason Collins. It is sometimes too easy to forget those who have been bullied, savaged and murdered by those who simply would not take the time, or make the effort, to be compassionate and understanding of those they perceived as different.
I also find it very interesting that the first actively playing sportsman to come out as gay, also happens to be Black. The Black community has been known to be very unforgiving of those within the community who identify as LGBT. I cannot say that I have seen or heard a great outpouring of vitriol from the Black community regarding Jason Collins' "controversial" declaration. I am sure there are those who see his gay identity as an affront to Negritude, or perhaps even see him as a weak person; an exemplar of Western immorality. Yet, the global Black community has not seemed to be particularly injured by this pronouncement. I, honestly, was expecting the first sportsman to publicly identify as gay, to be White. You can consider that for a moment, and make of it what you may.
The point is that this is a very big first step, in a very long journey towards seeing the arena of professional sports sexually liberalized, for lack of a better term. Perhaps with Jason Collins' very obvious victory, more sportsmen and women will be empowered to follow suit and over time, it is hoped, LGBT players won't feel the need to hide essential parts of who they are from their team mates. There have been many male, professional sports stars who are known to their team mates, and even to the public, as womanizers. If players' sexual lives were proscribed, then we wouldn't know of them. Would we? It seems a double standard - of gross and gargantuan proportions - to expect LGBT players to hide themselves, when their heterosexual counterparts are free to flaunt themselves. Doesn't it?
So, I say kudos to Jason Collins, and to all the other brave souls out there in their various careers who have come out, or are seriously considering doing so. I pray you find the wholeness you seek. Too often have I heard people say that they don't care who is gay, as long as they keep their private lives to themselves. To that I say, "Bollocks," to borrow a colourful term from the British. What is good for the goose, is also good for the gander, so to speak. Live and let live. Now, perhaps we can create world peace, or eliminate poverty, or solve the global energy crisis and find a way for us and future generations to survive without such a great dependence on fossil fuels. That would be outstanding.
