Jason Collins's Coming Out is a Step in the Right Direction

 



Jason Collins came out as gay today. It's not very often that a career NBA journeyman (best season: 2004-05 with the New Jersey Nets, when he averaged 6.4 points and 6.1 rebounds in 80 games played) can make news that causes you to go, "What?"

But that's what I did when I heard on the radio this morning that Collins had written a beautiful first person piece for Sports Illustrated.

Over the course of the day, I've tried to think about where this ranks. Is this a big deal, small deal, or no deal at all?

It can't be no deal. Collins is the first active athlete in one of the three major league team sports in the United States to come out. That means something.

He's not a superstar or an indispensible cog; he's a bench player. He only played in 38 games this past season. That's a lot of DNP-CDs. He is 34 years old and is a free-agent come July 1, so he might have been a long shot to make a roster in the NBA next season anyway.

The natural inclination is to say that this is a small deal, but it would have meant more if, say, a superstar NFL player were to come out—someone who was a household name from coast to coast. That's what would cause a greater commotion. That would have more significance.

Hogwash.

Even the little earthquakes can have great meaning.

Even the smallest breaking down of the closet door in the lockerroom can have a lasting impact.

On social media, there was a discussion that involved a hack of a broadcaster. I won't name him or link to him because I don't want to give him any more attention than he wants or deserves. Suffice it to say, he didn't think that Jason Collins was a hero.

Jackie Robinson was a hero, but not Jason Collins.

I've never been one to use that tired line of thinking; the first professional gay male athlete in a major league sport was never going to be Jackie Robinson. It's a bad argument. No, it's a lazy argument and does a disservice to the legacy of both Robinson and whoever the gay pioneer was/is going to be (depending on if Collins actually gets to continue his career).

But to say that Jason Collins is not a hero is showing your own personal bias.

I saw people responding that a guy coming out of the closet can't be a hero. First responders (firefighters/police officers) are heroes. The men and women who serve our country are heroes.

That is true. They are.

But if you are a young gay man who loves basketball and wants to play professionally, then maybe Jason Collins is going to be your hero.

From Dictionary.com:

he·ro
/ˈhɪəroʊ/ Show Spelled [heer-oh] Show IPA

noun, plural he·roes; for 5 also he·ros.

1.

a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities.

2.

a person who, in the opinion of others, has heroic qualities or has performed a heroic act and is regarded as a model or ideal: 

 

And in the end, that's what really matters.

 

 

It's hard work living that double life. Collins talked about how he was engaged to a woman. He thought he was supposed to start a family because, well, that's what he was supposed to do.

 

But he himself knew going back to middle school that he wasn't attracted to women. That he didn't feel the same way that his twin brother Jarron did. Hell, he didn't even tell Jarron that he was gay until this last year.

 

Imagine that. Imagine having to hide who you are from your family to such an extent that your own twin (!) doesn't even know the truth about who you are and who you love.

 

Imagine having to remove yourself from ever getting too close to the people that you work with and travel with for eight months of the year. Jason Collins has had to do that for decades now.

 

Imagine the difficulty of making sure that you use the right pronouns when talking about someone you might be interested in. Or covering your tracks about why you may not want to go out to some club or bar. Or having to lie when asked about why you're not talking to that hottie over there.

 

It happens every day for no reason.

 

Explain to me why anyone would CHOOSE to live that way? Why would anyone intentionally choose a lifestyle that causes one to engage in such a high level of cloak and dagger subterfuge?

 

That makes zero sense from my perspective.

 

I know that not everyone is going to get it. I know that there will be knuckleheads like Chris Culliver of the San Francisco 49ers or Mike Wallace of the Miami Dolphins who will say ignorant, ill-informed things. I like to think that their perspective is becoming more and more of a minority position, but that's not a guarantee.

 

And if you hold the position that Jason Collins did this for publicity or to set himself up for the future, well, you are in such a cynical place I obviously cannot reach you. It's just too dark down there to hope any light reaches you.

 

Change is slow, even glacial at times. All it takes, though, is one step in the right direction. One person to start the parade.

 

Jason Collins, congratulations. You are the grand marshall of this parade of change.