NBA's Jason Collins comes out: What does that mean for gay rights?

Jason Collins became the first active player in America's four major professional team sports to come out as gay. Given sports' elevated place in society, Jason Collins might have just made a significant step for gay rights.

By Peter Grier,?Staff writer / April 29, 2013

Boston Celtics center Jason Collins battles with Los Angeles Lakers center Dwight Howard (12) for a rebound during a game this year in Los Angeles.

Mark J. Terrill/AP/File

Enlarge

National Basketball Association center Jason Collins on Monday became the first male professional athlete in a major US team sport to reveal that he is gay.

Skip to next paragraph

' + google_ads[0].line2 + '
' + google_ads[0].line3 + '

'; } else if (google_ads.length > 1) { ad_unit += ''; } } document.getElementById("ad_unit").innerHTML += ad_unit; google_adnum += google_ads.length; return; } var google_adnum = 0; google_ad_client = "pub-6743622525202572"; google_ad_output = 'js'; google_max_num_ads = '1'; google_feedback = "on"; google_ad_type = "text"; google_adtest = "on"; google_image_size = '230x105'; google_skip = '0'; // -->

Subscribe Today to the Monitor

Click Here for your FREE 30 DAYS of
The Christian Science Monitor
Weekly Digital Edition

In a lengthy post co-written with Sports Illustrated reporter Frank Lidz, Collins writes that after years of hiding his sexuality, March?s Supreme Court oral hearings pushed him to come out of the closet.

?Less than three miles from my apartment, nine jurists argued about my happiness and my future. Here was my chance to be heard, and I couldn?t say a thing,? Collins wrote.

Collins, who played for the Washington Wizards this year, waited until the season was over so as to not be a distraction to the team. Then he contacted Sports Illustrated through his agents to make the disclosure, according to an accompanying article.

?I?m glad I?m coming out in 2013 rather than 2003. The climate has shifted; public opinion as shifted. And yet we still have so much farther to go,? Collins concluded.

He is now a free agent but has said he wants to keep playing.

Will Collins?s move affect US public policy? To a certain extent, he is taking advantage of an existing trend toward more tolerance of gay rights in US public opinion. Earlier this month, an NBC/Wall Street Journal survey found 53 percent of respondents approving of gay marriage, up 2 percentage points from December.

The more personal gay rights appear to Americans, the more support for it seems to go. That?s what happened with Sen. Rob Portman (R) of Ohio, who announced in March that he has switched and now supports gay marriage, in part because his son is gay.

Source: http://rss.csmonitor.com/~r/feeds/csm/~3/hW-19eRtVC0/NBA-s-Jason-Collins-comes-out-What-does-that-mean-for-gay-rights

prometheus grand canyon skywalk tonga pid corned beef hash the walking dead season 2 finale born free