NBA star Jason Collins came out as gay in this issue of Sports Illustrated. | Source: SI.com

NBA player Jason Collins of the Washington Wizards made waves when he announced his coming out on the cover of Sports Illustrated. And it’s awesome that he was so brave and proud of being gay in an industry where, until now, there have been literally no openly gay role models.

Jason Collins didn’t set out to be the poster boy for gay athletes, and he admits that. “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,” he told Sports Illustrated. “I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, ‘I’m different.’ If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.”

That’s pretty commendable and awesome, right?

But, not gonna lie, it sort of bums me out that this is such a big deal. It’s 2013!

By this point, most of us–especially our generation–know that, hey, a lot of people are gay. And a lot of people play sports. It was sort of inevitable that, at some point, those would have some sort of overlap. And most of us are well aware that, hey, gay people are a lot like us. The biggest difference between someone gay and someone not gay is who they’re having sex with, and let’s be real: That’s not our business either way.

Jason addresses this, too, in his essay, which actually reads more like a cover letter than a coming out letter. (He’s a free agent, so I don’t think it’s necessarily a coincidence. But being a free agent–meaning his contract is up this year–may also have made him feel safer coming out so he wouldn’t be putting his teammates in a weird situation if they weren’t cool with it.) ”I go against the gay stereotype, which is why I think a lot of players will be shocked: ‘That guy is gay?’ But I’ve always been an aggressive player, even in high school,” he wrote. “Who knows? That’s something for a psychologist to unravel. My motivations, like my contributions, don’t show up in box scores, and frankly I don’t care about stats. Winning is what counts. I want to be evaluated as a team player.”

It’s awesome that Jason Collins coming out was received so well throughout the NBA and beyond, and hopefully it inspires more professional athletes to be comfortable enough in their sexuality as well as their own skin to come out of the closet. But I hope even more than eventually, this will be a complete non-story, because most of us don’t think it’s a big deal that someone is gay or bi or trans or into furries. Basically, I don’t care who’s boning who in basketball.

But I might just be bitter because I’m so short.

Do you think Jason Collins coming out to Sports Illustrated is a big deal? Do you think gay athletes should all come out publicly? Do you think the NBA would have hired Jason Collins if they knew he was gay before? Do you think Jason Collins coming out will help or hurt his career now that he’s an NBA free agent? Tell us in the comments!

Coming out makes gay people happier!

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