Why is this such a big deal and why do people find the need to share their sexuality? Should straight people come out as straight?
A complete idiot. Using this to get attention.
You say you don't advertise your sexuality? Bullshit. As others have already pointed out, every time you talk about your wife or girlfriend, you advertise it. When you show any kind of PDA (holding hands, a kiss goodbye, etc), you advertise it. Every time a breeder gets married, they advertise it.
Nobody is saying there aren't gay ball players - I don't think anyone is even implying it.
However, you (YOU) would be naive to not think that many of these gay ball players are hiding in the closet, fearful about how being outed will hurt their professional careers. A decade ago, or any other time before that, this kind of news would have ruined people in the NBA.
Christ - it has already been answered you fucking tool:
While it was a difficult thing to do personally and professionally, this isn't groundbreaking. You (generic) would be naive to not think there arent gay pro ball players.
That's basically all I'm saying.
Why is this such a big deal and why do people find the need to share their sexuality? Should straight people come out as straight?
A complete idiot. Using this to get attention.
This has already been answered in this thread.
The ridiculousness of your responses though tends to make me think that you are a closeted gay...
Obviously to some of your persuasion, it is a BFD.
When was the last time you heard of someone getting harassed because they are straight?
When was the last time you heard of someone getting fired from their job for being straight?
When was the last time you heard of a parent disowning their child for being straight?
When was the last time you heard of someone being killed because they are straight?
I'll go ahead and answer the question for you - never. However, for someone who is gay, these kinds of concerns are very real.
You say you don't advertise your sexuality? Bullshit. As others have already pointed out, every time you talk about your wife or girlfriend, you advertise it. When you show any kind of PDA (holding hands, a kiss goodbye, etc), you advertise it. Every time a breeder gets married, they advertise it.
God help us if a queer does those very same things - suddenly a large part of society starts crying "I don't mind if you're gay, but you don't have to push it down my throat.", coupled with a plethora of jeers, snide remarks, and dirty looks (unless your one of the unlucky few who gets something worse). It's a wonder why anyone even bothers coming out anyway. Someone has to take the first step - someone has to embolden the closeted masses to stop hiding their identities, to stop living lies and start living life.
You say it doesn't matter to you, that you could care less about someone's orientation? That's a fucking lie - if it was true, you would never have replied to this thread to begin with.
Happens all the time where I live (Chelsea). BFD. I see lesbians and gay men holding hands like normal couples.
Zsdersw, nobody wants to see that shit.
Happens all the time where I live (Chelsea). BFD. I see lesbians and gay men holding hands like normal couples.
My reaction to all this is to shrug. It's simply not important to me whether or not some public figure is gay, as I really don't care. Good for them for coming out, I suppose.
I'm not being derogatory at all; I think if everyone felt the way I do about it, this would be a total non-issue and that's a very good thing.
This has already been answered in this thread.
The ridiculousness of your responses though tends to make me think that you are a closeted gay...
He's nearing the end of his career. The cynic in me thinks the coming book deal and speaking tours are a big part of his motivation.34-year-old NBA center
Nobody will sign him now. He is damaged goods. I think he is retiring and just wanted to make a statement before doing so.
He's nearing the end of his career. The cynic in me thinks the coming book deal and speaking tours are a big part of his motivation.
There are surely gays in every pro sport but how many of them are out?
Eventually I hope that the publicly known sexual orientation of pro sports players is a non-issue. I do take offense as to how some people trivialize something that isn't trivial on a historical or personal level while wielding no life experience that makes their opinion valuable.
There is one sense in which I will agree with you: this didn't happen in a vacuum. When I sent my wife a text about this, it was "the first active male athlete in a major sport came out." When you look at it that way, it's kind of an amusingly narrow qualification. We've been taking baby steps for decades. Jason Collins likely wouldn't have come out at this point without Martina Navratilova (who took the biggest step), Billy Jean King, John Amaechi, Robbie Rogers, David Kopay, Gareth Thomas, and many others setting the stage for him.
Still, this is something of a watershed. It's much like when Massachusetts legalized gay marriage in 2003. Public opinion of gay people didn't change massively from the day before the decision to the day after, but it still meant something as a milestone along a continuum.
and defintely not worth attention-whoring Sports Illustrated over.
My reaction to all this is to shrug. It's simply not important to me whether or not some public figure is gay, as I really don't care. Good for them for coming out, I suppose.
I'm not being derogatory at all; I think if everyone felt the way I do about it, this would be a total non-issue and that's a very good thing.
Hmm.. I was listening to Rome today and he said something that didn't make sense to me: "He came out to live his life... you can live your life, why can't he live his?". You can't blame that on a cruel world -- millions of people haven't, but gays can?
I will admit -- society can make a person uncomfortable, but ultimately, you can't let people control your actions like that and then you think you deserve some sort of welcoming party when you decide to take control of your life again. Why couldn't Collins live his life? Because HE didn't want to yet.
Really, as a black man in America, if I let racists whites keep me from moving into a certain area, marry a white woman, work in white corporate America, can I get an audience for "taking control" of my life and getting that good job, marrying that woman, moving into that white neighborhood? While many may applaud my bravery, those people who are honest with me and themselves will say that they're glad I finally did something I should have done a long time ago -- taking control of my life and to keep it moving... what I did was nothing special, and defintely not worth attention-whoring Sports Illustrated over.