NFT: Jason Collins is teh ghey

[Planetman]

NTTAWWT

Why NBA center Jason Collins is coming out now

By Jason Collins with Franz Lidz

This story appears in the May 6, 2013, issue of Sports Illustrated.

I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay.

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. 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.

My journey of self-discovery and self-acknowledgement began in my hometown of Los Angeles and has taken me through two state high school championships, the NCAA Final Four and the Elite Eight, and nine playoffs in 12 NBA seasons.

I've played for six pro teams and have appeared in two NBA Finals. Ever heard of a parlor game called Three Degrees of Jason Collins? If you're in the league, and I haven't been your teammate, I surely have been one of your teammates' teammates. Or one of your teammates' teammates' teammates.

Now I'm a free agent, literally and figuratively. I've reached that enviable state in life in which I can do pretty much what I want. And what I want is to continue to play basketball. I still love the game, and I still have something to offer. My coaches and teammates recognize that. At the same time, I want to be genuine and authentic and truthful.

Why am I coming out now? Well, I started thinking about this in 2011 during the NBA player lockout. I'm a creature of routine. When the regular season ends I immediately dedicate myself to getting game ready for the opener of the next campaign in the fall. But the lockout wreaked havoc on my habits and forced me to confront who I really am and what I really want. With the season delayed, I trained and worked out. But I lacked the distraction that basketball had always provided.

The first relative I came out to was my aunt Teri, a superior court judge in San Francisco. Her reaction surprised me. "I've known you were gay for years," she said. From that moment on I was comfortable in my own skin. In her presence I ignored my censor button for the first time. She gave me support. The relief I felt was a sweet release. Imagine you're in the oven, baking. Some of us know and accept our sexuality right away and some need more time to cook. I should know -- I baked for 33 years.

When I was younger I dated women. I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue.

I realized I needed to go public when Joe Kennedy, my old roommate at Stanford and now a Massachusetts congressman, told me he had just marched in Boston's 2012 Gay Pride Parade. I'm seldom jealous of others, but hearing what Joe had done filled me with envy. I was proud of him for participating but angry that as a closeted gay man I couldn't even cheer my straight friend on as a spectator. If I'd been questioned, I would have concocted half truths. What a shame to have to lie at a celebration of pride. I want to do the right thing and not hide anymore. I want to march for tolerance, acceptance and understanding. I want to take a stand and say, "Me, too."

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by HMc

You act as if there isn't an awful lot of anti-gay noise coming from the christian right in absolutely every forum in which it could possibly originate. Holy shit there are members of congress who can't get with it and actively campaign for discrimination against gays. They inevitably rush to the bible as the authority for their claims.

Don't act like it's one or two bad seeds that make the christian brotherhood look bad when it comes to not accepting lifestyles that the bible (it seems) condemns.

And no, mocking christians is not the same as mocking gay people. Christians choose to believe that stuff.

Does that make anti-Christian hate acceptable to you?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Yeah. 10 Commandments aren't really literal, do as you please. And Paul's NT writings were just his own personal thoughts, nothing really meant by any of them.


It would be really odd to justify the belief that a supreme being implanted his "son" into a woman in 4 BC and he was crucified and rose from teh dead. I mean, you believe that literally but not some benign everyday teachings. That blows me away.

So you don't understand that there are people who believe that God exists but aren't fundamentalist Christians? You aren't aware that this is a thing?

[HMc]

[Not in relation to Saul] What's odd to me is that you can believe that a dude rose from the dead (and the rest of that narrative)....but not that people could be born with a primary attraction to the same sex. Because that's just implausible.

[Dave Lane]

http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post...rent-worlds-he

[HMc]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Does that make anti-Christian hate acceptable to you?

Where did you get "hate" from?

Hatred is stupid. Calling homosexuality immoral because the bible said it is a sin is also stupid. Anyone that carries on with that caper deserves to be mocked, yes, much as you might mock someone that thinks 9/11 was an inside job and feels the need to tell you all about it on a regular basis.

[Dave Lane]

Originally Posted by Prison Bitch

Yeah. 10 Commandments aren't really literal, do as you please. And Paul's NT writings were just his own personal thoughts, nothing really meant by any of them.


It would be really odd to justify the belief that a supreme being implanted his "son" into a woman in 4 BC and he was crucified and rose from teh dead. I mean, you believe that literally but not some benign everyday teachings. That blows me away.

I don't believe in monsters. Hence I don't believe in Yahweh.

[HMc]

Originally Posted by TEX

Mocking is mocking no matter the group. You seemd to have lost that in your tidy explination. When one who thinks as you do mocks a group as you did - it's justified. So Typical.

Specifically I think that people that refute science on account of the bible and leverage that position to tell us that homosexuality is immoral deserve to be ridiculed, yes.

Of course, if someone walked down the street and told me that Thor or Zeus had just shown up and answered their prayers I would likely consider that person to batshit crazy also so it is not something saved for christians.

[Bambi]

Originally Posted by Dave Lane

http://publicshaming.tumblr.com/post...rent-worlds-he

I love it when dudes play the "persecuted white male angle". It always works out so well for them.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by HMc

Where did you get "hate" from?

Hatred is stupid. Calling homosexuality immoral because the bible said it is a sin is also stupid. Anyone that carries on with that caper deserves to be mocked, yes, much as you might mock someone that thinks 9/11 was an inside job and feels the need to tell you all about it on a regular basis.

You can't just give a straight answer?

OK, let's forget the word "hate". Does it make it OK to level the same kinds of ridicule and criticism that gays experience toward Christians?

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by HMc

That poor minority, the christians that choose their faith. However shall they cope?

If you haven't noticed, I'm not having this discussion for their benefit; I'm having it for yours.

Christians don't need me to defend them. They aren't the ones trying to change the laws. I'm just letting you know that you sound like an idiot and serve only to hurt your own cause by being an extremist. I'm telling you this as someone on your side of this issue.

When someone on your own side tells you that you're an extremist, it's worth a listen. Yelling "hey you stupid mother****ing Christian pieces of shit...trade your beliefs for mine" may feel cathartic, but it's about as effective as Fred Phelps holding a "God hates (gays)" sign.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by HMc

[Not in relation to Saul] What's odd to me is that you can believe that a dude rose from the dead (and the rest of that narrative)....but not that people could be born with a primary attraction to the same sex. Because that's just implausible.

Yep, some people are just born with bad wiring.

[HMc]

Your status as the board's boring contrarian is safe, Donger.

[Saul Good]

Originally Posted by HMc

[Not in relation to Saul] What's odd to me is that you can believe that a dude rose from the dead (and the rest of that narrative)....but not that people could be born with a primary attraction to the same sex. Because that's just implausible.

There are plenty of people who believe both...so many, in fact, that they can swing this issue either way at the polls. Attacking them is cutting off your nose in spite of your face.

[Donger]

Originally Posted by HMc

Your status as the board's boring contrarian is safe, Donger.

I'm not being contrarian. I'm of the opinion that homosexuals are born that way. Hence, my post above about bad wiring. However, I would argue that they do make a choice when they act upon their desires, just like heterosexuals do.

You disagree?

[HMc]

Originally Posted by Saul Good

There are plenty of people who believe both...so many, in fact, that they can swing this issue either way at the polls. Attacking them is cutting off your nose in spite of your face.

I am not "attacking" anyone. Quit feeling the oppression. It doesn't exist.