"I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay," says Jason Collins. Just 48 hours ago news broke that Jason Collins and seven foot NBA player announced that he is gay. In this world we’ve recently have become open about peoples race and sexuality. Nevertheless this is still a great milestone in sports and the African-American society. Jason Collins has played 13 seasons in the NBA, although he wasn’t the superstar like Kobe Bryant or LeBron James, he was a great and serviceable role player on some good teams. The perception of gays around the U.S. has evolved since the early 80s; it was once believed because of the AIDS epidemic that the AIDS virus was only transmitted through gays. America has become less ignorant to that premises and since has fought for gay rights and equal opportunity of those who are different. Jason Collins is a pioneer for both the gay community and African-American culture.
In a recent Sports Illustrated article, Collins was quoted saying “I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay player in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation.” Although this is a great step and millstone for the gay and lesbian community, it is also a groundbreaking step forward for the African-American culture too. It was over 80 years ago where African-Americans were killed just for simply whistling at the opposite race, and it was only 20 years ago gays where being abused and in some cases murdered because of their sexual presence. The struggle of gay rights is a lot like racial struggles of the African-American culture. In sports a lone it wasn’t until Baseballs 48th year of existence before it saw it’s
