THE DOOR OPENER

A DECADE AFTER BECOMING THE FIRST ACTIVE MALE ATHLETE IN A MAJOR PRO LEAGUE TO COME OUT AS GAY, JASON COLLINS REFLECTS ON HOW FAR THE SPORTS WORLD HAS COMEAND WHERE IT STILL NEEDS TO GO

- FRANZ LIDZ 

IN APRIL 2013, Jason Collins and I collaborated on his deeply personal essay for SPORTS ILLUSTRATED in which he became the first active male athlete in any of the four major American pro leagues-NBA, NFL, MLB and NHL-to announce he is gay. It was hoped the NBA center's declaration would encourage other gay athletes to go public. But 10 years later only one other active player in those leagues, Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Carl Nassib, has come out. He did so while playing for the Las Vegas Raiders in '21.

By disclosing his orientation, Collins, then a 34-year-old free agent, breached one of the last barriers in the locker room, an ultramasculine preserve where being gay is often equated with femininity, and femininity with weakness.

The response to Collins's announcement was overwhelmingly positive. It was hailed as a milestone in civil rights. "A lot of young people out there who are gay or lesbian, who are struggling with these issues, to see a role model who's unafraid, I think it's a great thing," said President Barack Obama.

Others were not so accepting. Basketball analyst Chris Broussard a fundamentalist Christian-said on ESPN that living publicly as a gay man was a sin equivalent to adultery and premarital sex, and that Collins was "walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ."

Those contrasting reactions foreshadowed the polar views toward gender fluidity now playing out in courtrooms and state legislatures, and on courts and fields, across the country.

In the decade since Collins dropped his bombshell, he has embraced his role as a symbolic figure for the path toward enlightenment of pro sports. On Feb. 23, 2014, after months of waiting for a team to call, he signed a contract with the Brooklyn Nets. Collins had spent half his career with the Nets when they played in New Jersey, where he was a teammate of Jason Kidd, who by '14 was the team's coach.