[BostonCard]

Thank you WIM.  I completely agree.  High profile gay people coming out will cease to be a big deal when enough have done so without repercussions that it becomes just another personal characteristic of people, like, say hair color, and not a source of hatred and bigotry.  I noted in another thread that while I was at Stanford, which I consider to be fairly open minded and very close to one of the most gay friendly cities on the planet, the "gay liberation" statue was a victim of acts of vandalism because of what it portrayed.  That was less than 20 years ago.

Attitudes toward LGBTQ are changing very quickly, which is a good thing.  A large part of it is because gays and lesbians have come out of the closet, both privately (to friends and family) and publicly among high profile people in the entertainment, media, corporate America, and, finally, athletics.  The biggest predictor of whether someone has tolerant attitudes towards gays is whether they know someone who is openly gay.  And they are not going to know someone who is openly gay if all the gay people they know are in the closet.  And gay people are more likely to be open and honest about their sexuality if they see others behaving likewise.

Whether you like it or not, what Collins and Sam did were courageous acts.  Since no major sports athlete had come out as gay before, they had no idea what to expect.  Thankfully, it appears they are going to be just fine.  That will open the doors for the next guys to come out of the closet publicly, and those announcements will be met with much less publicity.  Eventually, you will get your wish, and the nth major athlete to come out of the closet will be met with a big shrug because it will no longer be extraordinary.  That is, what everyone (you and me and the LGBTQ community) wants, and it will happen.  But it can only happen because guys like Collins and Sam did what they did.

BC

[BostonCard]

Thank you WIM.  I completely agree.  High profile gay people coming out will cease to be a big deal when enough have done so without repercussions that it becomes just another personal characteristic of people, like, say hair color, and not a source of hatred and bigotry.  I noted in another thread that while I was at Stanford, which I consider to be fairly open minded and very close to one of the most gay friendly cities on the planet, the "gay liberation" statue was a victim of acts of vandalism because of what it portrayed.  That was less than 20 years ago.

Attitudes toward LGBTQ are changing very quickly, which is a good thing.  A large part of it is because gays and lesbians have come out of the closet, both privately (to friends and family) and publicly among high profile people in the entertainment, media, corporate America, and, finally, athletics.  The biggest predictor of whether someone has tolerant attitudes towards gays is whether they know someone who is openly gay.  And they are not going to know someone who is openly gay if all the gay people they know are in the closet.  And gay people are more likely to be open and honest about their sexuality if they see others behaving likewise.

Whether you like it or not, what Collins and Sam did were courageous acts.  Since no major sports athlete had come out as gay before, they had no idea what to expect.  Thankfully, it appears they are going to be just fine.  That will open the doors for the next guys to come out of the closet publicly, and those announcements will be met with much less publicity.  Eventually, you will get your wish, and the nth major athlete to come out of the closet will be met with a big shrug because it will no longer be extraordinary.  That is, what everyone (you and me and the LGBTQ community) wants, and it will happen.  But it can only happen because guys like Collins and Sam did what they did.

BC