With the revelation today that Jason Collins, a black basketball player with the Washington Wizards and the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association, has come out as gay, is a major turning point in the gay rights movement in America!
Organized sports has always been seen as the last place we would see any such revelations, but with young people, by massive margins as high as 74 percent, having no problem with gays and lesbians, and believing they should be treated equally with straight people, this will be the beginning of other athletes showing the courage and principles of Jason Collins.
Jackie Robinson was a transformational figure, and this issue of sexuality is even more difficult to deal with, but Jason Collins has become a pioneer for his race and for athletes, and no matter what attacks he must bear, and the prejudice and hatred he will have to deal with, particularly from so called “religious” people, he will triumph and hold his head high, and will give young people struggling with sexuality better able to deal with it, and to accept what they are, rather than fight their natural feelings.
There is nothing worse than living a lie, and allowing so called “religious” people to make one feel guilt about his or her feelings, but the gay rights movement will continue to move toward total triumph and acceptance by all but the hate mongers!
Seriously now. I had no idea gay people were banned from playing at the NBA, MLB and NFL! You gotta be kidding comparing this issue with the situation of blacks 60 years ago, when we had a “Black League” and the Major Leagues. Finally who the hell cares what anyone does in bed? I don’t give a damn how this guy Collins gets off, or how anyone else does. Is it really that important having a sign on head as “straight” , “gay”, ‘lesbian”, “bi” or whatever? Whatever happen to privacy in this country?
Gay athletes have had to hide their sexuality, Juan, and now it is no longer necessary. That has been more stressful and challenging than the issue of race, because the hate for gays is so massive that their lives are in danger, far greater now than any other group, as religious extremists are doing everything they can to scare people about the issue, more so than ever used against blacks or other minorities. The bullying and intimidation used against gays can only be overcome with the total repudiation of these “religious” hypocrites. So this is a major moment in sports history, even if you do not wish to accept that!
I think you are exaggerating and that it is an insult to past generations of African Americans who have been first enslaved, then slaughtered and lynched in the South. I mean, did I miss a gay lynching or something, cause I haven’t heard about any. If you want to paint this as a crusade, go ahead, but I think it’s ridiculous. And I have a brother who is gay, and even he will tell you that under no circumstances could it be compared to what blacks have suffered generations ago. You make it sound like gays are being hung in public like in Iran. Again, I really think 99% doesn’t care and those religious people who do not accept homosexual behavior (not the miniscule crusader nut-jobs that you find everywhere) are actually on the defensive. They are being obligated to “accept” when all they can do is really be “tolerant”. But some in the gay movement don’t like that, they want them to accept homosexuality as a “valuable” conduct/orientation. Some in the gay community want religious people (those that do) to stop considering homosexuality as a sin. But for some people that goes against their religious/moral beliefs. And they are entitled to their personal beliefs. As long as they are tolerant, they should not be forced to “accept” the behavior of others. That is the distinction, between tolerance and acceptance. And some in the gay community do not like that, they do not want to be considered sinners or that for some their conduct is not valuable for society .
Juan, I am NOT trivializing what African Americans have gone through in their history in America, far from it. But to be gay has been a major crisis with the level of intolerance and hate that has been promoted by those on the religious right, and the way, for instance, that George W. Bush used the issue in 2004 for his election campaign, and even now, will not speak up in favor, even though his wife and his mother do so.
Yes, anyone can have his own religious beliefs, but to display it in public in such a hateful manner is outrageous. There are still people who do not like interracial marriage for instance, but they do not get involved in massive hate campaigns as against gay marriage. The hate level and danger to gays is in today’s America, far greater!
Over time, this hate will dissipate as the older generation dies off, but the coming out of Jason Collins will have a positive effect on young people who are afraid of revelation, so that is why it is a major moment, as important as Jackie Robinson, because sports figures have an impact beyond their field of work.
It seems that for the media it is perfectly fine to come out as gay, (I personally don’t have a beef with that nor do I care) but if you come out of the closet as a Christian they immediately send you back to the closet. That is what happened to Sports analyst Chris Broussard who stepped briefly outside of the Christian closet on Monday and paid the price for it. This peace by George Neumayr explains it well.
-“Personally I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly premarital sex [lifestyle] between heterosexuals. If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, the Bible says you know them by their fruits, it says that’s a sin,†Broussard said on ESPN. “If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality, adultery, fornication, premarital sex between heterosexuals, whatever it may be. I think that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ.â€
ESPN, not long thereafter, apologized for permitting these remarks to disrupt Monday’s canonization: “We regret that a respectful discussion of personal viewpoints became a distraction from today’s news. ESPN is fully committed to diversity and welcomes Jason Collins’ announcement.â€
Naturally, a Soviet-style clarification was in order from the guilty party, and Broussard supplied it via Twitter by Monday night: “Today on [ESPN], as part of a larger, wide-ranging discussion on today’s news, I offered my personal opinion as it relates to Christianity, a point of view that I have expressed publicly before. I realize that some people disagree with my opinion and I accept and respect that. As has been the case in the past, my beliefs have not and will not impact my ability to report on the NBA. I believe Jason Collins displayed bravery with his announcement today and I have no objection to him or anyone else playing in the NBA.â€
This may not be sufficient. The columnist H.L. Mencken defined American puritanism as the “haunting fear that someone, somewhere is having a good time.†Political correctness, as the new puritanism, harbors the haunting fear that someone, somewhere is holding a Christian thought. Broussard, if he wishes to continue his career in sports journalism, will have to undergo PC-style reparative therapy and adopt a more appropriate level of enthusiasm when future canonizations of homosexual athletes occur.
Unlike his colleagues, he failed to treat the news like a moon landing. It was so important that it warranted a presidential phone call. And he failed to compare Collins to Jackie Robinson. This was “enormous†news, decreed the media.
Except it wasn’t. One detected considerable straining in the accounts as the reporters piled up the qualifiers: Collins is not the first homosexual athlete but the “first active male athlete in a major U.S. professional sports league to come out of the closet,†as the Washington Post put it. Complicating that heavily qualified distinction is that he is not active. He is a free agent who, prior to this announcement, may not have played again. “He’s towards the end of his career and not that good anymore,†said Broussard.
Perhaps Broussard will have to apologize for that judgment too. The media prides itself on the total lack of skepticism when stories like this one break, giving them a Pravda-style rollout. All the propaganda pieces fell into place perfectly, all duly reported by the media: the presidential phone call, a supportive pat on the back from the First Lady, the praise of Kobe Bryant, Bill Clinton, and America’s other moral giants, an adulatory Good Morning America interview.
Broussard spoiled the festivities by bringing up God, whose celebrity continues to dim. The ruminations of rappers and reality stars now count for more than passages from the Bible.
Last week the media informed those perplexed by the FBI’s lax oversight of the Boston bombers that good Americans shouldn’t care what people think, that the FBI was right not to give heightened scrutiny to people who dabble in jihadist thought. But that same media takes a great deal of interest in the thinking of Christians and monitors them very carefully. Christians, unless they change their thoughts, don’t belong in public life, according to America’s ruling class. They are “un-American,†as actor Tom Hanks once put it in an unguarded moment.
Bill O’Reilly is also concerned that “thumping the Bible†somehow lowers our public discourse. Who needs the word of God when we have the tweets of Michelle Obama? From now on, Christian Broussard will be expected to leave his Bible in the closet. –
I believe some have their priorities mixed up. “When Jason Collins. Collins revealed publicly that he was gay, he received a telephone call from President Obama and was acclaimed by the media. Contrasts this with the heroism of soldiers like Sgt. Greg Robinson, who became the first amputee to complete Air Assault School. The training was so grueling that Robinson broke his prosthetic leg twice. Did Sgt. Robinson receive a call from President Obama? Did other decorated soldiers like Army Lieutenant Col. Matthew Dooley? Take a guess.” – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFnO_P87oj8&feature=player_embedded
Another clear indication of misplaced values.
Well said Professor!