# First openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport- NBA player Jason Collins **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 29, 2013, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012 "2013-04-29T15:52:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/41 "2013-05-01T05:08:35Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I wonder if Broussard just got himself fired. If Disney still owns ESPN, I would not be at all surprised. ---
**Author:** ![Wallaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Wallaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallaby)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 11:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/42 "2013-05-01T11:22:32Z")
In Australia, we had a League player come out at least 10 years ago. Ian Roberts. He was a top player, good enough to represent Australia in International matches. I’m fairly sure he was representing Australia after coming out as gay. And if people were looking to confirm their prejudices re homosexual people, Ian Roberts was one of the biggest, toughest, hardest SOB to ever play the game. 6’5", 250 lbs. His job in the Rugby League team was to smash into the opposition big guys. > **[Ian Roberts (rugby league)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Roberts_(rugby_league))** > > Ian Roberts (born 31 July 1965) is a British-born Australian actor, IT managed services consultant and former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A New South Wales State of Origin and Australian international representative forward, he played club football with the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Wigan, Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and North Queensland Cowboys. In 1995 Roberts became the first high-profile Australian sports person and first rugby footballer in the wor... ---
**Author:** ![Slypork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@Slypork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slypork)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/43 "2013-05-01T13:35:30Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > In Australia, we had a League player come out at least 10 years ago. Ian Roberts. He was a top player, good enough to represent Australia in International matches. I’m fairly sure he was representing Australia after coming out as gay. > > And if people were looking to confirm their prejudices re homosexual people, Ian Roberts was one of the biggest, toughest, hardest SOB to ever play the game. 6’5", 250 lbs. His job in the Rugby League team was to smash into the opposition big guys. > > [Ian Roberts (rugby league) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Roberts_(rugby_league)) No kidding. I was watching a match on ESPN2 and saw him crushing his opponents. It was painful to watch. I’d love him to be in a bar when some homophobe spouts off something about limp-wristed fairies. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/44 "2013-05-01T14:06:56Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > If Disney still owns ESPN, I would not be at all surprised. It does, but Disney’s corporate policies are not notably gay-friendly. They started offering same-sex partner benefits in the nineties, but it was because everyone in Hollywood did. They don’t officially sanction Gay Days, and their policy is to disclaim any involvement when anti-gay people complain. What amazes me is how good an ambassador Collins is for the gay community (as was John Amaechi before him). Hardly any US athletes are capable of coherent speech, but Collins doesn’t speak in cliches and actually answers questions he’s asked. It’s almost like he was picked by the shadowy cabal behind the Gay Agenda (:D) to make sure the first out active male team athlete didn’t embarrass them. ETA: Amaechi is doing the rounds of the local sports talk stations, being best known as the Magic player who didn’t fuck off to the Lakers, and is drawing all sorts of “well, I never thought about it that way” calls from listeners. So clearly, Collins has already done some good. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/45 "2013-05-01T14:57:19Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Interestingly, I heard the same thing; the Celtics were not at all in a rush to let him go. > > The question a lot of teams will be asking themselves is “do we have a guy on the bench who’s seven feet tall and can defend the basket as well as Jason Collins?” At least 12-14 teams will think “no, we don’t.” He only played 38 games last year and averaged 1.1 a game. I think before this announcement his chances were 50/50 of playing in the nba next year. I think his chances are better now. He’ll be on the bench somewhere next year if he’s healthy. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/46 "2013-05-01T15:16:43Z")
One week ago, Jason Collins was an unknown, over-the-hill, unproductive, unemployed former bench warmer. Now he’s being hailed as a hero in virtually every media outlet in America. He’s guaranteed himself lucrative employment next year, either with an NBA team that will have local reporters DEMANDING that they sign him, or with a media outlet that will pat itself on the back for its progressiveness in hiring him. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/47 "2013-05-01T15:26:26Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He only played 38 games last year and averaged 1.1 a game. I think before this announcement his chances were 50/50 of playing in the nba next year. I think his chances are better now. He’ll be on the bench somewhere next year if he’s healthy. He’s never been a scorer, though. His value is as a guy who can defend the other team’s center. And he played in about 3/4s of his games with the Celtics, so they found a use for him. He didn’t play very much after his trade to the Wizards. I think he was included in that trade for salary cap purposes and maybe to be a mentor for other players, but like I was saying earlier, a young team isn’t going to have much use for him. > [@astorian](#): > > One week ago, Jason Collins was an unknown, over-the-hill, unproductive, unemployed former bench warmer. There’s a large helping of baloney in this statement. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/48 "2013-05-01T15:38:27Z")
> [@Wallaby](#): > > In Australia, we had a League player come out at least 10 years ago. Ian Roberts. He was a top player, good enough to represent Australia in International matches. I’m fairly sure he was representing Australia after coming out as gay. > > And if people were looking to confirm their prejudices re homosexual people, Ian Roberts was one of the biggest, toughest, hardest SOB to ever play the game. 6’5", 250 lbs. His job in the Rugby League team was to smash into the opposition big guys. > > [Ian Roberts (rugby league) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Roberts_(rugby_league)) interesting that Rugby has had two very high profile gay active players. Ian Roberts noted above and from the union code we had Wales and Lions captain [Gareth Thomas](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gareth_Thomas_(rugby))coming out in 2009. In both cases I can’t say I recall anything but support and good wishes for the guys, particularly from their team mates. Restores ones faith in human nature and bolsters my opinion that we do actually live in the 21st century. Now we have basketball players…next the real quantum leap, professional soccer. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/49 "2013-05-01T18:27:23Z")
I am nothing of a basketball fan, but I get the feeling that whether or not Collins will be in the NBA next year will depend on whether or not a team thinks he will be useful as a player. And that’s a good thing. If he is more - or less - likely to be playing because he is gay, that is not a good thing. IMO. I doubt he will pick up any endorsements as a result of coming out, but I don’t think he will lose many either, if for no other reason than he isn’t a prominent enough player. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/50 "2013-05-01T19:12:31Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > I am nothing of a basketball fan, but I get the feeling that whether or not Collins will be in the NBA next year will depend on whether or not a team thinks he will be useful as a player. And that’s a good thing. If he is more - or less - likely to be playing because he is gay, that is not a good thing. IMO. > > I doubt he will pick up any endorsements as a result of coming out, but I don’t think he will lose many either, if for no other reason than he isn’t a prominent enough player. > > Regards, > Shodan He’s of an age where he won’t be player for too much longer. But I think he has impressed as an on air personality the last few days. He may have helped his post-nba job prospects. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/51 "2013-05-01T19:15:21Z")
If the drugs problems, crimes and other assorted problems athletes have had proves one thing, it’s that if a team exec thinks you can help them you’ll have a job. I don’t think homosexuality will be any different. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/52 "2013-05-01T19:17:20Z")
He might even get his own shower stall in the locker room. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2013, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/53 "2013-05-01T21:03:39Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > He might even get his own shower stall in the locker room. 😉 Now see, I’ve never quite got that. I’m straight and I wouldn’t have an issue with nudity alongside a gay man in a non-sexual context. I’ve done so with females on numerous occasions. It may be wrong of me but people who do have a major issue with that set off rather loud alarm bells with me. Suppression? denial? confusion? uncertainty? ignorance? I’m not sure but quite possibly something is going on. ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/54 "2013-05-02T05:29:56Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Now see, I’ve never quite got that. I’m straight and I wouldn’t have an issue with nudity alongside a gay man in a non-sexual context. I’ve done so with females on numerous occasions. > > It may be wrong of me but people who do have a major issue with that set off rather loud alarm bells with me. Suppression? denial? confusion? uncertainty? ignorance? I’m not sure but quite possibly something is going on. I don’t know, I think I’m a pretty progressive guy, but having open showers with women would still make me quite uncomfortable. Hell, my freshmen year dorm had co-ed bathrooms and I got pretty used to that, but showers are a whole different ballgame. I think it’s a much bigger issue with the people who are attracted to the others, than vice versa. If I was attracted to men, I’d be uncomfortable showering with them because I’d be self-conscious (which is the reason I’d be uncomfortable showering with random women). If you’re not attracted to them, it shouldn’t be a big deal, as there’s nothing at stake and there’s no danger of getting ‘excited’. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ea5d25/32.png) [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 8:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/55 "2013-05-02T08:41:58Z")
There’s a saying in sports: “If you’ve played on a team, you’ve showered with a gay dude.” I’ve rowed with dozens of gay dudes that I knew about, and I’m sure dozens that I didn’t. But at the end of practice, I just want to get cleaned up and go to work, just like every dude in that locker room, regardless of what shape of person he’d rather go home to. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/56 "2013-05-02T13:10:57Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Now see, I’ve never quite got that. I’m straight and I wouldn’t have an issue with nudity alongside a gay man in a non-sexual context. I’ve done so with females on numerous occasions. > > It may be wrong of me but people who do have a major issue with that set off rather loud alarm bells with me. Suppression? denial? confusion? uncertainty? ignorance? I’m not sure but quite possibly something is going on. It’s a joke. There are a number of posters who said in Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell threads that they agreed with the policy because they would be uncomfortable showering with gay men. **Chessic Sense** was one, as I recall. ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2013, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/57 "2013-05-02T14:29:31Z")
> [@Shooby](#): > > I don’t know, I think I’m a pretty progressive guy, but having open showers with women would still make me quite uncomfortable. Hell, my freshmen year dorm had co-ed bathrooms and I got pretty used to that, but showers are a whole different ballgame. > > I think it’s a much bigger issue with the people who are attracted to the others, than vice versa. If I was attracted to men, I’d be uncomfortable showering with them because I’d be self-conscious (which is the reason I’d be uncomfortable showering with random women). If you’re not attracted to them, it shouldn’t be a big deal, as there’s nothing at stake and there’s no danger of getting ‘excited’. Nudity is only as sexualized as we make it. For most straight Americans, nudity and sexuality are linked because we segregate genders in almost every setting that involves nudity _except_ sexual settings. Gay Americans, though, grow up in that same context, so same-sex nudity is associated with locker rooms as much as with sex. For a gay man, especially an athlete, showering in a group setting with other men doesn’t have to be anything more than a shower, because it’s something he’s done for years. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/58 "2013-05-03T02:12:22Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Nudity is only as sexualized as we make it. For most straight Americans, nudity and sexuality are linked because we segregate genders in almost every setting that involves nudity _except_ sexual settings. Gay Americans, though, grow up in that same context, so same-sex nudity is associated with locker rooms as much as with sex. For a gay man, especially an athlete, showering in a group setting with other men doesn’t have to be anything more than a shower, because it’s something he’s done for years. Very astute observation. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/59 "2013-05-03T03:00:22Z")
Apparently, the first openly gay male athlete in a major sport was Glenn Burke, in 1976: > **[Actually, Jason Collins Isn't the First Openly Gay Man in a Major Pro Sport](https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/05/actually-jason-collins-isnt-the-first-openly-gay-man-in-a-major-pro-sport/275523/)** > > Major-league baseball player Glenn Burke was comfortably out to his teammates and friends in 1976—but back then, it was the press that wasn't ready for a gay male athlete. > [@](#): > > Burke made no secret of his sexual orientation to the Dodgers front office, his teammates, or friends in either league. He also talked freely with sportswriters, though all of them ended up shaking their heads and telling him they couldn’t write that in their papers. … Burke, who also died of AIDS-related causes in 1995, came out to the world outside baseball in a 1982 article for Inside Sports and even followed it up shortly after with an appearance on The Today Show with Bryant Gumbel. But his story was greeted by the rest of the news media and the baseball establishment, including Burke’s former teammates and baseball commissioner Bowie Kuhn, with silence. ---
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2013, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012/60 "2013-05-03T03:27:00Z")
> [@Enginerd](#): > > Nudity is only as sexualized as we make it. For most straight Americans, nudity and sexuality are linked because we segregate genders in almost every setting that involves nudity _except_ sexual settings. Gay Americans, though, grow up in that same context, so same-sex nudity is associated with locker rooms as much as with sex. For a gay man, especially an athlete, showering in a group setting with other men doesn’t have to be anything more than a shower, because it’s something he’s done for years. Good point. I have no experience being with naked women my age in a non-sexual context, but gay people do it all the time, so I guess it’s just socialized. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012.md?page=4)