# First openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport- NBA player Jason Collins

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/first-openly-gay-athlete-playing-in-a-major-american-team-sport-nba-player-jason-collins/657012>\
**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:** 1\
**Showing post:** 57

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**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")

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> [@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.

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