Being Gay In Sports Won’t Matter One Day
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By DERON SNYDER
In other news, Phoenix Suns president Rick Welts announced that he’s gay. He’s undoubtedly not the only such executive in the league. Surely other teams also have homosexuals on the payroll. About the only thing remarkable would be a discovery that Welts, actually, is the NBA’s sole employee who prefers same-sex relationships.
But rare is the occasion when homosexuality and team sports are mentioned in the same story. So we must pause and take notice.
Welts‘ proclamation in Sunday’s New York Times is the biggest step forward for gays in sports since 2007, when John Amaechi became the first former NBA player to come out. Amaechi’s revelation led to recollections of former Major League Baseball player Billy Bean, who came out in 1999, three years after his retirement. In 2002, former NFL nose tackle Esera Tuaolo announced on HBO’s Real Sports that he’s gay, making him the third former NFL player to come out after David Kopay (1975) and Roy Simmons (1992).
Now here are the male athletes in major team sports who came out while active:
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The next one will be the first one.
