Collins could open closet door for other pro athletes: GLAAD

TORONTO — In an article he wrote for the May 6 issue of Sports Illustrated, National Basketball Association player Jason Collins revealed: “I’m gay.”

The public announcement from the 34-year-old free agent — formerly of the Washington Wizards — is being heralded as the first of its kind from an athlete on a professional sports team in North America.

Aaron McQuade of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) welcomed Collins’ decision to come out.

“Countless LGBT young athletes have a new role model,” he told Global News.

McQuade said he has no doubt the league will support Collins and he will be signed to a team. “He’s the first to face to the so-called challenge of the locker room and he’s going to prove that it’s not a big deal.”

Just last week, Nike signed its first endorsement deal with an openly gay professional athlete, Brittney Griner of the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury.

The NFL could soon have its first openly gay player on the field. Alan Gendreau, a 23-year-old kicker, is widely expected to be signed by a team this season or next.

GLAAD also believes players like Collins and Gendreau will open the closet doors for other professional athletes.

“I have no doubt that this will start a domino effect,” he said. “If we don’t see it this summer then certainly next year.”

Dozens of professional athletes have come out in recent years but what makes Collins’ declaration so unique is the fact that he is an active player in his sport.

Several National Football League players — including Esera Tuaolo, a defensive tackle for nine years — have come out after retiring.

Billy Bean, who played Major League Baseball from 1987 to 1995, came out in 1999.

David Testo, who played for Major League Soccer’s Montreal Impact, came out in 2011 just weeks after being cut from the team.

Earlier this year, professional soccer player Robbie Rogers of U.K. team Leeds United — and a former member of the U.S. national soccer team — came out as a gay man and then quit the sport.

In an interview with ABC News in mid-April, Rogers said there are a lot of gay athletes in professional sports who are simply too afraid to come forward.

“There’s hundreds,” he said. “Thousands, I’m sure.”