LGBT "Coming Out"

I could feel the day coming real soon where there will be many "active" athletes that are going to "come out" in the professional sports world. If statistics are accurate, there are about 400 athletes that are scared of coming out of their shell and expressing their sexuality publicly.  Many may argue that there is no reason why Gay athletes should come out publicly and express their sexuality because heterosexuals never have to come out and tell the world they are straight.  There is some truth to this; however, there are gay children and teens that need a role model.  The exposure needs to be present in order for the world to see Gays, Lesbians, Bisexuals, and Transgenders as "normal" in our society.  If you grew up in West Hollywood, San Francisco, New York City, or Chicago there is a chance that you are more comfortable with the LGBT community because you have seen this in your communities.   I personally have many Gay friends because this has been a normal part of my life growing up in Southern California.  As a teenager many of my friends came out early; therefore, I did not see them any different than the rest of my friends.

Jason Collins came out and I appreciate his bravery for standing out there for the LGBT community.  But Jason Collins has scored a dismal average of 3.6 points per game and is usually not someone that could could be looked upon as a hero.  He is not someone that made a difference on the court and there needs to be a stronger representative in his community. I respect the fact that he is willing to take the criticism and is comfortable in his own skin but as a community we need someone even bigger than Collins to come out.

Today I went onto ESPN.com, and there I found on the front page that Robbie Rogers is resuming his soccer career to be the first "openly" gay active athlete with the LA Galaxy.  Rogers explained that he had an epiphany when he talked to a group of 500 children at the Nike Be True LGBT Forum.  Rogers stated "these kids are standing up for themselves and changing the world, and I'm 25, I have a platform and a voice to be a role model. How much of a coward was I to not step up to the plate?"  This is a step in the right direction because we now have an athlete that directly saw that children need a role model and someone to "step up" to represent this community.  A 25 year old in his prime, former olympian and playing for a large market like Los Angeles.  Now we're talking.  This is a large step and I hope this ignites a fire and makes other potential  Gay super stars realize that they need to take advantage of the platform that they perform on.  

Juan Covarrubias 

Kin 577

LT 24