Yesterday, Jason Collins came out as the first openly gay, active, NBA player. Collins is a center for the Washington Wizards and is supposedly the first active professional sports player to come out. I don't think that's true. After all, several female players, such as Brittany Griner who is going pro this year, are openly gay. I'd even argue that if you didn't know Martina Navratilova was a lesbian during her time on the pro tour, you just weren't paying attention. Of course, she wasn't 'open' about it. Not sure how more open she could've been, but it was pretty evident to me and I was only a teen.
But Collins is, supposedly, big news. Big enough to be a top story on every major sports and news broadcast. In fact, I can't get away from it this morning. It's getting more than a reasonable amount of coverage on every morning TV show.
I don't see what the big deal is. Nearly every self-centric person who is gay is coming out these days because it garners massive amounts of attention. Many others come out with little or no fanfare, which is preferable. Frankly, I don't care what they are, and I'm not sure why others are so interested.
I'm not intolerant, and I am happy for Jason that he is able to come to terms with his sexuality. But it's really just not my business, nor do I understand why anyone makes it theirs. So why does the media have to make it our business?
It's a political agenda. There is a belief that by blasting it on the airwaves 24/7, somehow it will 'solve' the 'gay problem'. No, the 'problem' isn't making gay people straight, it's making people who dislike gays suddenly like them, or at least start voting to approve gay marriage. Unfortunately, this focus really just reinforces my belief that the media is disconnected from society. My sons, and virtually all their friends, are not interested at all in someone's sexuality, and won't be denying people their rights.
That the government needs to 'approve' gay marriage ignores why the government got involved in marriage. Typically this involvement was to restrict who could marry, either within certain religious groups, to prevent miscegenation, or restrict polygamy by groups who practiced it. Marriage today is viewed as a right imposed by government rather than an agreement between two people to form a bond and a family, and having this bond witnessed and consecrated by friends and/or a religion.
The last time I reviewed the Declaration of Independence, we are all entitled to a 'pursuit of happiness'. This is not a governing document, but I never saw anything in the Constitution which limits rights to only straight people, nor are there any restricting rights for gays. Maybe I misread it.
On the other hand, I heard Mark Cuban state that Collins has the right to come out and not be criticized. He's wrong. Freedom of speech does give us the right to criticize anyone we want, whether the criticism is considered tolerant or not. Maybe Collins and Cuban won't like it if someone criticizes Jason's personal story, but opinions are what opinions are. If we are truly tolerant, then we have to accept that some people are just uncomfortable with and cannot accept the fact that some people are gay. I haven't cared one way or the other for as long as I can remember, but I'm not about to spend time trying to convince someone their views on the gay issue are wrong. It's a bit petty if they feel this way, but we all have things in our life we get petty about.
I wish Jason Collins luck and all the best in his life. I'm glad he's more comfortable today by coming out. But honestly, I'm tired of the focus by the media on whether or not someone is gay. If you're a person who makes someone's personal life an issue in your life, that's your problem, not theirs.
