Support, not pressure those considering coming out

Yesterday Buzzfeed's Jack Moore published an article titled "6 Reasons Why This Is The Perfect Time For A Successful Athlete To Come Out." The article was tasteless and full of Mr. Moore's inaccurate opinions.

While I agree that there hasn't been a time better suited for an athlete to come out than now, I disagree with the premise that a gay athlete must come out now and Mr. Moore crosses the line between offering his support to gay athletes considering coming out and pressuring one to do so.

Celebrities and athletes face enough challenges to maintain any sort of private life. The decision for a closeted person to come out is extremely personal and full of a lot of unknown variables. Fear of not knowing how others will react or who will accept or disregard you. In a professional locker room, these fears probably intensify. Pressuring someone to come out in this situation where they alone will have to live with the repercussions of their decision to publically come out is ignorant.

I've spent the past three years in an environment I can only describe as being the most gay-friendly place I've ever been and the most anti-gay place at the same time. While a number of my classmates are openly gay and receive a great deal of support and acceptance from a large portion of their peers, I've also heard firsthand the strong opinions of those who disapprove of homosexuality. Their words are offensive and full of meanness. I can only imagine how deep they cut my classmates. If you've ever been picked on, you know that one verbal attack against you carries more weight than a dozen words of encouragement.

While there have been a handful of players coming out in support of an openly gay player, especially as recently as today in the NFL, there are still guys like Matt Birk in every locker room. Birk, who retired after winning the Super Bowl earlier this year, recorded a 3:36 ad and wrote an editorial in support of "traditional marriage" in 2012, the same year he was selected as the NFL's Man of the Year.

If there are players willing to go on film for almost four minutes and write editorials in major newspapers, how many players with the same views do you think are staying quiet in their locker rooms?

It's up to an athlete to decide on their own if they want to be subject to such hate daily, to say nothing of the hate he would be subject to from the stands on game day or off the field in his everyday life from those who are against homosexuality. Coming out to one's close friends and family seems like it would be hard enough decision for some people. Asking someone to come out to the entire world is huge. We should support those who are in position to do so, not pressure them as Mr. Moore does with words like, "The time is now. What are you waiting for?" and "We're given so few clear, black-and-white opportunities in this life to leave the world a little better than we found it. This is yours. Don't squander it."

Whoever does come out, depending on who it is, could become the most high profile gay person in the country. They'd instantly be the face and voice of an entire community. Their life as it is right now would change because everywhere they went they'd be "the gay player" that media outlets will want to interview and bigots want to target. They'd also serve as a role model for an untold number of gay athletes involved in sports at any level. That's a lot of pressure to demand someone step up and take.

Further, Mr. Moore belief that the first successful athlete to come out of the closet will be viewed by history in the same light as Jackie Robinson is incorrect. Jackie Robinson broke MLB's color barrier in 1947 when he became the first African-American to play in a Major League game. Before Robinson, there weren't any African-Americans in MLB and the country was deeply divided by segregation. Robinson didn't choose to come out as an African-American, he just chose to play baseball in an all-white league.

There have been homosexuals in professional sports for probably decades. One coming out now wouldn't have the same historical significance of Robinson's career. There is a lot of acceptance and support today of and for homosexuals, that acceptance and support is growing by the day. There have been gay TV hosts, news hosts, American Idols, astronauts, musicians, boy band acts, actors, comedians, celebrity chefs, weathermen, hip hop artists and more. There's going to be a point where no one cares anymore who is gay and who isn't. We are getting closer to that point and certainly, the more people who come out will help society reach that point faster. We are going to reach a point where no one remembers who the first gay "____" was to come out in any given field.

Studies show that people are more willing to support gay rights if they know a gay person. Many people already know a gay person, they just don't know that they do.

A professional athlete coming out would be that person, or represent that person, to an entire generation or two of athletes, coaches, parents, friends, front office types and fans. It would go a long way to increasing social acceptance and depending on whom the athlete is, he could become the most high profile face and voice in the gay rights movement. He would go a long way in making it more acceptable to be homosexual and increase support for those who are gay and those who are allies. His social impact on the issue would rival the impact Magic Johnson had on the national discussion on HIV/AIDs.