gaywrites:

Jason Collins, 34-year-old center in the National Basketball Association, is the first openly gay athlete in major American sports.

He wrote this piece for Sports Illustrated detailing his decision: 

I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.

I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, “I’m different.” If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.

This is huge. This is so huge. Follow-up to come; we’ll be talking about this one for a while.