Acceptance, not tolerance for gay athletes like Jason Collins

In 1947 the Brooklyn Dodgers baseball team did what was then the unthinkable, they started a player of African American descent at first base in the opening game of the Major League Baseball (MLB) season.

In doing so that player, Jackie Robinson, broke the deplorable colour line that had relegated black baseballers to ‘coloured’ leagues for 60 years, and it opened the door for African American players to be accepted onto professional teams throughout North America

It is such a revered part of baseball’s history that each year the MLB celebrates ‘Jackie Robinson Day’, a day in which every player in the league dons Robinson’s fabled number 42.

67 years after Robinsons own ‘coming out’, African American NBA player Jason Collins has broken a taboo mould of his own by becoming the first active participant in any of North America’s big four pro sports (NFL, MLB, NBA and NHL) to ‘come out’.

Jason Collins is a gay man and he wants the world to know.

Like Robinson, Collins should be duly congratulated for his courage and willingness to be a representative for players in a similar situation.

Robinson, with his timely inclusion and willingness to break the mould of white domination, set in motion a level of acceptance and respect that in those unenlightened times helped swing racist attitudes that preluded the civil rights movement.

But Collins is living in a time that should not be surprised nor require a man to be ‘brave’ about his race, let alone his sexual orientation.

And yet due to the still simmering prejudice that exists towards homosexuals in the broader community, Collins’ coming out has been heralded as a win for tolerance.

It may be an oxymoronic statement but I hate the term tolerance when it’s referring to race, religion or sexual orientation.

To tolerate something suggests a level of implied disaffection with that thing with which you must tolerate.

Indeed some things need to be tolerated, like a screaming kid at a café or an equally annoying Roosters fan at an ANZAC day match (sorry, couldn’t resist).

But anyone representing any majority within society should not have tolerance for Collins, Robinson and any other member of a minority or racially diverse group on these bases.

What we should have is absolute acceptance and respect, because simply tolerating a person on the basis of a differnece implies a passive form of bigotry .

Collins stated in his self-penned feature with Sports Illustrated that, “No one wants to live in fear … I’ve endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie. I was certain that my world would fall apart if anyone knew.”

For players to still feel the spectre of fear if their sexual orientation is revealed to the public is unacceptable though seemingly inevitable.

Just a day after making his statement, ESPN commentator Chris Broussard labelled Collins “a sinner in the eyes of god” that unfortunately reiterated why men like Collins find it so difficult to reveal whom they are.

It is true that there has been as significant out pouring of support for Collins, but it would be naïve to think that this support would silence all the Broussard’s of the world.

While the race issues in sport, and society in general, have not fully been eradicated, the idiocy of racism and those that participate in it are easily exposed and are largely shot down by those involved in the wider sporting community.

There can be a galvanising aspect to racial vilification that a vast majority of people share and are confidently able to display when combating bigotry.

While I wish that we lived in a time where a gay man did not feel fearful for telling people of his sexual orientation, it seems we still have a ways to go before gay players enjoy a similar level of acceptance and confidence in sports.

It has been 15 years since rugby league player Ian Roberts became the first high profile sportsman in Australia to ‘come out’.

It was a hugely courageous decision for its time and for the fact Roberts participated in one of the most brutally male sports on the planet.

And while there have been other openly gay athletes proudly represent Australia (diver Matthew Mitcham is a case in point) Roberts is still the only openly gay player from any of the major sporting codes in Australia to ‘come out’.

Roberts has stated he hopes that the Collins announcement will help other professional male athletes to feel comfortable in revealing who they are, and not have to live a lie and in fear of retribution.

Sport is often touted as great tool for social and cultural exchange. It often affords opportunities for people of various nationalities, cultures and beliefs to come together in the spirit of teamwork.

It also offers the opportunity for change.

Sadly it’s the attitudes of many within sports that need changing, an example of which is Roberts’ legal action he took against the Nine Network in 2010 for a Footy Show segment that used Roberts’ name in a skit he and other gay activists said vilified homosexuals.

These episodes, however flippantly meant by the perpetrators, are the type that keep the perceptions of unacceptance and vilification high in the minds of gay athletes.

All perceptions are true to those that experience them, and the fear that they generate can lead to experiences of long and uncomfortable loneliness like that described by Jason Collins.

It would be a great day indeed when the news of a sportsman being gay was greeted with the same level of ambivalence as any non gay athlete, until that day arrives this writer hopes that at the very least announcements such as Collins will pave the way for sports to become truly accepting of all participants.

I will leave the final word to the awesome Steven Colbert, who hilariously distilled the thoughts and wishes of this article down to one cracker of a line:

“He came out as black and gay. Even more shocking he came out as a player for the Washington Wizards. You’ve got to wonder how his parents took it.”