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Jason Collins was put on a pedestal for announcing he is a gay.
It took some courage, he should be commended for that and he is reaping the financial benefits from that decision. He is probably seen as a hero to some and I can see why.
He never was a hero to me. He was just a guy who was taking advantage of an opportunity that was presented to him. His business savvy and intelligence in seizing the opportunity impresses me more than him being gay.
He isn’t Jackie Robinson, he isn’t the first gay athlete to play a major professional sport. He might be the first one to announce it publicly during the new age media world we are living in, but it doesn’t have the same cultural and historical significance of a Jackie Robinson or even a Curt Flood to be frank.
Like most people who we put on pedestals, we tend to ignore their faults, because it would interfere with a good story. So, people have just ignore Collins’ ex-fiancee who he lied to for almost a decade about being gay. She doesn’t seem bitter about it, just understandably upset. Here is what she said to Cosmopolitan magazine.
Jason told me he’s gay over the phone on a Monday morning in April, the same day the magazine hit newsstands. However, he didn’t mention the article—that came as a surprise when I heard about it from a friend. In his essay, Jason wrote that he’d once been engaged to a woman.
The day Jason canceled the wedding was surreal. It was July of 2009, and he had just returned home from a road trip with his twin brother, Jarron.
He told me, “You may want to sit down.” I loved this man deeply. He was intelligent, good-humored, handsome, and importantly, taller than I am—7 feet. (I’m 6 feet 5 and a former pro basketball player myself.) His words didn’t make sense to me, and they hit me hard, freezing my heart. “I’m just not sure,” he said. There were no tangible reasons, no explanations.
As I tell this story, it has been several weeks since he told me his news (he was gay) and he has made no further time to talk, despite saying he would do so. I am sad that the media seems to be a higher priority.
I remain deeply hurt by him. I wish he could have been honest with me years ago. I feel like there are two Jasons now—the man I fell in love with and the man I’m trying so hard to understand. He’s being hailed as a pioneer, but I believe true heroism is a result of being honest with yourself and with those you love.
Point blank, like many men Jason Collins lied to his lady. That isn’t anything unusual, but just remember that when you are saying he is a “pioneer”, when in reality he is just like most men, gay or straight.