Jason Collins : I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.
“The first relative I came out to was my aunt Teri, a superior court judge in San Francisco. Her reaction surprised me. “I’ve known you were gay for years,” she said. From that moment on I was comfortable in my own skin. In her presence I ignored my censor button for the first time. She gave me support. The relief I felt was a sweet release. Imagine you’re in the oven, baking. Some of us know and accept our sexuality right away and some need more time to cook. I should know — I baked for 33 years.
When I was younger I dated women. I even got engaged. I thought I had to live a certain way. I thought I needed to marry a woman and raise kids with her. I kept telling myself the sky was red, but I always knew it was blue.
No one wants to live in fear. I’ve always been scared of saying the wrong thing. I don’t sleep well. I never have. But each time I tell another person, I feel stronger and sleep a little more soundly. It takes an enormous amount of energy to guard such a big secret. 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. And yet when I acknowledged my sexuality I felt whole for the first time. I still had the same sense of humor, I still had the same mannerisms and my friends still had my back.
The most you can do is stand up for what you believe in. I’m much happier since coming out to my friends and family. Being genuine and honest makes me happy. Some people insist they’ve never met a gay person. But Three Degrees of Jason Collins dictates that no NBA player can claim that anymore. Pro basketball is a family. And pretty much every family I know has a brother, sister or cousin who’s gay. In the brotherhood of the NBA, I just happen to be the one who’s out.
Harry at the Burberry Prorsum A/W14 show today (17/2/14)
Yes.
This is Senator Leticia Van de Putte (D), and she needs to be known and recognized right alongside Senator Wendy Davis.
She couldn’t be at the start of the senate session because her father died in a car crash last week and the funeral was the day of Davis’...
http://thoughtcatalog.com/2011/a-speculative-list-of-jay-zs-99-problems/
Awkward street cred issues re: recent events with “the 99%.”
Discomfort with monogamy and upcoming fatherhood, esp. w/in the context of being a very powerful individual (i.e. sex from whoever he desires widely available yet unattainable due to moral obligation).
Increasing existential distress re: fatherhood, fame, identity, public image.
Trouble figuring out which is the healthiest cooking oil.
cont...
Dougie Poynter and Ellie Goulding out and about in Manchester - May 19th, 2014.
Daft Punk:
A child wearing a Daft Punk helmet posed for a photographer as locals prepared for the global launch party of the French band’s new album, Random Access Memories, in Wee Waa, Australia, Thursday. (Shanna Whan/European Pressphoto Agency)
It is never too late to be what you might have been. - George Eliot
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