Former NBA, Kentucky player Isaac Humphri out as only active gay player top-tier men's basketball

Contents:

• HERE ARE THE 6 GAY MEN WHO HAVE BEEN OUT PUBLICLY WHILE PETG PRO BASKETBALL
• THE ONLY 3 OUT, GAY NBA PLAYERS IN HISTORY
• JASON COLLS ME OUT 10 YEARS AGO, HERG A PERD OF CREASG GAY VISIBILY MEN’S SPORTS
• A GAY NBA FAN FOUND 78 HOMOPHOBIC TWEETS BY 40 PLAYERS ON 23 TEAMS
• TOP 3 NBA PLAYERS WHO ARE GAY FEAT. JASON COLLS AND MORE
• FORMER NBA PLAYER ISAAC HUMPHRI ADMS HE’S GAY BUT WHO IS HE?
• JASON COLLS SAYS HE'S GAY
• JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE TO PLAY NBA, MAK U.S. SPORTS HISTORY
• FORMER NBA, KENTUCKY PLAYER ISAAC HUMPHRI OUT AS ONLY ACTIVE GAY PLAYER TOP-TIER MEN'S BASKETBALL
• WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS
• RUDY GAY

HERE ARE THE 6 GAY MEN WHO HAVE BEEN OUT PUBLICLY WHILE PETG PRO BASKETBALL

When John Amaechi me out publicly 2007, he was ahead of his time, sharg that he’s gay and a former profsnal basketball player. Sce Colls showed the world you uld be a gay man profsnal basketball, there has been a trickle of gay athlet to follow, most recently former NBA player and current Atralian pro basketball player Isaac Humphri.

Atralian A-League soccer star Josh Cavallo me out as gay an October vio posted to his social media, beg hailed as the first current male top-flight profsnal soccer player to publicly do so.

"He ntued: "Growg up I always felt the need to hi myself, you know, bee I was ashamed, and ashamed I'll never be able to do what I love and be gay. In a September terview wh USA Today, 25-year-old mor league baseball player beme the only active baseball profsnal to be out as gay!

THE ONLY 3 OUT, GAY NBA PLAYERS IN HISTORY

Natnal Hockey League prospect Le Prokop me out as gay July, the first active player the league to e out. The 28-year-old Natnal Football League player and Rairs fensive leman ma history when he me out as gay on Instagram durg Pri Month, beg the first veteran NFL player to e out as gay while signed to a regular-season ntract. The Bachelor star and former football player (who was signed by the San Diego Chargers as an undrafted ee agent and was on the practice squad of the Oakland Rairs and the Philalphia Eagl) me out as gay April, sayg he had fally e to terms wh his sexualy and the "next step all of this was sort of lettg people know.

"He wanted everyone to know he was "still the same Colton everybody met on TV" and is "proud to be gay. Hiltz had prevly e out as gay while llege and has been a visible and affirmg prence for gay athlet the past. Corey Walsh, the 27-year-old pro BMX rir and Vans spokperson, said he isn't normally the type of person to "let people " on his personal life, but felt was important to e out as gay a March Instagram post bee "there are a lot of people still stgglg wh the same suatns" and he "jt wanted to let people know that they are not alone.

Champn long track speedskater Conor McDermott-Mostowy never hid beg gay om his fay, iends, and fellow athlet, but he also wasn't one to rate his locker wh rabow Pri flags eher. He ially feared negative stereotyp about gay male athlet but threw those ncerns asi after his two-tle performance at the U.

JASON COLLS ME OUT 10 YEARS AGO, HERG A PERD OF CREASG GAY VISIBILY MEN’S SPORTS

The LGBT movement emerged as early as the 1870s, but homosexual rights groups didn't appear until after World War II September 1945. To add onto the topic of the Warrrs, print Rick Welts me out as gay an terview wh the New York Tim 2011.

A GAY NBA FAN FOUND 78 HOMOPHOBIC TWEETS BY 40 PLAYERS ON 23 TEAMS

Homophobia is somethg that shouldn't have a place sports bee LGBT folks n be fans, media members, employe and executiv too. " We, as a untry, need to une and not jt bee of the tragic gay nightclub shootg Orlando, Florida, that occurred last summer.

His fay reportedly had mixed emotns towards the announcement, but he still changed the game, beg the first Divisn I men's basketball player to e out as gay and play gam. He also received praise om Colls and former NFL fensive end Michael Sam, who beme the first openly gay football player.

When then-Phoenix Suns print and CEO Rick Welts me out as gay May 2011, former NBA pot guard Steve Nash pledged his support favor of the LGBT muny. Nash said the vio, "A growg number of profsnal athlet are speakg out support of gay and lbian upl gettg married, I'm proud to be one of them. Asi om his open support for gay rights, he also ns the Steve Nash Foundatn, which helps children who are affected by poverty, illns, abe or neglect, and creat opportuny for tn, play, and empowerment, Phoenix, Arizona, and Brish Columbia, Canada.

TOP 3 NBA PLAYERS WHO ARE GAY FEAT. JASON COLLS AND MORE

In his hman year at Villanova, he first me out as gay to his teammate and roommate Mike Villa before nfsg to his parents three months later. There's hardly any Hispanic players, no Asian-Amerins, so that there's no openly gay players is no real surprise.

Last year, the NBA moved s 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carola, due to the state's law that lims anti-discrimatn protectns for lbian, gay and transgenr people. Jason CollsCareerComg OutJon AmaechiCareer Comg Out Isaac HumphriCareerComg OutAre There Closeted Gay NBA Players?

One ESPN mentator, Chris Brosard, exprsed both his admiratn for Colls’ bravery and his belief that Colls uld not be both gay and christian. Tennis great Marta Navratilova, who had somewhat unbelievably e out 1981, praised Colls and exprsed her hope that this would help end homophobia team sports and lead to more players g out. Colls beme the first, and still only, active gay NBA player when he signed wh the Broolyn Nets Febary of 2014.

FORMER NBA PLAYER ISAAC HUMPHRI ADMS HE’S GAY BUT WHO IS HE?

John Amaechi was the first gay NBA player to e out, but he did so after he had retired om the league. The difference reactn between Ameachi’s and Colls’ statements is a sign of the growth acceptance of gay people between 2007 and 2013. Barkley said he was sure he had played both wh and agast gay players and should not be viewed as a big al.

Lebron Jam said “Wh teammat you have to be tstworthy, and if you’re gay and you’re not admtg that you are, then you are not tstworthy”. The strongt reactn me om Tim Hardaway who said: “Well, you know, I hate gay people, so I let be known. He actually went to unselg and beme the 1st person to sign his name to a 2013 petn to legalize gay marriage Florida.

Humprhi is the only male player a top tier league the world who is currently playg and openly gay. While the percentage of people who are gay vari wh different measur, there is no reputable measure sayg the number is zero. Jason Colls me out 2013 and went on to play the next season beg the first and only openly gay active player NBA history.

JASON COLLS SAYS HE'S GAY

Sce Jim Buzski and I started Outsports 1999, we’d talked about an active gay player the Big Four — MLB, NBA, NFL, NHL — g out publicly. Colls has seen the effects of beg out the sport firsthand, talkg repeatedly about one of his former teammat who ed anti-gay slurs the locker room eventually beg a supporter. In 10 years, Colls remas the only active NBA player to e out publicly (Bill Kennedy is an active gay NBA referee who is out; player John Amaechi me out after retirg).

When Rogers me out MLS, Michael Sam me out the NFL and Colls me out, I was nvced this was the begng of a seri of gay and bi athlet who would e out publicly men’s pro sports. Sce those three gay pro athlet me out the urse of a year, only two active athlet big-time Amerin men’s pro sports have e out publicly while on a team: Coll Mart MLS and Carl Nassib the NFL.

The ments are among 78 tweets om 36 current and active NBA players on teams that are homophobic language, nature or even tent (four other players were on a roster when the list was piled last month, but they are no longer on an NBA team). The players clu CJ McCollum, the print of the Natnal Basketball Players Assn., who tweeted “no homo, ” as well as superstar Kev Durant, who tweeted “shut up fag boy.

JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE TO PLAY NBA, MAK U.S. SPORTS HISTORY

“I don’t re how long ago was, shows the person’s character, my opn, ” said Derrick Gordon, who me out publicly as gay while playg basketball at UMass and who now plays profsnally Germany. Beg a big NBA fan, Chris cid to check the acunts of some of his favore players and found var homophobic tweets.

FORMER NBA, KENTUCKY PLAYER ISAAC HUMPHRI OUT AS ONLY ACTIVE GAY PLAYER TOP-TIER MEN'S BASKETBALL

From his rearch: “Fag” showed up 29 tweets, “gay” 40 (and not plimentary), and the phrase “no homo” 17.

The Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz each have four players on the list of NBA athlet who created anti-gay tweets, while the Chigo Bulls currently have three players who tweeted homophobic msag. Not cintally, Jason Colls beme the first active NBA player to e out as gay 2013, raisg signifint awarens of LGBTQ issu — and the prence of gay players — the NBA. For example, Durant 2013 voiced his support of Colls, but he also ma graphilly homophobic ments 2021.

“Culture as a whole has changed, ” said Anthony Nimo, a succsful high school basketball ach New York who me out publicly as gay several years ago. Colls — who played as an openly gay player the last uple regular-season months and then playoffs of the 2013-14 season — has been speakg to NBA rooki at the league’s annual symposium sce 2015. Readg [the tweets] remd me a lot of my journal that I kept, and I stopped after two weeks, bee was jt … you hear , but you don’t really realize how much sual homophobia there was.

WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS

Speakg om my experience, there is a disnnect sometim between someone who sual homophobia, and then once you show them who you are, they will step up and have your back.

Oshae Brissett of the Indiana Pacers, now 23, was 12 and 13 when he posted ne homophobic tweets a two-year span. One mon slur ed var tweets was “no homo, ” which me to vogue over 10 years ago as a way for a man to pliment another man whout beg taken “the wrong way.

RUDY GAY

“‘No homo’ as a phrase promot a negative nnotatn regards to gay men, as if we are ls-than, ” Chris said.