Bill Kennedy out as send active openly gay NBA official

Contents:

• JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY ATHLETE TO PLAY NBA, MAK U.S. SPORTS HISTORY
• JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY NBA PLAYER, REFLECTS ON LEGACY, LIFE AFTER BASKETBALL
• THE ONLY 3 OUT, GAY NBA PLAYERS IN HISTORY
• BILL KENNEDY OUT AS SEND ACTIVE OPENLY GAY NBA OFFICIAL
• HERE ARE THE 6 GAY MEN WHO HAVE BEEN OUT PUBLICLY WHILE PETG PRO BASKETBALL
• THE NBA HAS AN OPENLY GAY PLAYER: WHAT CHANG?
• JASON COLLS SAYS HE'S GAY
• WHY THERE ARE FEW OPENLY GAY ATHLET IN MEN'S PROFSNAL SPORTS
• NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS
• FORMER NBA, KENTUCKY PLAYER ISAAC HUMPHRI OUT AS ONLY ACTIVE GAY PLAYER TOP-TIER MEN'S BASKETBALL

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

On Febary 23, 2014, Brooklyn Nets center Jason Colls be the first openly gay athlete to play a game the Uned Stat’ four major profsnal leagu. The 35-year-old journeyman plays 10 srels mut, rerdg two rebounds and five fouls the Nets’ 108-102 victory over the Los Angel May 2013, Colls revealed he is gay a first-person say  Sports Illtrated. In 2021, Las Vegas Rairs fensive leman Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to announce he is gay.

After a 13-year reer the NBA, Jason Colls, the first openly gay profsnal basketball player, is retirg.

JASON COLLS, FIRST OPENLY GAY NBA PLAYER, REFLECTS ON LEGACY, LIFE AFTER BASKETBALL

“The ironic thg about the dread “D” word is that I had never felt more fortable playg basketball than I was as an openly gay man, ” he wrote. Colls’ retirement means there will be no openly gay player currently playg any of the four major U. Addrsg the lack of openly gay players, Colls wrote that we are not “there” yet when to acceptg openly gay players major league sports.

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.

THE ONLY 3 OUT, GAY NBA PLAYERS IN HISTORY

Colls beme the first, and still only, active gay NBA player when he signed wh the Broolyn Nets Febary of 2014. 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”.

BILL KENNEDY OUT AS SEND ACTIVE OPENLY GAY NBA OFFICIAL

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. Longtime NBA referee Bill Kennedy revealed to Yahoo Sports Sunday night that he is gay, makg him the send openly gay active NBA official after Vlet Palmer's announcement 2014.

"I am proud to be an NBA referee and I am proud to be a gay man, " Kennedy told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night. Source: NBA referee Bill Kennedy reveals he is gay; Rajon Rondo ma alleged homosexual slur to him - Yahoo Sports.

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

OutSports spoke wh an openly gay high school ach for his reactn, which summed up the announcement well:.

"I thk any time someone n be out at the top of their profsn 's a w, " out gay high school basketball ach Anthony Nimo told Outsports. Yahoo Sports reveals that Rondo's one-game spensn was the rult of a tira that clud the Kgs guard's e of homophobic slurs towards Kennedy. Adam Silver said 2014 that he felt the league "fell behd" on the issue, even wh Jason Colls' announcement several years ago that he was an active gay NBA player.

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. Homophobia is somethg that shouldn't have a place sports bee LGBT folks n be fans, media members, employe and executiv too.

THE NBA HAS AN OPENLY GAY PLAYER: WHAT CHANG?

" 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. In 2011, mors surfaced, claimg that Selby was gay after an alleged email to another man was leaked. 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.

JASON COLLS SAYS HE'S GAY

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.

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.

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

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. 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.

When Jason Colls revealed he was gay seven years ago, was a historic announcement that seemgly shifted the nversatn about homophobia profsnal male team sports.

There is not an active openly gay player the NBA or any of the other Amerin major male profsnal leagu: the NFL, MLB and NHL. While Colls regniz there is still a lot of work to be done, he says ’s helpful to be able to pot to the lany of star openly gay profsnal athlet, om Megan Rapoe to Robbie Rodgers.

NORTH AMERI’S FOUR BIGGT PRO SPORTS LEAGU HAVE BEEN AROUND A BED 398 YEARS. THEY’VE HAD TWO OPENLY GAY ACTIVE PLAYERS

Mayor Pete Buttigieg recently beme the first openly gay ndidate Amerin history to earn printial primary legat toward a major party’s nomatn procs. If an openly gay printial ndidate n thrive the rough world of polics — even garnerg support om some nservative Republins agast homophobic sults — then seems like only a matter of time before another NBA player out. And, you know, for - I thk a lot of young people out there who, you know, are, you know, gay or lbian who are stgglg wh the issu; to see a role mol like that who's unaaid, I thk 's a great So athlet, ach, we want to hear om you.

In 2011, Charl Barkley, a man known for his mon sense but never for his tact, said plaly, he was sure that every player has played wh gay guys; and went on: It bothers me when I hear the reporters and jocks get on TV and say oh, no guy n e out as a team sport. We bond outsi of the sport, and I jt - I was close to the people, but them beg gay no way changed the sport or my opn of them. And I thk if perceptn of the few change, then that reflects more on the public perceptn of somebody beg gay than Jason Colls.

And though I n't actually say that - bee this is back high school, and I don't know if any of my teammat were gay. But even if they had been - and I hope this is a feelg that is g up the younger generatn - that beg gay or straight really don't matter to who you are as a person.

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

If he's a good player, I want to play wh him, and I want to learn om him - gay or As you probably know better than I, though, for example the European soccer leagu, there's a lot of homophobia. There are homophobic chants that are popular among some of the crowds I don't unrstand that at all. There was Chris Brosard, the NBA analyst on ESPN, on an edn of "Outsi the L, " where he scribed homosexualy as an open rebelln to God.

And if you're livg openly unrepentant s, whatever may be, not jt homosexualy, adultery, fornitn, pre-maral sex between homosexuals, whatever may be, I believe that's walkg open rebelln to God and to J Christ.