Long before Col Kaepernick, Nike featured an HIV-posive gay nner - LGBTQ Natn

Contents:

• COL KAEPERNICK: TEAMMAT DON'T RE IF YOU'RE STRAIGHT OR GAY
• COL KAEPERNICK MIGHT BE GAY, DATG A 'GAY CIRCU DJ' (BUT PROBABLY NOT)
• WOULD KAEPERNICK HAVE AN NFL JOB IF HE WAS GAY STEAD OF PROTTG NATNAL ANTHEM?
• KAEPERNICK SAYS TEAMMAT WON'T CARE IF PLAYER IS GAY
• IS COL KAEPERNICK TO RACIAL JTICE WHAT GAV NEWSOM WAS TO GAY MARRIAGE?
• LONG BEFORE COL KAEPERNICK, NIKE FEATURED AN HIV-POSIVE GAY NNER

COL KAEPERNICK: TEAMMAT DON'T RE IF YOU'RE STRAIGHT OR GAY

No one r if you're black, whe, straight, gay, Christian, Jewish, whatever may be. After Sam publicly announced he was gay on Feb. Word on the street is that San Francis 49ers quarterback Col Kaepernick was seen gettg “zy” and “fortable” wh openly gay circu DJ Luis Perez at the Sports Illtrated Super Bowl party last weekend.

Another gay false alarm, or secret gay power uple to watch? And that he's (not) datg a "gay circu party DJ! If quarterback Col Kaepernick was gay and me out publicly, as opposed to prottg the natnal anthem, would he still have a job?

I’ve e to spise that word the years of nng Outsports, sce ’s the one most trotted out to jtify gay athlet stayg the closet.

COL KAEPERNICK MIGHT BE GAY, DATG A 'GAY CIRCU DJ' (BUT PROBABLY NOT)

The distractn argument has always stck me as lame when applied to gay athlet. The ia that a team would dissolve to a helpls heap if one of their own me out as gay as always stck me as a false argument. Others, though, who uld e a pable quarterback are steerg clear of Kaepernick for the same reasons I thk some teams steered clear of Sam prr to the 2014 draft — they eher don’t want a player of “his kd” on the team (gay Sam’s se, unpatrtic Kaepernick’s) or don’t want to have to al wh what they perceived would be a P.

To answer my origal qutn — if Kaepernick was gay as opposed to havg sat for the natnal anthem, would he still have a job? SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) - If the 49ers end up draftg openly gay NFL prospect Michael Sam, the team will look past his sexualy hop that he n help the red and gold return to the Super Bowl, acrdg to ments om quarterback Col Kaepernick. KCBS Interview: Gays InThe Locker Room, 49ers' Kaepernick Speaks Up.

WOULD KAEPERNICK HAVE AN NFL JOB IF HE WAS GAY STEAD OF PROTTG NATNAL ANTHEM?

After Sam – the 2013 SEC Co-Defensive player of the year - publicly announced he was gay, Ner GM Trent issued a statement support of Daniel T. The tertg thg about homophobic behavr is that ['s] not necsarily reprentative of the dividuals that play the game, but really when a group or anizatn facilat that kd of behavral nature the locker room. And the most unrstated way possible he says: “I jt want to take a quick moment to say, I’m gay.

He’s also gay. And I asked Granrson whether the NFL has changed enough to make room for an openly gay player—and if so—how.

He me out, but he hasn’t been the first openly gay player to play on Sunday yet.

KAEPERNICK SAYS TEAMMAT WON'T CARE IF PLAYER IS GAY

He hasn’t been the first openly gay player to make a bad play that may have st him the game. You’re makg this pot that this is jt the begng and he’s makg this statement as part of a league that historilly has not been acceptg to gay players. One reporter noted after watchg Nassib’s vio that he’d asked an NFL ach 2013—not that long ago—whether a gay player would ever be weled the league, and the ach said no, bee nobody wants to shower wh a gay person.

And he didn’t e the term gay person. The first NFL player to reveal he was gay was Dave Kopay.

IS COL KAEPERNICK TO RACIAL JTICE WHAT GAV NEWSOM WAS TO GAY MARRIAGE?

The qutn is: Why are the homophob stoppg gay people om talkg about their sexualy? They tried to pretend like wasn’t there, even though Pl Tagliabue, a former missner of the NFL, had an openly gay son. They tried to put pretend that is wasn’t there, even though the current missner, Roger Gooll, has an openly gay brother.

LONG BEFORE COL KAEPERNICK, NIKE FEATURED AN HIV-POSIVE GAY NNER

He was this All-Amerin om the Universy of Missouri who announced that he was gay 2014 right before the NFL draft.

So while I appreciate the history of him g out before the NFL draft and I appreciate the history of him actually beg drafted as an openly gay player, I’m also a sports journalist, and I know how hard is to play on Sundays. And then you were the first openly gay player, so there’s a whole other layer that you have to manage. And when you thk about some of the thgs he talked about wh his upbrgg, where he grew up, the attus toward gay people growg up, the fact that he didn’t feel as if he belonged, g out is a mental health journey.