First Openly Gay NBA Player Jason Collins Announces He's Retiring in Poignant Essay About Being a Gay Pro Athlete

Jason Collins, the NBA player who came out 18 months ago, has announced he is retiring from the sport.

“It has been 18 exhilarating months since I came out in Sports Illustrated as the first openly gay man in one of the four major professional team sports. And it has been nine months since I signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay male athlete to appear in a game in one of those leagues,” the 35-year-old athlete wrote in another essay to Sports Illustrated.

“There are still no publicly gay players in the NFL, NHL or major league baseball. Believe me: They exist. Every pro sport has them. I know some of them personally,” Jason continued in his essay announcing his upcoming retirement. “When we get to the point where a gay pro athlete is no longer forced to live in fear that he’ll be shunned by teammates or outed by tabloids, when we get to the point where he plays while his significant other waits in the family room, when we get to the point where he’s not compelled to hide his true self and is able to live an authentic life, then coming out won’t be such a big deal. But we’re not there yet.”