On this day in 2013, NBA center Jason Collins came out in a Sports Illustrated cover story, becoming the first active male athlete in a major American professional sports league to publicly say he was gay. He wrote those words after a 12-season career playing for six different teams, describing the loneliness of living a double life in the hyper-masculine world of professional basketball. When he told his twin brother Jarron, also an NBA player, the response was simple: 'I love you, and I've never been more proud of you.' Collins went on to make Time's 100 Most Influential People list and became a powerful voice for LGBTQ+ inclusion in sports. Today, as transgender athletes face unprecedented attacks on their right to compete, Collins's courage reminds us that sports are better when everyone can show up as themselves.
Who was the first openly LGBTQ+ athlete you remember looking up to, and what did their visibility mean to you?