Jason Collins stepped onto the basketball court and became the first openly gay athlete to play in a competitive game for a major US professional sports league.
After signing a 10-day contract with the Brooklyn Nets, he achieved the milestone for equal rights in a game against the Los Angeles Lakers yesterday.
He was given a warm reception by the crowd in LA where he lives. Before the match he said he was only focused on his performance. “I don’t have time to really think about history.”
He revealed he was gay last April but was not signed to a team until yesterday. Collins, a 7ft tall centre who had played 12 NBA seasons before his announcement, was on court for 10 scoreless minutes in the Nets’ 108-102 victory.
The 35-year-old veteran said: “I know that I can play in the NBA, and it felt good to be out there.”
Nets’ general manager Billy King said: “The decision to sign Jason was a basketball decision.”
After he came out he became a kind of ambassador for gay rights, speaking at the United Nations and attending President Obama’s annual State of the Union address last month.
After his announcement numerous NBA players insisted he would be welcomed in the locker room.
Collins said he was enjoying life more now, adding: “I don’t have to hide who I am and I can be my normal self. The past 10 months have been incredible. I’m making new friends, hearing different people’s stories, sharing experiences. It’s just been an overall positive.”
Last May, Los Angeles Galaxy soccer player Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay male athlete to play in a US professional league but Major League Soccer is not regarded as one of the main sports in the US.
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni was today set to sign an anti-homosexuality bill into law, in defiance of protests from Western countries. It will punish people convicted of having gay sex with jail terms of up to life.
