Author Topic: UMass player comes out as gay  (Read 2479 times)

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UMass player comes out as gay
« on: April 09, 2014, 07:39:02 PM »

Offline Bombastic Jones

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http://espn.go.com/espnw/news-commentary/article/10754317/espnw-university-massachusetts-minutemen-starter-derrick-gordon-openly-smiling-decision-come-gay

http://www.outsports.com/2014/4/9/5582758/derrick-gordon-comes-out-umass-basketball

Really fun player to watch this past season; intense on the court, always hustling, tough defense, improved a lot as the season went on.  Now the first active Division 1 player to come out.  It made me happy to read those articles, it sounds like he is in a great place now.

Quote
"It's been fun to see how excited he is about just living his truth," Griffin said. "It's like watching someone start the first day of the rest of his life, to take a deep breath and say, 'here I am.' it's very exciting to watch this young man who has had such a lonely experience just come into his own and feel so good about who he is."

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"'Happy' is not even the word," Gordon said. "It's a great feeling. I haven't felt like this. Ever. It's a lot of weight lifted off my shoulders. I can finally breathe now and live life happily. I told all the people I need to tell."

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"When kids aren't able to come out, I know why. It’s a scary thing. That's one of the reasons I’m doing this. I want to give kids some courage and someone they can look up to. If I can come out and play basketball, then why can't they do it? I want to be able to help those people."

Re: UMass player comes out as gay
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2014, 09:59:32 PM »

Offline lightspeed5

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cool

Re: UMass player comes out as gay
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2014, 10:23:40 PM »

Offline Neurotic Guy

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Great story. Courageuos in my opinion.

Re: UMass player comes out as gay
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2014, 10:42:53 PM »

Online jambr380

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Quote
"When kids aren't able to come out, I know why. It’s a scary thing. That's one of the reasons I’m doing this. I want to give kids some courage and someone they can look up to. If I can come out and play basketball, then why can't they do it? I want to be able to help those people."

This quote is especially nice - while he obviously can't 'help' all the kids personally, the more athletes [that are actually gay] that come out, the better...good for him.

Re: UMass player comes out as gay
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2014, 11:16:44 PM »

Offline pearljammer10

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Quote
"When kids aren't able to come out, I know why. It’s a scary thing. That's one of the reasons I’m doing this. I want to give kids some courage and someone they can look up to. If I can come out and play basketball, then why can't they do it? I want to be able to help those people."

This quote is especially nice - while he obviously can't 'help' all the kids personally, the more athletes [that are actually gay] that come out, the better...good for him.

Good for him indeed. Hope more stories like this will keep allowing people young and old to live an honest truth.