PROUDLY MARCHING - TOGETHER
Many people, myself included, publicly commended the NBA’s Jason Collins on his courage interviewing with Sports Illustrated for his ‘coming out’ article a couple months ago. However, as the news of his lifestyle made increasing headlines, many people questioned why a player’s sexual orientation matters, why it was newsworthy.
The reason a person’s sexual orientation is still worthy of discussion is due to the unfortunate reality that it takes tremendous courage to be open about these sorts of things in 2013.
I don’t think it should have to take courage.
A truly open, accepting and compassionate society welcomes everyone to the field of play. So, Jason’s article and the discussion around it are indeed necessary, but hopefully only as a means to the end of that necessity.
The goal of every Olympian is more or less the same; we all want to be winners. In my experience, being happy is an essential step toward the podium. I’m on a Canadian Olympic Team that values diversity, and as role models I think we have a responsibility to our communities to promote a strong sense of personal identity. By embracing our identities, and fostering a safe and comfortable environment for our friends and teammates in which they can be themselves, I think we all win.
Pride is a celebration of love.
It’s a statement that love isn’t something to be merely tolerated, accepted or legalized. It’s something beautiful and natural and is also probably the single most important thing in the world. Pride is about celebrating something positive, progressive, and fun.
It’s also an awesome parade, one in which this Olympian, and ally, is unbelievably proud to be marching with his teammates and neighbours right here in Toronto this Sunday.
Hope to see you there!
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