re: Proud of Garrett Temple

quote:

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If you're gay, you announce, lie or deflect the questions.

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100% false. Living in a very high density gay environment I literally see this almost every day: people ask, and gays answer. Not announce, simply answer. Someone asks if they have a girlfriend, they say, "no, I have a boyfriend" or "no, I'm gay." They don't lie, deflect or make an issue of it. They simply answer the question the same way anyone else would.

Of course, lots of other gay people I know do "announce" or make an issue of it. They are usually regarded as attention seekers and, when you get to know them better, you usually learn that they are just as much attention seekers in most other aspects of their lives, too.

Jason Collins, of course, is in a different situation than most gay men. He is a high profile celebrity (compared to most average people), so even if he simply answered rather than announced, it would be treated and reported as an "announcement." So his choice to do it in a Sports Illustrated article was presumably just a professional decision on the best way to present something that was going to get reported as a big deal no matter how he handled it.

But ordinary people have no need to "announce." It's just a question, so they can just answer it. It happens all the time and it has the added benefit of greatly reducing the likelihood of anyone else making an issue of it. When a homosexual "announces" their sexuality they have made it into an issue. There is a difference, and it is significant.