Sportswriter Dustin Petzold came out in a column for Outsports on Monday. Petzold, 22, is a co-founder of Crooked Scoreboard.
Each time one of us steps forward, we reinforce the idea that homosexuality and sports can coexist. If that jack-in-the-box springs up enough times, even the most simple-minded folks will find themselves unsurprised and unfazed by his arrival. Maybe, a couple dozen Michael Sams from now, the news of an athlete coming out will not provoke “tiger eats guests at zoo” levels of shock. Jason Collins may have set off those shockwaves, but then he played 22 games in the NBA, and lived to tell about it. His teammates and opponents went about their business, and not a single angel came down from the rafters of the Barclays Center to condemn him to Hell. He made the idea of an openly gay athlete a lot more normal than it was a year ago. Every gay person who is involved in sports (yes, even this athletically hopeless sportswriter) can shift public perception by speaking out.… Read more