Former NBA Center John Amaechi Comes Out of the Closet
Okay, I am going to tread very carefully here...
This Sunday, during an interview on ESPN's Outside the Lines at 9:30 a.m. ET Sunday, former NBA Center John Amaechi will announce he is gay, his publicist Howard Bragman, said Wednesday. "He is coming out of the closet as a gay man."
Bragman declined to provide a reason why Amaechi has chosen to come out now. "I'd really like John to go into the whys and wherefores," Bragman said. "This is a really personal issue." Of course, the fact that Amaechi's autobiography Man in the Middle,
is scheduled to be released on Feb. 13 might have had something to do with it. The book is being published by ESPN Books.
Martina Navratilova, probably the most well known gay athlete in the
world, had praise for Amaechi's decision and said it's imperative for athletes to come
out because of what she termed an epidemic of suicides among young lesbians and
gays. "It's hugely important for the kids so they don't feel alone in the world. We're role models. We're adults, and we know we're not alone but kids don't know that," she said. "He will definitely help a lot of kids growing up to feel better about themselves."
Amaechi becomes the sixth
professional male athlete from one of the four major American sports (NBA, MLB,
NFL, NHL) to publicly discuss his homosexuality."What John did is amazing," said NFL defensive lineman Esera Tuaolo, who came out in 2002. "He does
not know how many lives he's saved by speaking the truth."
Tuaolo said coming out would be a relief to Amaechi.
"Living with all that stress and that depression, all you deal with as a
closeted person, when you come out you really truly free yourself," Tuaolo
said. "When I came out it felt like I was getting out of prison."
That, and maybe it will help sell a few books.