Announcements that People Are Gay

A writer writes!

Yesterday, Michael Sam, a college student at the University of Missouri who also is an outstanding football player, announced that he is gay.  He had informed his teammates of this fact in August of 2013.  The significance of his announcement yesterday is that he will be available for the National Football League draft this spring.  No college football player previously has identified themselves as being gay prior to the draft.  No current NFL player has "come out" and identified themselves as being gay.

In the macho world of professional football, the fear is that a player who does announce that they are gay will suffer negative repercussions.  Those repercussions could be mistreatment by teammates and opponents alike.

It is sad that we as an advanced civilization (we claim) cannot accept the fact that we are all not the same.  History shows that people live the life they want to or feel they are compelled to live.  Some people may say that being gay is wrong, immoral, and just not right.  They may quote religious doctrine or other "facts".  Regardless of rules, we as individual people do what we believe is correct.  Many people prefer same sex relationships because they feel they are naturally inclined to be that way.  Maybe some make that decision as a personal choice?  Either way, my instincts tell me there is something wrong when a decision by a person to "announce" they are gay warrants national attention and is a major news story.

Are we now in a world where to get attention you have to be outside the norm?  There is nothing wrong with being heterosexual.  Heterosexual people also encounter various modes of improper treatment if they don't look like, or display "normal" characteristics of mainstream people.  An announcement that someone is gay should no longer get a standing ovation.  Instead, it should get a reaction of, "okay, that's your choice , we accept that. Now continue living."  In performing a job, it doesn't matter if you are gay or "straight".  People just want your best regardless of your sexual preferences.