History was made this weekend. 30 years after my uncle brought his friend to Thanksgiving Dinner. 20 years after Tom Hanks won an Oscar for portraying a gay lawyer who was fired for being who God made him. 15 years after Ellen Degeneres became the first openly gay lead in a sitcom. 10 years after the dozens of states shamefully were pressured by religious zealots to pass bans on marriage equality. Saturday, a young man named Michael Sam became the first openly gay football player to be drafted by a team in the National Football League. For me as a sports fan and a champion of equality, I feel this really is a watershed moment. The NFL is Americas passion. Its the most popular sport. The most popular show on TV. Seven million people tuned in Thursday (on two different networks) to watch people announce names at a microphone (the NFL Draft). And to me no name spoken this draft will be more significant than Michael Sam. I hope this is the big crack in the dam that allows all of us to become equal. For those of you who do not agree with me on this issue, feel free to unfriend me. Michael Sam, I applaud you as a man, as a champion for equality and most of all as a quality football player. Until you play the Eagles. Then I will boo. youtu.be/nW-_fFdkegs
Posted on: Sun, 11 May 2014 05:49:27 +0000