Former President Bill Clinton praised his daughter’s friend Jason Collins, a 34-year-old active center in the NBA, for becoming the first athlete in the major leagues to come out on Monday.
“I have known Jason Collins since he was Chelsea’s classmate and friend at Stanford,” Clinton said in a statement. “Jason’s announcement today is an important moment for professional sports and in the history of the LGBT community. It is also the straightforward statement of a good man who wants no more than what so many of us seek: to be able to be who we are; to do our work; to build families and to contribute to our communities. For so many members of the LGBT community, these simple goals remain elusive. I hope that everyone, particularly Jason’s colleagues in the NBA, the media and his many fans extend to him their support and the respect he has earned.”
