In a new book titled Man in the Middle set for release next week, former professional basketball player John Amaechi announces that he is gay. By doing so, he has become the first NBA player, current or former, to come out of the closet.
And of all places, where did he play college ball? No, not Duke or North Carolina. He's a former Nittany Lion.
Any alum who graduated between 1992 and 1995 -- the four years he donned blue and white -- could probably tell you a thing or two about John Amaechi. Over those four years he averaged more than 15 points per game and finished in the top 10 in school history in both points and rebounds. Even a non-Nittwit has to appreciate that.
He went on to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers, Orlando Magic and Utah Jazz of the National Basketball Association.
And he did all this while hiding his homosexuality from the world.
With good reason. Had Amaechi come out of the closet during his playing days, imagine the insensitive jeers he would have been forced to endure from opposing fans each time he suited up. I remember attending a Penn State basketball game last season and hearing our student section chant "D-U-I" each time a player on the visiting team -- who was fresh off a driving under the influence arrest -- touched the ball. Now consider what hateful words would've been shouted into Amaechi's eardrums as he toed the free throw line at road games.
I know what some of you are thinking -- but doesn't that backlash come along with his decision to be gay in the first place? Because some backward people think homosexuality is, in fact, a choice.
Let's assume for a moment that it is and examine how one would benefit from deciding to be gay.
On the smallest scale, choosing to be gay in present-day America would mean having to either hide your identity from others or come out of the closet and risk affecting relationships with friends and family. The fact that John Amaechi remained silent for so long is merely a testament to this fact.
Choosing to be gay at Penn State would mean having to walk past the Willard Preacher and hear him spew forth God's hatred of you simply because people who wrote a book two millennia ago disliked gays. I imagine being told you are undoubtedly going to hell is not the most fun way to start off each afternoon.
On the national level, choosing to be gay would mean facing restrictions on whether you can legally get married. It would mean turning on the television and watching popularly-elected politicians explain how they will attempt to curb your rights and limit your equality with the rest of society.
Indeed, being gay in this nation is not easy by any stretch of the imagination.
No one envies the unique hardships homosexuals face -- as a straight man, I know I don't. Why, then, would a human desire a life filled with such inward and outward struggle? They wouldn't.
For that reason, it's obvious that being gay is determined by as much conscious effort as being straight: none at all. Yet, in spite of this, some feebleminded people still believe sexual orientation is a controllable thing.
This may be because as we learn of the struggles faced by John Amaechi, we also hear evangelist Ted Haggard insist he is now "completely heterosexual" after admitting to having had homosexual relations with a male prostitute. Yeah, I suppose that could be why.
We as a nation need to collectively learn a lesson from Amaechi, not Haggard, and recognize that homosexuality, just like being straight, is not a personal choice. And when someone does turn out to be gay, discriminating against them based on biblical text or personal inclinations is simply unacceptable.
Each of us will one day pass on from this world. When all is said and done, straight people will not have benefitted at all from disliking gays, and gays will have gained nothing through having been hated by others for a lifestyle that really affected no one but themselves.
Given America's homophobia, I applaud John Amaechi for the tremendous courage he displayed in his decision to come out of the closet.
But being gay? That was no decision at all.
