After making headlines Monday for becoming the first openly gay NBA player, Jason Collins’ decision to come out of the closet has been met with mixed responses.
Sports analyst Chris Broussard took to ESPN’s Outside the Lines segment Monday to express his anti-gay sentiments and called homosexuality a sin, reports the Hollywood Reporter.
“If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, the Bible says you know them by their fruits, it says that that’s a sin,” said Broussard. “If you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and Jesus Christ.”
Broussard was soon put under fire for his on-air comments and ESPN released an apology in response to the views expressed on the hour-long episode.
Despite negative responses to Collins’ coming out, the NBA free agent has received lots of encouragement.
President Barack Obama along with several NBA players have openly expressed their support for him. According to the Huffington Post, the president called Collins shortly after Sports Illustrated published his personal essay. White House officials said the president told Collins that “he was impressed by his courage” and wanted to “express his support.”
Kobe Bryant shared how proud he was of his fellow player on Twitter writing, “Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don’t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others #courage #support #mambaarmystandup #BYOU.”
According to TMZ, Collins has been formally offered a lead position in the 2013 Boston Pride Parade after sharing how big a role it played in his decision to come out.
“Boston Pride is formally inviting Jason Collins to be a Marshal in the 2013 Boston Pride Parade,” a rep told TMZ. “Boston Pride is proud that our annual celebration helped to inspire Jason Collins to make his groundbreaking decision to come out.”
There’s no word if Collins has agreed to participate in the June 8th celebration, but he does intend on marching this year.