If Jason Collins is the pioneer, then consider Robbie Rogers the first test subject.
Rogers has signed to play for the Los Angeles Galaxy of Major League Soccer and will be the first openly gay athlete to play in an American professional sports league.
The 26-year-old Rogers had been on teams in England the last two seasons, but injuries derailed his career, the Los Angeles Times reported. That led to Rogers announcing his retirement, upon which he took the opportunity to announce that he was gay.
"I don't know what I was so afraid of,'' Rogers said, according to The Associated Press."It's been such a positive experience for me. The one thing I've learned from all of this is being gay is not that big of a deal to people.
"People are just really growing and accepting and loving. Those other things are just not that important to them. I think as the younger get older and the generations come and go, I think times are just becoming more accepting."
The Times said that Rogers' return to professional soccer had nothing to do with Collins' announcement in April that he was gay. Rogers did say, however, that Collins had sought his advice before coming out.
"He asked me for some advice and I was honest with him and wished him the best of luck," Rogers said in the Times report. "I'm hoping for millions of people it will give them the confidence to do it."
Collins' announcement in a first-person account published by Sports Illustrated, received much fanfare in the media, but Rogers has the bigger challenge because he will return to the locker room of a profession sports team after coming out.
Collins is an NBA free agent and has not signed with a team for the 2013-14 and may not return to the locker room setting, where acceptance has its greatest question mark.
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