Fri. June 6, 2014
Chicago, IL -
NBA player Jason Collins says he knew he was gay at 16 but didn't say it out loud until he was 32.
In a nearly 8-minute video titled It Got Better Featuring Jason Collins for the It Gets Better Project, Collins discusses coming out.
"Around 16 I kind of knew I had different kind of feelings," Collins said.
"In sports culture being gay can be so stressful. So, you just make a conscious decision to describe it as you have a CIA cover story and you just believe. You stick to the script and hope that no one figures out that you're gay."
In 2011, Collins said he reached out to a trainer who had made an It Gets Better video.
"We sat on a bench and it was actually the first time I said the words out loud, 'I'm gay,'" Collins said.
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