Jason Collins becomes the first out athlete in any of the four major sports

I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand. -- NBA player Jason Collins in Sports Illustrated 

In a story for the May 6th issue of Sports Illustrated, NBA center and 12-year vet, Jason Collins, becomes the first openly gay player still active in any of the four major sports. The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. This is a big, big step toward greater acceptance in the world of sports -- and one that was inevitable -- but already not without backlash. Via Queerty , a fellow player, Miami Dolphins wide receiver, Mike Wallace, tweeted this:

As TMZ reports, Wallace tweeted “All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys SMH (shakin’ my head) …” 

Wallace quickly deleted the tweet and apologized to any followers who were offended. 

He wrote: “Never said anything was right or wrong. I just said I don’t understand!! Deeply sorry if anyone was offended.”

Unfortunately, I think this is the kind of covert homophobia that's unlikely to go away any time soon.

(Then there's this nonsense.)