Gibson on managing gay player: ‘Nothing would change’
Apr 29, 2013, 11:38 PM | Updated: 11:48 pm
History was made Monday when NBA player Jason Collins of the Washington Wizards became the first active male pro athlete in a North American major league team sport to announce he is gay.
Collins’ announcement follows weeks of rumors about a possible quartet of gay NFL players to also come out of the closet, but that hasn’t happened just yet.
For decades, there have been gay players in team sports, but the lack of gay players coming out has led to discussion among the masses about whether or not a homosexual male would be accepted in a pro locker room.
It was a question posed to Arizona Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson Monday.
“If one of my players came out and said they were gay, I’d have no reaction to it at all. I wouldn’t treat him any differently,” Gibson said. “I’m 56 years old almost, I’ve gone through a lot in life and I think one of our goals is to not be discriminatory towards anybody based upon their race, their sexuality or whatever it may be.”
Gibson believes his concern is only about how is player fares on the field.
“I’d want to know if he could play tomorrow,” he said. “How his arm was feeling, whether he could swing the bat properly. That’s where my focus would go. Nothing would change, certainly not.”
