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" The NBA&amp;#039;s Jason Collins officially came out yesterday as the nation&amp;#039;s first gay, active professional athlete. The California native, who played for both the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards last season, gave an exclusive interview this morning with ABC&amp;#039;s George Stephanopoulos to discuss his brave decision and what he hopes his announcement will accomplish in the sports world. Collins told Stephanopoulos he never had any intention of being the first openly gay athlete; he was waiting for someone else to raise his hand so that he could&amp;#039;ve followed that person&amp;#039;s lead. When no one seemed to want to reveal themselves, he took the initiative. Though Collins remained silent about his sexuality until now, his decision to wear the #98 jersey is a nod to 1998, the year Matthew Shepard, a gay University of Wyoming student, was brutally tortured and murdered in a hate crime.  Also in the interview, Collins expressed gratitude for the support he&amp;#039;s received from his fans, the public and fellow athletes. Basketball legends like the San Antonio Spurs&amp;#039; Tony Parker and New York Knicks guard Jason Kidd are amongst the players to praise Collins. Even Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant tweeted, &amp;quot;Proud of @jasoncollins34. Don&amp;#039;t suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others,&amp;quot; and hashtagged words like &amp;quot;courage&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;support.&amp;quot; It remains to be seen whether or not Collins&amp;#039;s public coming-out will inspire other athletes to do the same. Do you think it will? Comment below. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/entertainment/news/a47885/jason-collins-athlete/>