Jason Collins joins U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III in Boston gay pride parade

Jason Collins joins U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III in Boston gay pride parade

Staff and Wire Reports

Saturday, June 8, 2013

BOSTON — NBA veteran Jason Collins marched in Boston’s gay pride parade on Saturday with Massachusetts Congressman Joe Kennedy III, his onetime roommate at Stanford University.
Collins wore a T-shirt that read #BeTrue when he joined thousands of marchers Saturday.

Mary Schwalm, AP
NBA veteran Jason Collins, left, the first active player in one of four major U.S. professional sports leagues to come out as gay, marches in Boston’s gay pride parade alongside U.S. Rep. Joe Kennedy III, a college roommate, on Saturday, June 8, 2013, in Boston.

I n April, Collins became the first active player in one of the four major U.S. professional sports leagues to come out as gay. He wrote in an article for Sports Illustrated that the decision to go public came when Kennedy marched in last year’s parade and Collins didn’t feel that he could join him.Collins also said the Boston Marathon bombing reinforced the notion that things can change in an instant, so he might as well live truthfully.
Collins played for six teams in 12 seasons and becomes a free agent next month.
Kennedy is a former Massachusetts prosecutor and Peace Corps member who has endorsed full equality for the LGBTQ community. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives for Massachusetts’ 4th Congressional District in November 2012, the seat vacated by longtime Democratic openly gay Representative Barney Frank.

Associated Press contributed to this report.

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