So why was Jason Collins a big deal when Brittney Griner wasn't?

There has already been a lot said and written about the news of Jason Collins' coming out yesterday (I recommend Adrian Wojnarowski's and Jeff Jacobs' pieces), so I'll just say these two things.

1. Bravo.

2. While I couldn't disagree with their views more, I want to know about the Tim Brandos, the Chris Broussards and all the others who hide behind anonymity on message boards and comment threads not just so we know how they think, but also as a reminder that for all the support Collins is receiving, what he did is not easy.

But I actually want to write about something that cropped up as I was reading about Collins, perhaps best-stated by Alysa Auriemma (yes, daughter of Geno, but her stuff is worth a read no matter who her father is).

@allyauriemma On one hand I am so thrilled for Jason Collins. But it makes me look at the dozens of lesbian athletes I know with a heavy heart.

@allyauriemma Because they were there first. And nobody gave a s--t. But not in the 'yay gay is cool!' sort of way. In the 'women don't count' way.

I think there are a couple reasons for this, why Jason Collins is on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week and Brittney Griner made news, but not nearly as much, in the almost off-hand way she recently came out as a lesbian.

First, there are all the qualifiers in describing what Collins did, that he is the first active male athlete in a major U.S. professional team sport to come out as gay. In other words, he's "the first athlete with teammates to worry about who's supposed to be tough in a sport that American fans really care about and wants to keep playing it" to come out.

There's no sport in America, men's or women's, that approaches Major League Baseball, the NFL, the NBA and the NHL in popularity. It's the same reason why Collins is on the SI cover and Robbie Rogers wasn't, even though Rogers is also American.

But I also think a woman athlete coming out isn't as big a deal is because any announcement largely falls on two groups of people, who for vastly different reasons, don't have their views affected.

For one group, it just confirms their biases that all women athletes are gay, anyway, especially the more "masculine" ones (read: muscles, short hair, deep voice or a combination of the three). They're probably not fans, anyway, so what do they care other than a chance to make a couple more jokes? After all, plenty of these people think Griner might be a man.

For the other group, they're fans of women's sports, have already factored in that some of the players they're watching are gay ... and just don't give a damn. Brittney Griner's gay? Whatever. Look at the way she blocks shots and dunks. Megan Rapinoe's gay? Who cares? Did you see that goal on the corner kick against Canada?


So while I understand the people who question why a male athlete coming out is a bigger deal than a female, I'm hoping that someday they're both ho-hum.