President of The NBA's Phoenix Suns Comes Out

Rick Welts

When the history of gay athletes in North American professional sports is eventually written, it seems like one turning point on the long road to full acceptance might be traced back to a few weeks during the months of April and May of this year.

Consider that in the span of a few short weeks we have seen Kobe Bryant use a homophobic slur against a referee which resulted in an avalanche of negative press for the Lakers' star, as well as a $100,000 fine imposed by the NBA.

Two NBA stars — Grant Hill and Jared Dudley — then recorded a PSA targeting the use of homophobic language in schools.

Additionally, New York Rangers' player Sean Avery did a public service announcement supporting the legalization of same-sex marriage in New York.

That in turn resulted in the owners of Uptown Sports, a Canadian sports agency, tweeting their disapproval of Avery's stance and of gay rights in general. Faster than you could say "Goal!" the hockey world overwhelmingly supported Avery and gay rights, and condemned Uptown Sports for their bigotry.

Now, one of the NBA's highest profile executives has come out as gay. In an extensive and sometimes heart-breaking interview with The New York Times, Rick Welts, the president and chief executive of the Phoenix Suns, discusses his reasons for coming out now and how NBA commissioner David Stern reacted.

About Welts, the Times article notes, "... that he wants to pierce the silence that envelops the subject of homosexuality in men’s team sports. He wants to be a mentor to gay people who harbor doubts about a sports career, whether on the court or in the front office. Most of all, he wants to feel whole, authentic."

Much of the piece is devoted to the struggle Welts went through and what living in the closet cost him. That cost was especially dear when his partner died of AIDS in 1994. From the article:

But this privacy came at great cost. In March 1994, his longtime partner, Arnie, died from complications related to AIDS, and Mr. Welts compartmentalized his grief, taking only a day or two off from work. His secretary explained to others that a good friend of his had died. Although she and Arnie had talked many times over the years, she and her boss had never discussed who, exactly, Arnie was.

Around 7:30 on the morning after Arnie’s death, Mr. Welts’s home telephone rang. “It was Stern,” he recalled. “And I totally lost it on the phone. You know. Uncle Dave. Comforting.”

Even then, homosexuality was never discussed — directly.

For weeks, Mr. Welts walked around the office, numb, unable to mourn his partner fully, or to share the anxiety of the weeklong wait for the results of an H.I.V. test, which came back negative.

All in all it's a rather extraordinary story and an important step toward the day when gays and lesbian athletes are finally able to live their lives as openly as Rick Welts can now live his.