Kenneth Faried Is The First NBA Player To Join LGBTQ+ Rights Group

Kenneth Faried, of the Denver Nuggets, is the first NBA player to join Athlete Ally, which is devoted to fighting homophobia in sports, and perhaps paving way for the first professional basketball, football, baseball star to publicly come out.

So, is it Faried, nicknamed ‘Manimal,’ who is coming out? No; he’s joined the group because he has two moms. In fact, Faried recently appeared with his mothers in a video for the advocacy group OneColorado, to encourage Colorado to legalize civil unions.

"Becoming an Athlete Ally gives me the opportunity to spread a message of inclusiveness throughout the NBA and our country. I have two moms and I love them both very much. I respect, honor and support them in every way. The bond I have with them has made me realize that I want all members of the LGBT community—whether they are parents, players, coaches or fans—to feel welcome in the NBA and in all of our communities."—Kenneth  Faried

Kenneth joins an ever-growing list of professional athletes as members of Athlete Ally: Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens, Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings, Scott Fujita of the Cleveland Browns, and Connor Barwin of the Houston Texans.

"In the last month, we have seen seven professional athletes around the world align with Athlete Ally. Kenneth is standing out not only as an incredible talent, but as an incredible ally. We are thrilled to have him on board and grateful to the NBA for its continued leadership."—Hudson Taylor, executive director of Athlete Ally.

Thanks for coming out, so to speak, Kenneth. We need all the allied we can get as we move forward toward equality.

Also—and I never thought I’d say this—but ‘Thank you’ to Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers star, who admonished a fan who Tweeted, "You're gay" as an insult to another fan:

"Just letting you know @PacSmoove @pookeo9 that using 'your gay' as a way to put someone down ain't ok! #notcool delete that out ur vocab."—Kobe Bryant.

Bryant, as you might recall, was fined $100,000 last April for using a gay slur during a game, so this is a huge step. Now, if we could get Kobe onboard with Athlete Ally ….?

via The Huffington Post