Another Barrier Broken Analysis

Last year, NBA player Jason Collins came out as gay. Collins is the first professional athlete from one the four major sports in North America. Not only is he gay, but he is also black. So being a queer person of color, Jason Collins would face a lot of barriers in his life. However, he seems to be breaking those barriers down, as depicted in Kevin Siers’ editorial, Another Barrier Broken. One could say that this picture aims to appeal to pathos, and hopefully Jason Collins (and this editorial) would inspire other queer athletes to break down their barriers and “come out”, however these barriers are not always easily broken despite having the right to do so.
This editorial picture was first published in The Observer in April of 2013. The goal of the picture is to definitely play off one’s emotions. As one can see in the picture, the closet doors to baseball and football are

closed, these doors are “barriers”. Use of the word “barrier” screams about the struggles queer athletes must face. By looking at the picture, anyone who is queer instantly feels that connection to pathos, and great admiration for Jason. With the appeal to pathos, people who are not queer will hopefully get an understanding of how difficult it is to be queer. Being undermined about one’s sexuality is emotionally disconcerting, athlete or not. First, it is people coming out and hoping they would not get murdered, now it is people hoping to not be seen as a lesser being than before. This is the first time there has ever been a gay athlete playing for one of the main American sports. Jason Collins has created his own legacy, shattered his own barriers, and has fought for what he wanted as shown through the picture with the basketball door open.
This editorial is just rooting for other queer athletes from the Major Profession Sports League to come out. Siers very clearly shows all four doors for those sports, yet only one is open. This could be seen as enticing to those other players and they would feel ready to bust down their own barriers as well. It is entirely probable that it is working, considering the NFL just drafted their first openly gay player. Being who oneself is should not be a considered a barrier that needs to be broken down, but it is just a fact that needs to be stated. However, it does not stop other people from seeing these as barriers.
It is not illegal to be gay in the United States, yet there is (not) surprising lack of out athletes in basketball and football, and absolutely no out athletes in baseball or hockey.

Discrimination from other players and “fans” of the sport are a constant worry they would go through. Collins probably thought he might be better off not admitting his sexual orientation in fear of not getting picked up to play again, as he was a free player at the time. However, this cannot be specifically stated with the picture but one might take the fact that only one door is open as a bit of a giveaway for this. One can infer that tensions have risen about the NBA player and his ability to play the sport. With all these potential downfalls to admitting that he is gay, he came out anyways, thus inspiring the picture above. One of the points of the editorial, though, is to get people to see through these barriers so they will no longer be a problem. Essentially, the picture does not show that being queer diminishes talent because being queer does not diminish ones

talent.
Being gay or being black should not be considered barriers. They should be facts about a person’s being. Straight, white males have no problem being drafted or contracted into a sport. Why should a queer, person of color have difficulties doing so, especially if their skill sets are equal to, if not higher than the other athlete? The editorial is meant to inspire other queer athletes (and other queer people). I believe Kevin Siers means to say “how great would it be if other athletes came out of the closet?” How great would it be if someone’s career was not jeopardized because of something they cannot help? Having more queer representation in major sports would make being gay seem less demonized and more normal. It would be an inspiration to other younger athletes in high school who realize that they are not conforming to what society considers acceptable.