Indeed it shouldn't matter, but it does. Especially in the world of sports, where players and practically anyone associated with sports have faced a near absence of anything positive said about gay people, and on the negative side, anti-gay statements that still come out of the mouths of players even today.
It's an important disclosure nevertheless, regardless of what kind of strides have been made in the rest of our society. Important because so few players, employees of sports organizations or sports journalists have come out. Aside from the political importance of self-disclosure, I can understand why a sports media figure might be reluctant -- because of potential backlash -- but also because it might not seem like an appropriate moment to make such a statement unless something else happens in the world of sports that might make it the right time. For example, the disclosure of the sexual orientation of a team president and a player.
It just might be that the walls of prejudice are finally breaking down in sports.
