When you think about players in the National Football League, one word that comes to mind is strength. The blocking, the tackling and the battles on the gridiron against large, fit and determined opponents require amazing strength.

Now consider the strength it would require to be a current NFL player and publicly come out as gay. Carl Nassib, a defensive lineman for the Las Vegas Raiders, is the first active player in the NFL to publicly identify as gay. Here’s what he said June 21 via his Instagram account:

“What’s up people? I’m at my house here in West Chester, Pennsylvania. I just want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay. I’ve been meaning to do this for a while now, but I finally feel comfortable enough to get it off my chest. I really have the best life, I’ve got the best family, friends and job a guy could ask for. I’m a pretty private person so I hope you guys know that I’m really not doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important. I actually hope that like one day, videos like this and the whole coming out process are just not necessary. But until then, I’m going to do my best and do my part to cultivate a culture that’s accepting, that’s compassionate and I’m going to start by donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project.”

In case you aren’t familiar with the Trevor project, it is the leading national organization providing crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer & questioning (LGBTQ+) young people under 25. The Trevor project is a national resource which offers a 24/7 LGBTQ+ youth hotline: call 1-866-488-7386 any time.

As Carl Nassib revealed, he’d been meaning to come out for a while, but for reasons best known to him he decided to wait, until now. No doubt he had to consider what consequences there could be, especially given his profession and the public spotlight that comes with it.

Perhaps there is someone you know who is not in the public spotlight but whose decision to come out weighs just as heavily. In recent years, a number of young people have privately come out to me as gay, even though they had not done so with their own family. Why? They didn’t feel they had a family support system which would be just that: supportive.

The lack of widespread support for gay youth has consequences that are revealed in official U.S. government statistics. For example, compared to American youth in general, gay youth are much more likely to be homeless and two to three times more likely to attempt suicide. (Source: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion.)  June is Pride Month and this presents an opportunity for us all to continue shining a light on the struggles and the successes of our LGBTQ+ youth.

A great first step in addressing these issues in our community is to accept, understand and support people as they are. As Springfield’s own Dr. Seuss aptly put it:

Today you are you, that is truer than true.
There is no one alive who is youer than you.

If you or someone you know needs support in their own journey of identity, you can start a conversation by calling 844-MHA-WELL.