Pride Month

Today is June 30, which makes it the final day of Pride Month. 

TigerBlog thought that his colleague Mason Darrow celebrated by getting a dog:

Making new friends is the best part of Pride pic.twitter.com/tjjow3IxKX

— Mason Darrow (he/him/his) (@mason_darrow) June 27, 2021

As it turns out, Mason did not get a dog. That dog belongs to a friend of his. "I wish," is what Mason actually said. 

If you go to Mason Darrow's Twitter account, you'll see that he wrote on top "Used to be a gay football player, now just a gay Princeton ’17 #BeTrue"

You may recall that back in 2015, Mason Darrow came out as gay. There was a story about him on outsports.com, which you can still read HERE.

This is what TigerBlog wrote afterwards: 

Even in 2015, when gay marriage is legal everywhere in the United States, when the idea of living a "closeted" existence seems silly, this is still big news. And it's not easy to do what Darrow did. It's not easy to put yourself out there like that, as "different." Especially in a sport like football.

Hopefully, in the nearly six years that have passed things have gotten a bit easier to do what Darrow did. Maybe having a month called "Pride Month" helps. Just last week, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to come out as gay. 

Darrow is not the only openly gay member of the Princeton Department of Athletics. There are several others, including coaches who are exactly the kind of people you want coaching your kids (and in the case of one, IS the coach who is coaching TB's kid). 

A year ago, during Pride Month 2020, Princeton women's lacrosse coach Chris Sailer said this to US Lacrosse Magazine:

“I’m passionate about this as a human being. I’m passionate about it as a coach of young people. As a gay woman, it’s important to be a good role model and promote the concept of diversity and acceptance and to help create inclusive communities for all of our players. I know that inclusion is always part of our message. If you’re talking from the standpoint of coaches, I think it should be part of every coach’s message. Our teams are made up of people from different backgrounds — different socioeconomic backgrounds, sexual orientations, different races. I don’t know how you can have a great team unless you create an inclusive environment.”

That's a great message. Isn't that the exact message you want your child to learn from a coach? 

Certainly things have changed since Sailer was younger. And from when TB was younger. In fact, he was a freshman in college when his older brother told him he was gay. It was a difficult message to hear back then, and it was something that TB would never publicly admit to anyone for years after that. If anyone asked, he'd say his brother was "single" or "hadn't met the right person yet."

To be completely honest with you, writing that now makes TB chuckle at the absurdity of it. And it also reminds him that if it was difficult for him to hear the news, it had to be 100 times harder for his brother to say it about himself to others. 

As much as TB would like to think the world has changed, it's probable that the world isn't quite as accepting these days as he hopes. Still, there's no doubt that it's come a very, very long way. 

TB's biggest concern on the subject is that there are people out there, young people, who are still afraid to have to say the words to the people closest to them. TB's advice is exactly what Mason Darrow says: be true.

TB is glad he works in a department that welcomes its members to "be true." There has been special attention paid the last 30 days to Pride Month, but it doesn't end with the turn of the calendar. And nor should it.