Obama: 'Couldn't Be Prouder' Of Jason Collins

QUESTION: Do you want to say anything about Jason Collins?

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Yeah. I’ll say something about Jason Collins. I had the chance talk to him yesterday. He seems like a terrific young man and I told him I couldn’t be prouder of him. One of the extraordinary measures of progress that we’ve seen in this country has been that the LGBT community deserves full equality, not just partial equality. Not just tolerance, but that they’re fully apart of the American family. Given the importance of sports in our society, for an individual that’s excelled at the highest level at one of our major sports to go out and say, “This is who I am. I’m still a great competitor. I’m still 7′ tall and can bang with Shaq. And deliver a hard foul.” And, you know, I think a lot of young people out there who are gay or lesbian, who are struggling with these issues, to see a role model like that — whose unafraid — I think it’s a great thing.