Jason Collins, the former NBA player who came out of the closet last year and became the first openly gay professional athlete in a major American sport to do so and be recognized by the media, will be First Lady Michelle Obama’s guest and sit with her during Tuesday’s State of the Union address.
Democrats and the Obamas have tried to use Collins for political gain. Soon after Collins game out, Collins appeared with Michelle Obama at an LGBT fundraiser for the DNC in New York in which Michelle Obama urged attendees to be “balllers” and “max out.”
Obama called Collins after he came out and Michelle Obama tweeted at him. Obama also used a presidential press conference in the White House briefing room to say he was “proud” of Collins.
Collins, a journeyman ballplayer, was not signed by an NBA team in the offseason even though some believed his coming out would help him land a job with an NBA team despite his less-than-stellar statistics.