Profiles in Courage

With all the recent flap about gays in professional sports, I found this story reassuring.

So life outside of the closet is still complicated, though in different ways. And regardless, Hawkins says, life is better. At 36, Hawkins is in his first committed relationship, dating a man for the past six months. The two spent the Christmas holidays in Ireland.

And he insists that disclosing his true identity has made him a better coach. Keeping the secret took its toll, and kept his mind off the playing field.

“Instead of being able to focus on lacrosse, I focused a significant amount of (energy) worrying about who thinks I am gay, who knows I am, who will react poorly if they find out, who will not,” he said. “I don’t think about those things anymore.”