The NFL’s first openly gay draft pick for the Rams was exuberant at the news that he made the team that he kissed his boyfriend. Tongues are wagging. I don’t follow sports unless my husband makes me, but this stood out for a variety of reasons. Yes; he’s black. Yes; he’s gay. Yes; his boyfriend is white. And you know what I say? Live and let live.

I know of two gay men in my own family, and I can tell you that they showed signs of their preferences before they even knew what sex was. Both of my cousins hid far in the closet and had terrible outcomes. One succumbed to AIDS at the height of the epidemic in 1997. The other feigned heterosexuality, had a daughter out of wedlock and does not speak to her. Both were devastating effects of having to hide who they really were as a result of family and social pressure.

I’m all for people being who they are and not LYING about it. So double kudos, Michael Sam, for being drafted and not putting some poor, unsuspecting woman at risk because you’re trying to hide your sexuality.

People gotta be who they are, whether we like it or not.