Derek Schell becomes first openly gay NCAA Division II basketball player

Derek Schell

Talk about a world-class essay on coming out and owning your life.

On the eve of National Coming Out Day, (this Friday) 22-year-old Derek Schell has become the first openly gay NCAA Division II basketball player.

He published a moving essay today on OutSports.com about his coming out experience and the internal struggles he faced as a gay athlete at a conservative college:

“The beginning of my sophomore year of college, the only way I felt comfortably being myself was online,” Schell says. “I met the person that I care for most in this world, my boyfriend Kevin. We have been together for two years. I began to realize that my life was my own. There was no more time for living in the hopes of pleasing others and living up to any one person’s or any societal expectation.”

[snip]

Sometimes the darkest times in life are only doorways to the best moments of your life, the ones you were meant to experience and live to see. I wanted to do this so that the generations to follow have an example; so that the younger LGBT youth who live afraid of who they are becoming can know they have nothing to fear and they are perfect the way they are. My challenge to you, whoever is reading this, is to be honest with yourself and how you’re feeling. God doesn’t make mistakes. Don’t keep saying you’re fine. You can be who you are and still be an athlete. You can do all the things you want to do and live a beautiful life that you’ve imagined for yourself. Find your peace of mind knowing you are giving your best self to the world. Be brave. Be love. But most of all, be you.     

All I've got is: Congratulations Derek for being you, loving yourself and finding your inner passions for sport, life and who you are.

Your essay will do a LOT for untold young people out there who feel exactly as you did.

Hero.

Forward.