In an article for Good Morning America, ABC News reporter Susan Donaldson James discusses the significance of out athletes Jason Collins and Michael Sam on the cultural definitions of black masculinity with Elixher magazine's Kimberly McLeod. James writes:
Brooklyn Nets basketball player Jason Collins and NFL hopeful Michael Sam are poised to do more than reshape what it means to be openly gay athletes on the national stage, according to at least one LGBT advocate: Their high-profile roles in professional sports may "push the construct" of black manhood.
"This is extremely significant," said Kimberley McLeod, an African-American who runs Elixher, a magazine and blog for black LGBT women. "Sports and pop culture play such a huge role in forming our values and beliefs. … They are expanding the definition of what it means to be a black man and highlighting our common humanity in the process."