Americans approve of Jason Collins' decision to come out by a margin of two-to-one and even more do among NBA fans
Jason Collins, who plays for the Washington Wizards, became the first professional athlete in one of the four major leagues to publicly state he is homosexual. The news has been widely praised - President Obama called Collins to congratulate him - and most Americans approve of his decision to come out.
The latest YouGov research shows that 55% of Americans approve of his decision to come out, while 25% disapprove.
This was strongly split along political lines, however, with Democrats (71%) being far more likely than Republicans (30%) to approve. Significantly, Independents also largely approved, with 58% supporting Jason Collins.
Sports fans were also more likely than the general public to support Jason Collins, with hockey fans (68%) being more likely than football (59%) or baseball (59%) fans to support Jason Collins. 65% of NBA fans backed him and only 23% disapproved.
Respondents were also asked which leagues they thought to be the most tolerant of openly gay players. Soccer (14%) was thought to be the most tolerant and Hockey (2%) the least, but 65% did not choose any of the options.
Complete results are available here.
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