Thank you, Jason Collins, for being large -- large of spirit, large of import, but also large of physical stature. That itself helped. It helped reinforce that gay people, an immutable portion of nature, breathe and thrive most everywhere, even in the merciless zones beneath NBA baskets among bruising collisions and untoward elbows and immovable giants.
Thank you for much more, of course. Thank you for making life that much more breathable for people like myself. Thank you for a coming-out in 2013 bold enough that it approached "Heated Rivalry" level and earnest enough to epitomize dignity. Thank you for returning to the NBA for a while after that, for navigating the fearsome blast of noise in a country whose foremost knacks include loudness. And then, thank you for taking all the barbs you heard or saw or felt across the ensuing 13 years, for your genuine goodness in gliding above them (a feat even at 7 feet), for your steadfast awareness that the alleluias outnumbered them.