Heads or Tails?

Current NBA player Jason Collins recently announced he is gay in an article in Sports Illustrated. Struck not by the decision to announce it the way he did, but by the process Collins (and all gay people for that matter) must have gone through to choose homosexuality over heterosexuality, Bob creates a gay vs. straight Pro/Con list to help him make his own choice.

Straight

Pros	Cons
Considered the norm in nearly every civilization on the planet; few, if any, roadblocks to being accepted among society in terms of sexuality	Rarely considered the “in” preference Many roadblocks to getting asked to be on the panel of one of those red carpet fashion critique shows
Little temptation to lie about my sexual preference to any family members, friends or colleagues for any amount of time	Have lied to them already when it comes to how experienced I was by the time I graduated high school
Not likely to disappoint anyone with my choice	Which is a shame because I’ve got some people I wouldn’t mind disappointing
Large population of straight women who are technically “eligible” to be in a relationship with me	Small population of straight women who are interested in said relationship with me
If I can convince a woman to marry me, our union will be recognized by my faith and afforded benefits by the federal government that aren’t afforded to others	If either or both of us wishes to end the relationship, must get church and federal government involved
Few pratfalls with trying to have children	Not enough pratfalls with trying to have children
Will feel comfortable in most social situations	But when I’m around other men, the only thing I’ll be able to talk about is sports
There’s really too many pros to list here	When I’m around women, the only thing I’ll be able to talk about is sports
	In the gym, will be subjected to other, more insecure, straight men asserting their dominance while wearing little clothing
	Likely to be judged negatively for my wardrobe

Gay

Pros	Cons
·         Hmmm… let’s see…	In the gym, will be subjected to insecure straight men asserting their dominance while wearing little clothing
	Likely to be judged negatively for my wardrobe
·         Won’t have to watch sports because others will assume I don’t know anything about them	Others will assume I don’t know anything about sports
	Much smaller population of gay men to choose from compared to straight women
·         What else… what else…	Even fewer gay men seem interested in me than do straight women
	Any union I hope to have will not be recognized by many faiths or afforded any benefits by the federal government
·         There are a few states now that recognize gay marriage	I’d have to move
	Many pratfalls with trying to have children
·         Oh, I know one - when I tell people I’m going to an Oscars viewing party, I’ll no longer get the question, “Dude, are you gay?”	Potential for disappointing some people who are close to me, as well as complete strangers
	May feel tempted to lie about who I am
	Won’t be considered the norm in any civilization on the planet

Decisions, decisions…