University of Massachusetts Guard Derrick Gordon Announced he is Gay
Last Updated: April 11, 2014
Gordon announced about his sexual orientation on Wednesday April 9, 2014. He said that he started to have thoughts back in middle school he might be gay, gathered his support team of friends, who knew he was gay, following UMass’s exit from the NCAA Tournament March 21 to finalize his plan for an announcement. Gordon then went home to Plainfield, N.J., on March 30 to tell his parents.
On last Sunday he told his parents. His mother was shocked "You gay?" Sandra Gordon asked her son.
Derrick Gordon answered accordingly.
"Yeah."
Silence ensued.
"I just froze for about 10 seconds," she said. "I kind of knew but I didn't want the answer to be yes. One of the first things he said was, 'Mom don't cry.' "
Gordon said she noticed things that led her to believe there was a chance her son was gay since a young age. "I remember thinking I hope when he's older he doesn't turn out to be gay," she said. "It turned out to be true. But it's all love now. I love him to death."
He said that after gaining support from his parents and siblings the next step was to tell the coach. So he said he called Coach Derek Kellogg that same night and told the story. Kellogg forwarded the same to his teammates.
“It made things a lot easier,” Gordon said. “I was able to tell my story more and express myself a lot more, which was good. They all accepted me. You could see it throughout when I was telling my story, you could some teammates getting a little emotional or whatever because I was speaking from my heart and that they really care about me besides the basketball aspect.”
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