Above the fold front page headline in today's Arizona Republic: "Personal Life Leads Suns CEO to Resign." You may recall Rick Welts' coming out story back in May. By all accounts, he's a very highly regarded executive in pro sports, a business not known for its embrace of out athletes let alone senior management. Well now, Mr. Welts has decided to resign to "give more priority to his personal life."
You can read the story here.
While you might suspect that his coming out had something to do with his resignation, it appears not - at least not in the negative way you might assume:
"The most important thing for me is to get my personal and professional lives better aligned," Welts said. "They've probably never been aligned. I'm 58 years old and it's time to do that.
Read more: http://www.azcentral.com/...
This guy is my vintage - I just turned 60 - and I can't imagine what a chore it's been to stay in the closet all these years. I know many who went that long in the closet and never did come out so I have to applaud Mr. Welts for not only taking that step in May but also what must be another scary second step in giving up a great career to invest all his energy in his new relationship.
I'm a bit disappointed that we won't continue to have an openly gay man at such a high executive level in pro sports - we certainly need that visibility if we're to continue to see an improved sports environment for lgbt folks. But I hope we'll hear more from Mr. Welts as he enters a new stage of his life and career.