Earlier this week, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out as gay. He’s the first active NFL player in history to do so, and with any luck, he’ll also become the first openly gay player to play in an actual regular season game this fall. He made the announcement via an Instagram post:

I actually hope that like one day, videos like this and the whole coming-out process are just not necessary. But until then, I’m going to do my best and do my part to cultivate a culture that’s accepting, that’s compassionate and I’m going to start by donating $100,000 to the Trevor Project.

It’s achingly slow, but progress is occurring all around us. Celebrate it when it happens.

Previously in improvements in professional sports: Progress in Major League Baseball