One more gay man who quietly did his job

Joan Ryan's heartbreaking and inspiring story of Lindsy McLean, who worked in the locker room of the San Francisco 49ers football team for two decades, occasionally suffering blatant harrassment and intimidation but more often respect, is typical of so many stories of men of his generation. A gay man or lesbian woman works quietly in a company, school or other institution, doing their job well, suffering from homophobia despite not "flaunting" their sexuality or even coming out of the closet, then at the end of their career comes out with dignity. Younger queers must acknowledge the ways older generations suffered and died for the freedoms we have today.

Supposedly there's a current article about his struggle in ESPN-the-Magazine, but not online. Here's an article on a fan site marking McLean's retirement. Finally, this press release from the 49ers pictures McLean and mentions charity work he did for something called "Courage House." If only they knew how much courage he really had.