Re the Steve Rothaus's Aug. 5 story, Gay sports fans at odds over Bean:

For the past three years, since I came out publicly in The Herald, I have seen how important it is for members of the gay and lesbian community, who are able to live openly and honestly in our workplaces, to be visible, vocal role models.

Being a former Major League Baseball player might make my story interesting to some, yet it does not make it more important than the coming-out experiences of others.

The producers of HBO's Arli$$ asked me to play myself in an episode in which a character who is a professional athlete is deciding whether he should come out. I thought it would be an opportunity to tell like it is: It would be very difficult for a ball player to declare himself homosexual and be accepted in Major League Baseball.

I worked closely with the scriptwriters to ensure that my personal experience was captured truthfully. Professional athletes must focus entirely on their performance -- witness Lance Armstrong, Venus Williams or Tiger Woods. But they can be distracted when people are making judgments about their sexual orientation, rather than their athletic performance. This is a disservice to the athlete, team and fans.

If athletes understand that their world will change unequivocally once they openly declare themselves gay, then we should support that decision with all our fervor. I passionately support the ability of those in the gay and lesbian community to live openly. It has changed my life for the better in too many ways to count. I am a national spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, and I have worked tirelessly to raise money in support of SAVE Dade to preserve the gay-rights amendment to the county's human-rights ordinance. Unfortunately, it is being contested on the Sept. 10 ballot.

In my many appearances across the country I urge young adults, students and athletes to open up to their parents, loved ones or someone they trust instead of keeping it all in like I did for 10 years.

Major League Baseball is the only profession I am qualified to assess in its readiness to embrace differences. As of today, it is my opinion that it is not. I hope that it, like the rest of society, will soon change.

In the meantime, we must respect the individual choice of a professional athlete to come out or not. In the world I envision, the members of our community could live openly and honestly in any profession, even Major League Baseball. However, there is a big difference between holding a national press conference and being held under a public microscope and coming out to your family, friends and loved ones. The latter approach could have saved so many of us from dark, lonely times. Let's keep the journey moving forward.

BILLY BEAN

Miami Beach

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