Target said its new program relies on shoppers using their Facebook accounts. However, shoppers can only redeem the offers they choose in Target's U.S. stores, not online.

With Cartwheel, shoppers select the deals they want online and then bring a barcode - either on paper or on a mobile phone - to a Target store to get the discounts. Shoppers can see what offers their Facebook friends have chosen, and earn more offers by having their Facebook friends sign up.

This service comes as traditional retailers try to keep shoppers buying from them rather than from Amazon.com Inc and other online-only retailers, especially as shoppers use their smartphones to compare prices.

Twenty percent of cellphone owners research products using their phones before they buy, and 18 percent of them compare prices on their phones before making a purchase, according to Bill Tancer, general manager of global research for Experian Marketing Services.

Cartwheel follows efforts such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc letting shoppers in some of its U.S. stores scan their goods with their iPhones while they shop and then more quickly proceed through a self-checkout lane. Sears Holdings Corp's "Member Assist" program gives its loyal shoppers the ability to get personalized shopping advice from in-store personnel without even stepping foot in a Sears or Kmart store.

"It is very fascinating to see the very different approaches that retailers are taking to achieve the same goals," said Carol Spieckerman, president of newmarketbuilders, a retail strategy firm.

Retailers are using digital tools to better cater to shoppers who love to comparison shop while in their stores. Target and other retailers offer free WiFi, and at one of its Minnesota stores Best Buy Co Inc has tested its "Page a Blue Shirt" service that lets customers summon a store associate with a click on a store iPad.

For chains such as Kmart, Target and Walmart, such issues are increasingly important as their businesses have evolved since each opened its doors in 1962. Their stores used to be one-stop shops for everything from books and movies to photo developing. As such services have waned in popularity with the rise of digital books, movies and photo sharing sites, the chains are doing what they can to figure out new ways to make their stores more attractive to shoppers and, ultimately, more profitable.

CARTWHEEL'S BETA ROLLOUT

Starting on May 8, Target is opening Cartwheel to the public in a beta test, and asking for feedback as it makes changes. The service will initially be advertised on Target's website, through Facebook and in emails to Target's best shoppers and card holders.

Target did not rule out the possibility of allowing Cartwheel offers to be redeemed on its website someday.

Target said it worked in a close partnership with Facebook Inc for about a year. While Facebook has worked on the project, Cartwheel is owned by Target. For now, Target has no plans to extend it to other social sites such as Pinterest.

Linking offers through Facebook will let the retailer know exactly what Facebook can or cannot accomplish for it. While Twitter can be useful to promote timely, limited offers, Facebook is "the dominant platform" for connecting with shoppers and, in turn, with their connections, Spieckerman said.

Target sees the program as a way to extend the trips shoppers take into parts of the store they might normally skip, in order to pick up a promoted item. An app coming in June will let shoppers scan a photo of an item's barcode to quickly see if an offer is available on that item.

Shoppers using Cartwheel can choose from hundreds of deals on items such as Target's own Threshold home goods and name brand goods such as M&Ms candy and Coca-Cola soft drinks. The weekly, monthly and quarterly deals include discounts from 5 percent off to as much as 40 percent off of certain goods, and differ from other Target offers in circulars or coupon booklets.

Shoppers can share the deals they are picking with their Facebook friends, but offers on more discreet items - from bras to Tums - will not be visible to others.

(Reporting by Jessica Wohl in Chicago, additional reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in New York; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -- Two measures that would take lawmakers out of setting college tuition rates started advancing Tuesday in the Louisiana House.

The House Education Committee approved a bill that would allow boards for the state's four public college systems to increase tuition and fee amounts under a policy that would be established by the Board of Regents, which oversees higher education in the state.

The policy would include an outcome-based performance standard that schools would have to meet before they are allowed to raise tuition.

The proposal, by Rep. Walt Leger, D-New Orleans, was approved 13-4.

Currently, the power to increase tuition and mandatory fees lies with the Legislature. It takes a two-thirds vote of lawmakers to boost tuition, and Louisiana is the only state in the nation with such a requirement.

Leger said higher education officials needed the flexibility to govern their budgets and that lawmakers needed to get out of the "tuition business."

The proposal "seeks to put us in line with 49 other states and take us out of the business of having to vote by a two-thirds majority to deal with tuition issues, instead give it to the experts who work in higher education."

The bill would set a tuition cap equal to the Southern regional average.

Backers of the bill said higher education officials need the flexibility to set tuition that would give them a predictable revenue stream. The bill was amended to include a caveat that state funding for higher education would not be decreased if tuition were to be raised.

While agreeing that higher education has taken financial hits, Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, said tuition has steadily increased over the last five years. However, money from the state's general fund for higher education has consistently decreased, he said.

"That's not the component that's broken," he said. "We used to fund higher education from the general fund at 70 percent, now it's at 35 percent. Will we go to zero?"

Edwards voted against the bill.

A second bill approved Tuesday by the House and Governmental Affairs Committee without objection would take a different approach.

That measure by Rep. Thomas Carmody, R-Shreveport, would spell out in the Louisiana Constitution that college tuition and fee increases don't require a two-thirds vote of the Legislature like other fee hikes.

"We do believe this is a sound concept, one that has been repeatedly recommended by policy groups," said Commissioner of Higher Education Jim Purcell, who said Louisiana's tuition rates are among the lowest in the South.

James Caillier, executive director of the Taylor Foundation which works on higher education issues, raised objections to Carmody's bill, saying it could make college out of reach for some students.

"We should try to make higher education as affordable as possible," Caillier said.

He said tuition shouldn't continue to be raised without the schools showing improved graduation rates and other performance measures.

The constitutional amendment would need support from two-thirds of lawmakers in the House and Senate, along with voters at a statewide election before it could take effect.

Both bills head to the full House for debate.

The education committee also approved a college tuition bill sponsored by its chairman, Rep. Stephen Carter, R-Baton Rouge, that would authorize a one-time tuition and fee increase by college boards in 2016.

However, the increase would have to be less than the average tuition and fees of Southern Regional Education Board peer schools and would come only if the school's graduation and retention rates were on par with its peer institutions.

___

AP reporter Melinda Deslatte contributed to this story.

SAO PAULO (Reuters) - While Brazil struggles to finish its stadiums in time for the 2014 World Cup, Twitter is already working to cash in on what the U.S. company's head of revenue, Adam Bain, sees as a potentially huge business opportunity.

Robust consumer spending, growth potential from still-low Internet penetration and fast adoption of smart phones have turned this nation of 194 million people into an attractive market for Twitter and other online giants.

With soccer's World Cup rapidly approaching and the 2016 Olympics around the corner, Brazil stands out as the kind of opportunity a company under pressure to monetize its 200 million-strong user base doesn't want to miss.

"You think about the next 10 years in Brazil and it is really going to be amazing from a business perspective," Bain, Twitter's global president of revenue, said in an interview on a visit to Sao Paulo this week.

"Brazil is the largest opportunity we see in Latin America and frankly across all of the other markets," the executive said. "That's why we are here building and we will continue to invest in this market in a big way."

The World Cup and the Olympics are meant to showcase Brazil's status as an emerging economic power. But with just a year left before the opening match, Latin America's biggest economy is struggling to finish new stadiums and put in place key infrastructure such as G4 mobile networks.

For Twitter, the international sports events are also crucial. The San Francisco-based company saw record levels of traffic during the 2012 London Olympics and launched a model of integration with TV that company executives like Bain think may be a substantial part of its monetizing strategy.

Twitter makes money through its "promoted tweets" or advertisement posts that users receive in their tweet feeds. The company is expected to generate nearly $600 million in revenues this year, according to the research firm eMarketer.

Bain, the man in charge of turning Twitters' huge user base into money, came to Brazil to talk to businesses that are starting to lay out their strategies for the World Cup and the Olympics.

"Some of our most strategic deals that we have signed with marketers, which are global deals that we have signed over multiple years, many of them include work that they want to do here in Brazil during the World Cup and the Olympics," he said.

The challenge is not so much explaining to marketers why they have to incorporate the microblogging platform into their marketing strategies as it is to show them how to do it.

BRAZIL, A NO-BRAINER

Twitter is one of the latest U.S. Internet companies to land in Brazil, an emerging market that has embraced social media with almost religious zeal.

Just six months ago the company hired a former Yahoo! executive to lead the charge and the sense of work in progress is apparent in the impersonal, half-empty rental office Twitter occupies in Sao Paulo's financial district.

But things have changed since rival Facebook got here a couple of years ago. Brazil's once hefty economic growth slowed down to a mere 0.9 percent in 2012 and mounting inflation is beginning to dent consumer confidence, dimming some of the enthusiasm over the Internet's potential here.

And yet Bain says opening an office in Brazil was a no-brainer. Even before setting foot here, the country was already Twitter's No. 3 market after the United States and Japan, with an estimated 40 million subscribers.

"The overall impact has potential to be huge," he said when asked when asked about the revenue Twitter expected from the World Cup and the Olympics, which he declined to estimate.

An Internet penetration rate of just 44 percent - half that of the United States - combined with soaring sales of smart phones to a booming middle class, make Brazil attractive in the long run for companies like Twitter and Facebook.

And, according to Bain, users in Brazil are responding better than others to advertisement in the form of "promoted tweets," with an engagement rate two or three times higher than the global average.

"The world's spotlight is going to move to Brazil in a very dramatic fashion and investment certainly follows with that."

(Reporting by Esteban Israel; Editing by Vicki Allen)

AFGE National President J. David Cox Sr., 8th District National Vice President Jane Nygaard, Council of Prison Locals North Central Region Fair Practices Coordinator Sandy Parr and National Veterans Affairs Council National Representative David Mollett participated in a roundtable discussion highlighting National Nurses Week and the challenges nurses face in agencies such as the Department of Veterans Affairs, Bureau of Prisons, Department of Defense and Indian Health Service. The guests also addressed the need for equal treatment of all federal nurses and the impact understaffing and underfunding have on patient care.

Listen LIVE on Fridays at 10 a.m. on 1500 AM WFED in the D.C. area or online at .

For more information, please visit .

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"Inside Government" is a one-hour weekly nationwide radio/Internet program dedicated to issues that impact federal and D.C. government employees. The show airs each Friday at 10 a.m. on Federal News Radio 1500 AM in Washington, D.C.,and online at. Itis also available to millions of iPod users through Apple's iTunes podcast. "Inside Government"is produced by the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the nation's largest federal employee union, representing 670,000 workers in the federal government and the government of the District of Columbia.

SOURCE American Federation of Government Employees

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Greens lurched to the left at a party congress in Berlin over the weekend by endorsing a "soak-the-rich" campaign for new taxes, a risky attempt to win power in September's election that upset the party's pragmatist wing.

Ignoring warnings against raising too many taxes at once from their most successful leader, Greens state premier Winfried Kretschmann, the 800 delegates voted to push to raise the top income tax rate to 49 percent from 42 percent and introduce an annual 1.5 percent wealth tax on assets above a million euros.

Greens delegates even booed one of their most respected leaders, Tuebingen mayor Boris Palmer, when he said the tax increases were not balanced - a humiliating slap in the face for the "realo" or pragmatic wing that has long ruled the roost.

The Greens' shift at the Congress that ended on Sunday seemed calculated to woo left-leaning voters and raise the party's chances of returning to power after September's election to end its eight-year stretch in opposition.

The Greens are the world's most successful pro-environment party after ruling Germany with the Social Democrats (SPD) from 1998 to 2005, but are itching to get back into power.

"It's remarkable to me the way the Greens are drifting to the left and how they kicked the shins of some of their most successful leaders," said Thomas Jaeger, a political scientist at Cologne University.

"The fundamental, hard-left wing of the party scored a tremendous success at the party congress."

Jaeger said the Greens' leftward move was probably essential if they wanted to return to power with their preferred partners, the SPD. The SPD has struggled in polls and would win just 28 percent while the Greens are currently at 14 percent.

Together the center-left is polling 42 percent, just behind the 44 percent for Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives and their Free Democrat (FDP) allies. While neither the center-right nor the center-left will likely win a majority, analysts expect Merkel to form another "grand coalition" with the SPD.

"The Greens realize that if they don't move left, Germany will end up with another 'grand coalition.' But if they go left and win new voters there, they might have enough," said Jaeger.

"For a whole generation of Greens leaders, this is their last chance to get back into power and become ministers. They want it badly," he added.

The Greens' former environment minister Juergen Trittin is 58, former consumer affairs minister Renate Kuenast is 57 and Greens co-chair Claudia Roth is also 57. The prominent trio went all out to push the party toward the left even though Kretschmann and Palmer warned against it.

'NO COALITION WITH CONSERVATIVES'

"The SPD is the only coalition partner that will help us make Germany greener," Trittin said, explicitly distancing himself from previous Greens party talk of keeping options open for a coalition with Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) and their Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union (CSU).

"We're not going to form a coalition with a band of corrupt amigos like that," Tritten said, referring to tax evasion and corruption scandals that have battered the CSU in recent weeks.

The Greens endorsed a platform calling the SPD their preferred coalition partners but did not rule out other options.

The Greens began as a peacenik ecological movement with a far-left tilt three decades ago, and became famous for their unpredictable and self-destructive party congress battles that could stretch beyond midnight.

But late last year, at their last party congress in Hanover, they made it clear they were no longer set against the idea of a coalition with Merkel.

The party has ruled one traditionally conservative state, Baden-Wuerttemberg, with the SPD as junior partners since 2011 and ruled in Hamburg with the CDU for three years - a so-called "black-green" coalition that gave the Greens respect as a fiscally responsible movement.

The Greens are proud of their newfound clout. But in Berlin that push towards the center was reversed - to the chagrin of Kretschmann, who is the party's only star attraction.

"I think it causes problems when the overall tax burden is too high," Kretschmann said. "I don't think one should raise more than two taxes in any one four-year period in power. We're not going to do anything that hurts the small and medium-sized business. That's why we're so strong in Baden-Wuerttemberg."

(Reporting By Erik Kirschbaum; Editing by Stephen Powell and Andrew Heavens)

I have never met her boyfriend and don't feel he should be in on everything I may talk to my granddaughter about. I think she's forming a bad habit. Am I wrong for feeling this way? -- PRIVATE GRANDMA IN FLORIDA

DEAR PRIVATE: I don't think so. Not every word that comes out of your mouth should be community property. The next time it happens, all you have to do is say, "Honey, take me off the speaker, please."

DEAR ABBY: My wife, "Carlene," is a neonatal ICU nurse who is required to work a certain number of holidays. For the past 12 years, her family has feigned attempting to accommodate her schedule and then planned holiday events at the same exact time and place as the year before. They have ignored repeated explanations and don't seem to care if we come or not.

For example, last Thanksgiving they once again made a big deal about everyone sending their schedules via email. We responded that Carlene would have to work until 3 p.m. Shortly after, we received a call from the host, who said: "We know you can't make it, but the celebration will be at 12 sharp! Maybe we'll see you some other time."

Abby, my wife feels like she is unimportant to everyone. She plans to stop attending all family events and celebrate only with me and our daughter. While that would be easier, I know it probably isn't the best solution. Should I support her decision, or is there some answer I haven't thought of yet? -- LET DOWN IN TEXAS

DEAR LET DOWN: Your wife should make no decisions about future celebrations while she's angry. If she follows through on her impulse to boycott all family events, she will be cutting her nose off to spite her face.

On those occasions when it's not possible to attend extended family gatherings, celebrating with immediate family seems like a sensible solution. Or consider hosting the celebration yourselves so you can set the party time.

Your wife may have self-esteem issues that need to be addressed if she's taking this personally. As a nurse caring for the most fragile of infants, she's doing important work that should be respected. Please tell her to remind herself of that fact any time she feels "unimportant" because her efforts make the difference between life and death.

DEAR ABBY: I got pregnant by a man I'll call "Ryan," who was just a fling. When I told him, he told me to have an abortion. He even had a friend of his call, offer to pay for it and drive me.

Instead, I decided to "abort" Ryan from my life. I never told him when our baby was born. Part of me feels bad because I think every child should know his/her father and family members. Another man has been willing to step up and be a daddy for my child.

Should I even bother to let Ryan know? Should I give him a chance to rise to the occasion or keep things the way they are? -- LIVING MY LIFE IN INDIANA

DEAR LIVING YOUR LIFE: This is really a question you should ask a lawyer, just in case Ryan has already risen as much as he intends to. Whether or not someone has stepped up to be your baby's daddy, Ryan has a financial obligation to that child.

Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, also known as Jeanne Phillips, and was founded by her mother, Pauline Phillips. Write Dear Abby ator P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.

For an excellent guide to becoming a better conversationalist and a more sociable person, order "How to Be Popular." Send your name and mailing address, plus check or money order for $7 (U.S. funds) to: Dear Abby, Popularity Booklet, P.O. Box 447, Mount Morris, IL 61054-0447. (Shipping and handling are included in the price.)

* Plan to strengthen squad for next season

* Q3 rev up almost 30 percent to 91.7 million pounds

* Forecasts FY rev 350-360 mln stg, EBITDA 107-110 mln

By Keith Weir

LONDON, May 2 (Reuters) - New sponsorship deals and a successful season on the pitch will help English Premier League soccer champions Manchester United meet this year's financial goals, the club said on Thursday.

United, who claim to have more than 650 million followers worldwide, have cashed in on their fame by agreeing sponsorship deals with companies ranging from U.S. car maker General Motorsto Japanese marine engineering company Yanmar.

That commercial appeal has just helped United win the Premier League for the 13th time since it was launched in 1992, topping last year's champions and local rivals Manchester City, who are bankrolled by cash from Abu Dhabi.

Some United fans have not forgiven the American Glazer family for loading the club with debt when they bought it for 790 million pounds in 2005.

However, criticism has become more muted after Unitedsigned prolific Dutch striker Robin van Persie from rivals Arsenal last August. His goals have helped the team to recover after ending without a trophy in 2012.

"Our top priority is strengthening the squad to ensure we are best positioned for successful runs in all the major competitions next season," Executive Vice-Chairman Ed Woodward said on a conference call with financial analysts.

"At the same time, we are focused on accelerating the pace of our commercial expansion," Woodward added, saying the club had identified as many as 94 business sectors where they could potentially seek sponsors.

Woodward, a former investment banker, will work with veteran United manager Alex Ferguson on hiring new players when current Chief Executive David Gill steps down this summer.

United had a mix of youth and experience and the squad would not need a major overhaul, he said. The champions have already signed 20-year-old England winger Wilfried Zaha from second-tier Crystal Palace.

United based its revenue and profit targets for its financial year on reaching the last eight of the lucrative European Champions League, though the club went out a round earlier to Real Madrid. But Woodward said its goals would still be achieved.

Revenue in the club's fiscal third quarter through March rose almost 30 percent to 91.7 million pounds ($142.6 million), with the commercial sector which includes sponsorship showing the strongest growth. Profit before charges such as interest and tax was ahead of forecasts at 25 million.

For the year to June, United forecasts revenue of between 350 million pounds and 360 million, and underlying profit, referred to as EBITDA, of 107 to 110 million.

Shares were up 1.3 percent at $18.65 on Thursday, well above their flotation price of $14.

Sean Collier, who began working for Massachusetts Institute of Technology about a year ago, was found shot to death late Thursday in his vehicle in Cambridge, Mass. Police have said Collier was responding to a report of a disturbance when he was shot about 10 miles west of Boston.

His brother, Andrew Collier, has been working for Charlotte, N.C.-based Hendrick Motorsports since 2008. He works in the engine shop and is not part of the team that travels to the track each week.

"My thoughts and prayers with the Collier family, and I certainly know it's the same thing with everyone at Hendrick Motorsports," five-time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said Friday at Kansas Speedway. "We're one big family and it's sad to see a teammate going through this."

NASCAR teams were already planning to honor victims of Monday's attacks, which left three dead and more than 180 wounded, during this weekend's races in Kansas.

Roush Fenway Racing plans to donate $100 for every lap the team leads to The One Fund Boston, which was set up to help people affected by the bombings. The team's three Sprint Cup cars will also carry "B-Strong" decals, done in Red Sox script, that have cropped up this week.

The race team is partially owned by Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Red Sox.

"When events occur such as what happened earlier this week in Boston, it is our nature to be overwhelmed with a variety of emotions," Jack Roush said in a statement. "To have to withstand an act of such senselessness and cowardice against innocent people is disheartening to us all. Our hearts go out to the victims and their families, as well as the entire city of Boston."

Carl Edwards, who drives for Roush, said he hasn't had a chance to put the events of Boston in perspective, but realizes how fortunate he is to be driving a car this weekend.

"I can't quite grasp what's going on, I guess the consequences of it, but any time you see that, for me personally, it makes you realize the world is a crazy place," Edwards said.

The three entries from Michael Waltrip Racing are showing their support by replicating the bib numbers worn by Boston Marathon runners on their cars.The change in font for the car numbers was approved by each of the team's sponsors.

"The news coming out of Boston this week was very personal to me," said Michael Waltrip, who ran the Boston Marathon in 2000. "I remember thinking about what a privilege it was to be able to participate and all the hard work it took to be there. When you can see those international flags flying in Copley Square, you know you are about to complete your journey.

"I know the joy those runners were feeling at that moment when their worlds changed."

Bowyer, who drives one of the Waltrip cars, said the bombings touched everybody in NASCAR, and that the replicating bib numbers was simply one way to show their respect for the victims.

"It's a tragedy and a shame that these things keep happening," Bowyer said. "Now that I hear about the Hendrick organization, it's sad. It's been a tough week for all of us."

Collins eventually decided he shouldn't, because he wanted to keep his secret safe: For more than a decade as a professional athlete, he had remained silent about his sexuality, worried about what teammates, opponents, fans the world, really might think.

Then came the Boston Marathon bombings two weeks ago, which Collins says "reinforced the notion that I shouldn't wait for the circumstances of my coming out to be perfect. Things can change in an instant, so why not live truthfully?"

So after having, he explains, "endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie," Collins became the first active player in one of the four major U.S. pro sports leagues to come out as gay. He wrote a first-person article posted Monday on Sports Illustrated's website that begins: "I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay."

Most recently a little-used reserve center for the Washington Wizards after a midseason trade from the Boston Celtics, the 7-foot Collins is a free agent who can sign with any team. He wants to keep playing in the NBA.

And he plans to be in Boston on June 8, marching alongside Kennedy at the city's 2013 gay pride parade.

"I didn't doubt for a second, knowing he was gay, that he would be the one to do it," Kennedy, a Massachusetts Democrat, told The Associated Press. "I've never known him to look for publicity, or to look for the spotlight, but given that no one else would raise their hand, I knew he would do it."

Added Kennedy: "I'm so proud of him. And I'm so proud to call him a friend."

Collins' announcement, nearly two weeks after the Wizards' season ended, immediately drew praise and backing not only from pals, current and former teammates and coaches, the NBA itself, and a sponsor, but also from the White House President Barack Obama called him along with former President Bill Clinton, and athletes in various other sports.

"I certainly appreciate it, as a gay person. Any time you can have someone this high-profile come out, it's just so helpful, particularly to young people. We've reached a tipping point," said Billie Jean King, a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame who won 12 Grand Slam singles titles.

"We've got to get rid of the shame. That's the main thing," King said in a telephone interview. "And Jason's going to help that. He's going to help give people courage to come out."

In texts to the AP, Wizards guard Garrett Temple wrote, "I was surprised. I didn't know and I was right next to him in the locker room. It definitely took a lot of courage for him to come out. He was a great teammate," and rookie Bradley Beal wrote: "I didn't know about it! I don't think anyone did! I am proud of his decision to come out and express the way he feels and I'm supportive of that!!"

Collins' coach with the Celtics, Doc Rivers, drew a comparison between Monday's announcement and Jackie Robinson's role when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947, breaking the color barrier in Major League Baseball.

"I am extremely happy and proud of Jason Collins. He's a pro's pro. He is the consummate professional and he is one of my favorite 'team' players I have ever coached," Rivers said. "If you have learned anything from Jackie Robinson, it is that teammates are always the first to accept. It will be society who has to learn tolerance."

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant tweeted that he was proud of Collins, writing: "Don't suffocate who u r because of the ignorance of others," followed by the words "courage" and "support."

Even while hiding his sexual orientation, Collins says, he quietly made a statement for gay rights by wearing No. 98 with the Celtics and Wizards: 1998 was the year Matthew Shepard, a gay college student in Wyoming, was killed, and the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization, was founded.

According to the General Social Survey, the public has grown increasingly accepting of gay relationships since the late 1980s. That survey found in 1987 that 76 percent of Americans thought sexual relations between adults of the same sex was morally wrong. That fell to 43 percent by 2012.

"I'm glad I'm coming out in 2013 rather than 2003. The climate has shifted; public opinion has shifted," Collins writes in SI. "And yet we still have so much farther to go. Everyone is terrified of the unknown, but most of us don't want to return to a time when minorities were openly discriminated against."

While some gay athletes have expressed concerns about how earning potentials could be hurt by coming out, King said she thinks Collins' openness could have the opposite effect.

"I have a feeling he's got a whole new career," King said. "I have a feeling he's going to make more in endorsements than he's ever made in his life."

On Monday evening, hours after his story appeared on the web, Collins wrote on Twitter: "All the support I have received today is truly inspirational. I knew that I was choosing the road less traveled but I'm not walking it alone."

Momentum has been building toward this sort of announcement from a pro athlete in a top league in the United States. NFL players Brendan Ayanbadejo and Chris Kluwe were outspoken in support of state gay-marriage amendments during last year's elections. Obama spoke about his support for gay marriage during his campaign.

The topic made waves during Super Bowl week when one player, San Francisco 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver, said he wouldn't welcome a gay member of his team. At the time, Ayanbadejo estimated that at least half of the NFL's players would agree with what Culliver said, at least privately.

On Monday, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell sent a memo to teams reiterating the league's anti-discrimination policy about sexuality. It includes a section on questions teams cannot ask prospective draft picks and free agents. After the NFL combine in February, three players said officials posed questions about sexual orientation.

Earlier this month, the NHL and its players' union partnered with an advocacy organization fighting homophobia in sports, and Commissioner Gary Bettman said the You Can Play Project underlines that "the official policy of the NHL is one of inclusion on the ice, in our locker rooms and in the stands."

"I would say the NHL has been a force to kind of obviously embrace and encourage. ... What (Collins) did, I think it's definitely (good) for basketball, and the same for hockey, too. It's going to be encouraging for more guys to step up and just be open about themselves," Washington Capitals forward Joel Ward said.

Living in the nation's capital last month while the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments about same-sex marriage had an effect on Collins, who says "the strain of hiding my sexuality became almost unbearable" at that time.

"Less than three miles from my apartment, nine jurists argued about my happiness and my future. Here was my chance to be heard, and I couldn't say a thing," he writes.

After being a first-round draft pick in 2001, Collins has averaged 3.6 points and 3.8 rebounds for the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Celtics and Wizards. He's come to be known more for personal fouls he led the league in that category one season than flourish.

"I go against the gay stereotype, which is why I think a lot of players will be shocked: That guy is gay? But I've always been an aggressive player, even in high school. Am I so physical to prove that being gay doesn't make you soft? Who knows? That's something for a psychologist to unravel," he says.

As for what response other NBA players will have to his revelation, Collins writes: "The simple answer is, I have no idea."

"Openness may not completely disarm prejudice, but it's a good place to start. It all comes down to education. I'll sit down with any player who's uneasy about my coming out," he says in his account, adding: "Still, if I'm up against an intolerant player, I'll set a pretty hard pick on him. And then move on."

Former teammate Jerry Stackhouse, now with the Brooklyn Nets, wrote in a text to the AP: "I hope Jason is received well by our NBA family. ... I've already reached out to him personally to show support and will encourage more guys to do the same."

NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement: "Jason has been a widely respected player and teammate throughout his career and we are proud he has assumed the leadership mantle on this very important issue."

While Collins is the first male athlete in a major North American professional league to come out while intending to keep playing, several have previously spoken after they retired about being gay, including the NBA's John Amaechi, the NFL's Esera Tuaolo and Major League Baseball's Billy Bean.

"I think he is immensely brave. I think it's a shame in this day and age he has to be immensely brave, but he is," Amaechi told the AP. "He's going to be a remarkable and eloquent spokesperson for what it is to be a decent, authentic human being never mind just for gay people."

Rick Welts, president and chief operating officer of the NBA's Golden State Warriors, is openly gay.

"He probably knows what he signed up for. There'll be a whole bunch more television reporters and cameras than he's probably had in the past. ... There had been a long bit of speculation about when, who, how. I think that speculation has been put to rest now," Welts said, "and we'll always remember that Jason Collins was the first man to do this."

Collins says that if he remains in the NBA, he could face uncomfortable reactions from spectators.

"I don't mind if they heckle me. I've been booed before. There have been times when I've wanted to boo myself. But a lot of ill feelings can be cured by winning," he writes.

In February, former U.S. soccer national team player Robbie Rogers said he was gay and retired at the same time. Rogers is just 25, and others have urged him to resume his career.

"I feel a movement coming," he tweeted after word of Collins' news broke.

Female athletes have found more acceptance in coming out; Brittney Griner, a two-time AP women's college basketball player of the year now headed to the WNBA, caused few ripples when she said this month she is a lesbian. Tennis great Martina Navratilova, who came out decades ago, tweeted Monday that Collins is "a brave man."

"1981 was the year for me 2013 is the year for you," her post said.

Sports leagues in Britain and elsewhere in Europe have been trying to combat anti-gay bias. But the taboo remains particularly strong in soccer, where there are no openly gay players in Europe's top leagues and homophobic chants are still heard at some games.

Soccer "is not going to change," said Amaechi, who is English and now lives in Manchester. "If it wanted to change, it would change. It has the resources to do so. It doesn't want to change."

Justin Fashanu is the only significant British soccer player to have come out publicly, doing so in 1990. The former Nottingham Forest and Norwich City striker was found hanged in a London garage in 1998 at age 37. According to an inquest, Fashanu left a note saying that, because he was gay, he feared he wouldn't get a fair trial in the United States on sexual assault charges. Maryland police were seeking him on charges that he sexually assaulted a 17-year-old boy.

Among other athletes outside the U.S. to come out was Gareth Thomas, a Welsh rugby star who attracted widespread media attention in 2009 when he announced he was gay. He continued playing until retirement in 2011.

Orlando Cruz of Puerto Rico came out in October as the first openly gay professional male boxer. Canadian swimmer Mark Tewksbury came out six years after winning a gold medal in the backstroke at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Four-time Olympic diving gold medalist Greg Louganis of the U.S. revealed he was gay in 1994, a year before announcing he was also HIV-positive. Former Olympic skiing gold medalist Anja Paerson of Sweden announced last year, after retiring, that she was in a long-term relationship with a woman.

In SI, Collins recounts that the first relative he came out to was his aunt, Teri Jackson, a San Francisco Superior Court Judge.

"I don't think Jason looked at his life as being a trailblazer," Jackson said Monday. "He has no regrets coming out. And he wants to play. And we'll see what happens next."

Collins says he told his twin brother, Jarron, last summer. Jarron was also a longtime NBA center who last played in the league in the 2010-11 season.

"He was downright astounded," Collins says.

Collins writes self-effacingly about his journeyman NBA career and a parlor game he calls "Three Degrees of Jason Collins," explaining: "If you're in the league, and I haven't been your teammate, I surely have been one of your teammates' teammates. Or one of your teammates' teammates' teammates."

That joking, though, leads to a larger point.

"Some people insist they've never met a gay person. But Three Degrees of Jason Collins dictates that no NBA player can claim that anymore. Pro basketball is a family. And pretty much every family I know has a brother, sister or cousin who's gay," Collins concludes. "In the brotherhood of the NBA, I just happen to be the one who's out."

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AP Sports Writers Joseph White, Nancy Armour, Larry Lage, Brian Mahoney, Antonio Gonzalez, Rachel Cohen, Paul Newberry, Jimmy Golen, Howard Ulman, Rob Harris, Steve Wilson, Richard Rosenblatt and Tom Withers, and Associated Press Writers Mary Clare Jalonick, Cara Rubinsky, Jennifer Agiesta, Steve Peoples, Josh Lederman and Terry Chea contributed to this report.

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Howard Fendrich is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HowardFendrich