Homosexuality In Modern Sports
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The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world. There have been several notable outspoken homosexual athletes, including
John Curry John Anthony Curry, (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British Figure skating, figure skater. He was the 1976 1976 European Figure Skating Championships, European, Figure skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, Olympic and World Figure Sk ...
,
Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...
, boxer
Orlando Cruz Orlando Cruz (born July 1, 1981) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer. As an amateur, he represented Puerto Rico at the 2000 Olympic Games in Australia. Biography On October 4, 2012, Cruz officially came out in an interview with Jessi Losada ...
and
Jason Collins Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was ...
. In the 1980s,
Tom Waddell Tom Waddell (born Thomas Flubacher; November 1, 1937 – July 11, 1987) was an American physician, decathlete who competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and founder of the Gay Olympics (later known as the '' Gay Games''). Early life Waddell was b ...
, an Olympic decathlete, hosted the first
Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was starte ...
in San Francisco. Since then, many homosexual sporting organizations have been founded along with sporting events that feature homosexual athletes. While overall, the trend is towards open acceptance of LGBTQ+ athletes, the level of acceptance can vary due to factors such as the athlete's age, sport, and location. As a consequence of the existing homophobia in the sports community, there have been notable lawsuits fighting against this discrimination.


Notable LGBTQ+ athletes


John Curry John Anthony Curry, (9 September 1949 – 15 April 1994) was a British Figure skating, figure skater. He was the 1976 1976 European Figure Skating Championships, European, Figure skating at the 1976 Winter Olympics, Olympic and World Figure Sk ...

Born in 1949, John Curry was a successful British figure skater. Using his unique skating style, Curry won the Gold Medal in the 1976 Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria. Two days after his victory, Curry confirmed a newspaper report about his sexuality, becoming one of the first openly gay gold medalists. Less than three weeks later, and amid the fallout from the revelations, Curry won gold again at the World Figure Skating Championships in Gothenburg. He had completed a "grand slam" of European, Olympic and World championships in under fifty days. Curry died at the age of 44 after a fight with
AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
.


Billie Jean King Billie Jean King (née Moffitt; born November 22, 1943) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. King won 39 major titles: 12 in singles, 16 in women's doubles, and 11 in mixed doubles. King was a member of the victorious United States ...

Billie Jean King is a former number one women's tennis player in the world and, according to KK Ottesen of the ''Washington Post'', is known as a feminist icon.Ottesen, KK. “Tennis Icon Billie Jean King on Fighting for Equal Pay for Women: 'Pressure Is a Privilege'.” ''The Washington Post'', WP Company, 14 Nov. 2019, www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/magazine/tennis-icon-billie-jean-king-on-fighting-for-equal-pay-for-women-pressure-is-a-privilege/2019/08/30/4d766498-b7b0-11e9-b3b4-2bb69e8c4e39_story.html. She was born in the United States in 1943 and competed professionally throughout the 1960s and 1970s. More than a decade after her athletic career, King was outed as lesbian by a former lover, something King had not yet openly announced.Ware, Susan. “The Outing of Billie Jean King.” ''The Perils of Celebrity and Sexuality'', University of North Carolina Press, 2011, pp. 179–206. ''JSTOR''. After this revelation, King took a stronger stance on the push for gay rights and continued to vouch for gender equality, specifically equal pay. In 2009, she was awarded a
Presidential Medal of Freedom The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award of the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. It is an award bestowed by the president of the United States to recognize people who have made "an especially merito ...
by the White House in recognition of her involvement in pushing for gender equality and the fact she was a notable and successful openly lesbian athlete.


Jason Collins Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was ...

Jason Collins, born in 1978, was a US collegiate and professional basketball player. Collins played Division One basketball at
Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
where he received First Team All-Pac10 honors in the 2000-2001 season. Later, he was drafted in the first round of the
National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...
(NBA) draft where he played 13 seasons. In 2013, Collins came out as gay in a ''
Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence twic ...
'' article written in the first person with the help of a journalist, which officially made him the first openly gay NBA player. Although his reveal did not come without its critics, Collins received positive support and was pictured on the cover of ''
Time Magazine ''Time'' (stylized in all caps) is an American news magazine based in New York City. For nearly a century, it was published weekly, but starting in March 2020 it transitioned to every other week. It was first published in New York City on Mar ...
's'' Top 100 Most Influential People.


Michael Sam Michael Alan Sam Jr. (born January 7, 1990) is an American professional football defensive lineman for the Barcelona Dragons in the European League of Football. A defensive end, Sam played college football for the Missouri Tigers and was drafted ...

Michael Sam, born in 1990, was a US collegiate football player at the
University of Missouri The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus Universit ...
.“Michael Sam College Stats: College Football at Sports.” ''Sports Reference'', www.sports-reference.com/cfb/players/michael-sam-1.html. At Missouri, in his final season in 2013, Sam was named the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Defensive Player of the Year, and he was also named an All-American. Following his collegiate career, in an interview with
ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...
, Sam openly came out as gay.Connelly, Chris. “Mizzou's Michael Sam Says He's Gay.” ''ESPN'', ESPN Internet Ventures, 10 Feb. 2014, www.espn.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/10429030/michael-sam-missouri-tigers-says-gay. In April 2014, Sam was selected in the seventh round of the
National Football League (NFL) The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...
draft Draft, The Draft, or Draught may refer to: Watercraft dimensions * Draft (hull), the distance from waterline to keel of a vessel * Draft (sail), degree of curvature in a sail * Air draft, distance from waterline to the highest point on a vessel ...
by the
St. Louis Rams The St. Louis Rams were a professional American football team of the National Football League (NFL). They played in St. Louis from 1995 to the 2015 season, before moving back to Los Angeles, where the team had played from 1946 to 1994. The arri ...
, becoming the first openly gay athlete ever to be drafted into the NFL. Subsequently, Sam was awarded the 2014
ESPYS An ESPY Award (short for Excellence in Sports Performance Yearly Award) is an accolade currently presented by the American broadcast television network ABC, and previously ESPN (as of the 2017 ESPY Awards the latter still airs them in the form ...
Arthur Ashe Courage Award for "courageously announc nghe was gay prior to the NFL draft."


Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States national team. Winner of the Ballon d ...

Megan Rapinoe, born in 1985, is a notable women's soccer player. Rapinoe is a two-time
FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...
champion with the
United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's Association football, soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four FIFA Women's World Cup, Wom ...
, the latter of which she was awarded the Golden Boot and Golden Ball award for her performance in the tournament. Rapinoe is openly lesbian, and in 2013 she received the Board of Directors Award by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center for her role in activism for the LGBTQ+ community.“Megan Rapinoe: A Profile of the US Women's Co-Captain.” ''BBC News'', BBC, 27 June 2019, www.bbc.com/news/newsbeat-48784765. The world champion is also well known for her activism in other sectors, such as gender and racial inequality.


Homophobia in sports culture

Heteronormativity Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most ...
, from professional sports to children's athletics, can be seen as the dominant paradigm in sports culture. It is defined as the view of heterosexuality as the standard or preferred sexuality, and this exclusive way of thinking is often taken to the extreme in sports culture, which subsequently places an emphasis on
hegemonic Hegemony (, , ) is the political, economic, and military predominance of one state over other states. In Ancient Greece (8th BC – AD 6th ), hegemony denoted the politico-military dominance of the ''hegemon'' city-state over other city-states. ...
masculinity.
Arnd Krüger Arnd Krüger (born July 1, 1944) is a German professor of sport studies. Krüger earned his BA (English major) from UCLA in 1967 and his PhD from the University of Cologne (Modern and Medieval History) in Germany in 1971. He attended UCLA on a t ...
has shown that the history of homosexuality in sports is closely linked to the history of sports and goes back to antiquity. The prevalence of heteronormative thinking in athletics has led to a sports culture that is traditionally highly intolerant to homosexuality. This homophobic attitude has been documented in adolescent sports especially, as a recent study by Danny Osborne and William E. Wagner, III showed that male adolescents who participated in popular sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball were significantly more likely to hold homophobic attitudes than other peers their age. In a 2009 study on the well being of same-sex-attracted youth in the United States, Lindsey Wilkinson and Jennifer Pearson found that lower self-esteem and higher rates of depression in same-sex attracted youth were correlated with the prevalence of football in high schools. Sociology researchers Sartore and Cunningham also found similar stigmatization in the view of homosexual coaches, as high school parents were shown to be unwilling to allow their children to be coached by someone who is gay or lesbian. They also found a similar attitude from high school athletes themselves toward participating on teams coached by either gay or lesbian coaches. Despite the apparent prevalence of homophobic thinking in athletic culture, recent scholars have documented an increasing trend toward openly gay athletes in high school and collegiate level sports. This trend, however, has not been seen in professional sports, where homosexuality remains largely stigmatized in the four major North American professional sports leagues. Only
Jason Collins Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was ...
of the NBA, along with
Carl Nassib Carl Paul Nassib (born April 12, 1993) is an American football outside linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) . He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, earning unanimous All-American h ...
and Michael Sam of the NFL, have come out while actively playing, and a small number of athletes have come out after their careers such as Wade Davis,
Kwame Harris Kwame Harris (born March 15, 1982) is a Jamaican-born former American football player who was an offensive tackle for six seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Stanford Cardinal, when he won the Morris ...
,
Dave Kopay David Marquette Kopay (born June 28, 1942) is a former American football running back in the National Football League who in 1975 became one of the first professional athletes to come out as gay. Life Kopay attended Notre Dame High School in ...
,
Ryan O'Callaghan Ryan Thomas O'Callaghan (born July 19, 1983) is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football for the California Golden Bears football, California Golden Bears and was selected by the New England Patriots in the fifth ro ...
, Roy Simmons, and
Esera Tuaolo Esera Tavai Tuaolo (born July 11, 1968), nicknamed "Mr. Aloha", is a former American professional football player. He was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for 9 years. Football career He played college football at Oreg ...
(NFL);
Billy Bean William Daro Bean (born May 11, 1964) is an American former professional baseball player. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) as an outfielder for the Detroit Tigers (1987–1989), Los Angeles Dodgers (1989), and San Diego Padres (1993– ...
and
Glenn Burke Glenn Lawrence Burke (November 16, 1952 – May 30, 1995) was a Major League Baseball (MLB) player for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Oakland Athletics from 1976 to 1979. He was the first MLB player to come out as gay, announcing it in 1982 after ...
(MLB); and
John Amaechi John Uzoma Ekwugha Amaechi , Order of the British Empire, OBE (; born 26 November 1970) is a British-American psychologist, consultant and former professional basketball player. He played college basketball at Vanderbilt Commodores men's baske ...
(NBA). This same trend can also be found in England's Professional Footballers' Association (PFA), as a recent ad campaign devised by the PFA against homophobia failed because no professional football player was willing to associate themselves with the advertisement. The trend is also prevalent among English Football fans, as a recent study published in 2018 demonstrates that among live attendance fans, the use of homophobic slurs is extremely common. The study finds that the motive behind the offensive language is that the fans are"try ngto gain an advantage for their team." Sociologists who have examined the issue of lesbians in American sport in the 1980s and 1990s found overt and covert mechanisms of social discrimination. However, homophobia has been on a rapid decline over previous decades, and studies show attitudes toward female homosexuality in sports have improved since the research conducted on lesbian athletes in the mid-1990s. There has been an increase in the number of individual athletes who have publicly come out as LGBTQ. Additionally, there have been many recent attempts by organizations such as the
National Center for Lesbian Rights The National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) is a non-profit, public interest law firm in the United States that advocates for equitable public policies affecting the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community, provides free legal ...
(NCLR) to break down homophobic attitudes in collegiate and professional team sports. The NCLR has worked with the
San Francisco 49ers The San Francisco 49ers (also written as the San Francisco Forty-Niners) are a professional American football team based in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 49ers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the league's National ...
and collegiate athletic departments at universities such as North Carolina, Florida, and Stanford to revise team policies to more openly accommodate LBGT athletes. ''Out on the Fields,'' a survey initiated in 2015 by members of the organizing committee of Bingham Cup Sydney 2014, the world cup of gay rugby, and members of the Sydney Convicts, Australia's first gay rugby union club, is the first and largest study conducted on homophobia in sports.Denison E, Kitchen A. (2015). Out on the Fields: The first international study on homophobia in sport. Repucom, Australian Sports Commission, Federation of Gay Games. Accessed through: www.outonthefields.com It surveyed 9494 athletes with varying sexual identities (25% of which identified as heterosexual). The survey found that only 1% of the participants believed that lesbian, gay, and bisexual athletes were 'completely accepted' in sports culture, while 80% of respondents said they had witnessed or experienced homophobia in a sporting environment. The rates and occurrences of discrimination based on sexuality in sports are high with 62% of survey respondents claiming that homophobia is more common in team sports than any other part of society. Additionally, the study found that the United States was the least LGBTQ+ inclusive country, while Canada ranked the most inclusive. There is also a gender difference in the responses to male and female athletes who come out as LGBT.
Brittney Griner Brittney Yevette Griner (; born October 18, 1990) is an American professional basketball player for the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is a two-time Olympic gold medalist with the U.S. women's natio ...
softened the blowback from announcing her sexuality by casually coming out in an interview almost immediately after being drafted into the WNBA. This was a month before Jason Collins came out, and there was a media uproar for him while there was barely any coverage over Griner's announcement. The
National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges an ...
announced its support of LGBT student-athletes, coaches, and administrators in intercollegiate athletics. Since then, the association has been defending its core values of equality, inclusion, fairness, and respect in regard to all people involved in NCAA sports and events. The defense of these values has very publicly come into play in determining host cities for championship events. The NCAA expressed concern over Indiana's Religious Freedom Restoration Act and the hosting of the 2015 Men's Basketball Final Four Tournament, and it banned North Carolina from hosting championship events until 2019 after it passed the Public Facilities Privacy and Security Act (H.B. 2).


Legal cases in the United States

The case of
Jennifer Harris Jennifer Harris is a former player of the Pennsylvania State University Lady Lions basketball team. High school Harris played for Central Dauphin High School in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, where she was named a WBCA All-American. She participated ...
against
Penn State #Redirect Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campu ...
, more specifically their
women's basketball Women's basketball is the team sport of basketball played by women. It began being played in 1892, one year after men's basketball, at Smith College in Massachusetts. It spread across the United States, in large part via women's college compet ...
coach
Rene Portland Maureen Theresa Muth "Rene" Portland (March 31, 1953 – July 22, 2018) was an American head coach in women's college basketball, known for her 27-year tenure with the Penn State Nittany Lions basketball team. Her career included 21 NCAA tou ...
brought change to the world of sports. In 2006, a gay rights advocacy group, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, accused Rene Portland of forcing Jennifer Harris to transfer because of bias against lesbians. The advocacy group claimed that Portland was biased against lesbians for decades and cited a 1986 interview in which she claimed she talked to recruits and parents of recruits about lesbians stating, "I will not have it in my program." There were also claims of Portland telling key recruits—to discourage them from attending another school—that the other team was "full of lesbians." The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court and Penn State found Portland in violation of policy. She was fined $10,000 by the university in lieu of a one-game suspension and warned that another infraction would result in the termination of her employment. Rene Portland eventually resigned from her position as women's head basketball coach.


LGBT leagues, teams, events, and individuals coming out

In the absence of openly LGBT sportspersons, LGBT-focused leagues and events have been created since the late 1970s. One of the earliest-recorded gay sports event organizing committees is the
Federation of Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was star ...
(initially known as the United States Gay Olympics Committee), which was established in 1980 by
Tom Waddell Tom Waddell (born Thomas Flubacher; November 1, 1937 – July 11, 1987) was an American physician, decathlete who competed at the 1968 Summer Olympics, and founder of the Gay Olympics (later known as the '' Gay Games''). Early life Waddell was b ...
, Mark Brown and Paul Mart to organize the first
Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was starte ...
(1982) in San Francisco. Another organization, Apollo - Friends in Sports, was established in 1981 to organize the Western Cup, a multi-sport event for gay and lesbian athletes in Calgary, Alberta. By 1989, the
European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) is a sporting body in Europe. It was founded by West German and Dutch LGBT sport clubs in 1989 after being inspired by the first Gay Games in San Francisco, and has since expanded in scope to ...
was formed to organize the
EuroGames The EuroGames are an LGBT multi-sport event in Europe, licensed by the European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation to a local city host each year and organised (most often) by one or more of the federation's member clubs. Similar to the Gay Gam ...
for LGBT athletes in Europe. In 2006, a schism occurred between the Federation of Gay Games and the Montreal organizing committee for the Gay Games, leading to the Montreal committee organizing a rival multi-sports event, the
World Outgames The World Outgames were a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. The Outgames were open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There were no qualifying standards, although competitions were arranged a ...
, which shut down due to financial struggles in 2017. The sponsoring organization for the Outgames, the
Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association The Gay and Lesbian International Sport Association (GLISA) was an international gay and lesbian, culture and human rights association. Their last update was issued in March 2016, and the website has been offline since October 2017. The focus of ...
, has also organized smaller, regional multi-sports events, including the
North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...
and AsiaPacific Outgames. In 2002, the Bingham Cup was created, becoming the first gay rugby world cup games. These games were created in order to promote the game of Rugby as an all-inclusive, global sport.


Australia

The Sydney Convicts Rugby Club was launched in 2004 as Australia's first gay rugby union team. Australia, in accordance with the World Gay Boxing Championships, has announced they will hold the first ever LGBTQ+ inclusive boxing tournament in 2023.


Canada

Canada is home to a large LGBT sports community, having hosted the inaugural
World OutGames The World Outgames were a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. The Outgames were open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There were no qualifying standards, although competitions were arranged a ...
. Local organizations like Équipe Montréal, OutSport Toronto and Team Vancouver represent LGBT sport within their respective cities. Canada was also a leader in creating the
Pride House Pride House is a dedicated temporary location which plays host to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes, volunteers and visitors attending the Olympics, Paralympics or other international sporting event in the host city. The firs ...
facilities for LGBT athletes at sporting events, organizing the first-ever Olympic Pride House when
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
hosted the
2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
. Similarly, Toronto's Pride House during the
2015 Pan American Games Fifteen or 15 may refer to: *15 (number), the natural number following 14 and preceding 16 *one of the years 15 BC, AD 15, 1915, 2015 Music *Fifteen (band), a punk rock band Albums * ''15'' (Buckcherry album), 2005 * ''15'' (Ani Lorak alb ...
was the first time a Pride House facility was available at the Pan Ams. At the
2018 Olympic Games , nations = 93 , athletes = 2,922 (1,680 men and 1,242 women) , events = 102 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = , closing = , opened_by = President Moon Jae-in , cauldron = Kim Yun-a , stadium = Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium , winte ...
in South Korea, the Canadian athletes' pavilion also doubled as a Pride House for all LGBT athletes at the games regardless of nationality, due to South Korean organizers' reluctance to organize a Pride House of their own. In December 2013, The 519 received
Toronto City Council Toronto City Council is the governing body of the municipal government of Toronto, Ontario. Meeting at Toronto City Hall, it comprises 25 city councillors and the mayor of Toronto. The current term began on November 15, 2022. Structure The cur ...
approval to build a sports and recreation centre focused on sport inclusion. Once built, the new centre will provide a home to Toronto's over 6,000 LGBT sport participants. Canadian media have also often been leaders in covering the issue of homophobia in sports; in 1993,
CBC Radio CBC Radio is the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which (regardless of language) are outlined below ...
aired a groundbreaking hour-long documentary on LGBT sportspeople as a special episode of its sports series ''
The Inside Track ''The Inside Track'' was a Canadian radio series, which formerly aired on CBC Radio One. A documentary and interview series exploring social and cultural issues in the world of sports, the program was hosted by Mark Lee, Mary Hynes and Robin B ...
''.Moment #62: CBC airs "The Last Closet"
Outsports ''Outsports'' is a sports news website concerned with LGBT issues and personalities in amateur and professional sports. The company was founded in 1999 by Cyd Zeigler, Jr. and Jim Buzinski. ''The Outsports Revolution'' (Alyson Publications), by ...
, August 4, 2011.
Canadian filmmakers have also produced a number of notable documentary films about LGBT issues in sport, including
Noam Gonick Noam Gonick, (born March 20, 1973) is a Canadians, Canadian filmmaker and artist.Ingrid Randoja"Gonzo Gonick" ''Now (newspaper), Now'', May 31, 2021. His films include ''Hey, Happy!'', ''Stryker (2004 film), Stryker'', ''Guy Maddin: Waiting for T ...
's '' To Russia with Love'' (2014),"Filmmaker went underground in Putin's Russia to profile LGBT athletes during Olympics"
''
Winnipeg Free Press The ''Winnipeg Free Press'' (or WFP; founded as the ''Manitoba Free Press'') is a daily (excluding Sunday) broadsheet newspaper in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It provides coverage of local, provincial, national, and international news, as well as ...
'', June 22, 2015.
Michael Del Monte's ''
Transformer A transformer is a passive component that transfers electrical energy from one electrical circuit to another circuit, or multiple circuits. A varying current in any coil of the transformer produces a varying magnetic flux in the transformer' ...
'' (2017) and
Paul-Émile d'Entremont Paul Émile d'Entremont is a Canadian documentary filmmaker, best known for his 2012 film about LGBT refugees, '' Last Chance''.Standing on the Line'' (2019). The Canadian drama film ''
Breakfast with Scot ''Breakfast with Scot'' is a 2007 Canadian comedy film. It is adapted from the 1999 novel by Tufts University professor Michael Downing. The screenplay was adapted by Sean Reycraft from the book by Michael Downing, and the film was directed by L ...
'', about a gay retired hockey player, was authorized by the
Toronto Maple Leafs The Toronto Maple Leafs (officially the Toronto Maple Leaf Hockey Club and often referred to as the Leafs) are a professional ice hockey team based in Toronto. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Div ...
to use the team's real name and logo in the film, the first LGBT-themed film ever approved by a sports team. Canadian sports teams are active partners in
You Can Play You Can Play is a social activism campaign dedicated to the eradication of homophobia in sports, centered on the slogan, "If you can play, you can play." The campaign was launched on March 4, 2012, by its three co-founders: Patrick Burke (a scou ...
, an international initiative to combat homophobia in sports. The initiative was launched in 2012 by Brian Burke while he was general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but is active in both Canada and the United States. The
Canadian Olympic Committee The Canadian Olympic Committee (COC; french: Comité olympique canadien) is a private, non-profit organization that represents Canada at the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It is also a member of the Pan American Sports Organization ...
also organizes #oneteam, a
speakers bureau A speakers bureau is a collection of speakers who talk about a particular subject, or a company, which operates to facilitate speakers for clients requiring motivational speakers, celebrity appearances, conference facilitators, or keynote speakers. ...
for LGBTQ identified and supportive athletes to speak on homophobia in sports.


France

Paris Foot Gay Paris Foot Gay (abbreviated to PFG) was an amateur, local league Association football, football club from Paris, the capital of France. The team was made up of around 30% homosexual players. It was founded in 2003 and dissolved in 2015. From 2007 ...
was established in 2003. In 2018, France hosted the 10th Gay Games, helping to raise awareness for LGBTQ+ rights.


India

Dutee Chand, a prominent female Indian athlete, came out in 2019 when she told reporters she is in a same-sex relationship.Dhillon, Amrit. “'It's Humiliating for Us': Village Disowns Dutee Chand, India's First Openly Gay Athlete.” ''The Guardian'', Guardian News and Media, 5 June 2019, www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jun/05/dutee-chand-india-athlete-coming-out. Her decision made her India's first openly gay athlete and was met by protests from her hometown, where she was declared an outcast.  A couple of months later, in Italy's Universiade in 2019, she claimed the gold medal.


Ireland

The first gay rugby team in Ireland,
Emerald Warriors RFC The Emerald Warriors are an Irish rugby team based in Dublin. They play in the Leinster Metro League Division 10 and 7 and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. They are the reigning bronze final champions since Union ...
, was established in 2003. Ten-time national track and field winner Dennis Finnegan of Ireland came out as gay in 2020 as a guest on the Five Rings To Rule Them All podcast.King, John Paul. “Irish National Track Champion Comes out as Gay.” ''Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights'', 23 Mar. 2020, www.washingtonblade.com/2020/03/23/irish-national-track-champion-comes-out-as-gay/. Finnegan expressed on the podcast that he did so to give members of the LGBTQ+ community more "confidence."


United Kingdom

The first openly gay football team in the United Kingdom is Stonewall F.C. and was formed in 1991. Two years earlier, Gay Football Supporters Network was formed; a GFSN National League was formed later in 2002 among GFSN members who wanted to participate in amateur competition as well as support major professional teams. The first openly gay rugby team in the world, the
Kings Cross Steelers The Kings Cross Steelers are a United Kingdom, British rugby team, based in London. Founded in 1995 it was the world's first gay-inclusive rugby union club. Its founding sparked the beginning of a much larger gay-inclusive rugby movement which ...
, was formed in 1995 in London. The first openly gay rugby team in Northern Ireland, the
Ulster Titans The Ulster Titans was a Northern Irish rugby team based in Belfast. They played East 2 of the Ulster Magners Minor League and are members of the International Gay Rugby Association and Board. The club colours are black, yellow and white. History ...
, was formed in 2007, and the first Scottish gay rugby team, the
Caledonian Thebans RFC Caledonian Thebans Rugby Football Club is Scotland's leading inclusive rugby club and represents Scotland in international rugby union tournaments for inclusive teams. Established in 2002, the Thebans are based at Edinburgh's Murrayfield Stadiu ...
, was formed in 2002. In 1996, Graces Cricket Club was organized as the first gay cricket club in the world. Ishigaki Ju Jitsu Club began in 1994 and prides itself on being the 'Only LGBT Ju Jitsu Club in the World'. The first decade of the 21st century saw two high-profile Welsh
rugby union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...
figures come out while active. First, in 2007, international referee
Nigel Owens Nigel Owens, (born 18 June 1971) is a Welsh former international rugby union referee, who retired in December 2020 after a 17-year career. He currently holds the world record for the most test matches refereed and is one of five international re ...
came out. Then, in 2009, Gareth Thomas, at the time the country's most-capped player (and later a rugby league international), came out. Thomas was believed to be the first professional male player in a team sport to come out while active. In 1990,
Justin Fashanu Justinus Soni "Justin" Fashanu ( ; 19 February 1961 – 2 May 1998) was an English footballer who played for a variety of clubs between 1978 and 1997. He was known by his early clubs to be gay, and came out publicly later in his career, beco ...
became the first openly gay British footballer. He died eight years later, in 1998. The world's first LGBTQA inclusive
lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensively ...
team, the Rainbow Rexes were founded in 2018.


United States

In 1974, the LA Union Thursday Pool League was established as the first gay competitive pool league in the United States. In 1975, former football player
David Kopay David Marquette Kopay (born June 28, 1942) is a former American football running back in the National Football League who in 1975 became one of the first professional athletes to coming out, come out as gay. Life Kopay attended Notre Dame High ...
was the first professional athlete from a major team to come out. After the public strongly denied Kopay’s claims of other gay professional athletes, a study found that around 25% of all college athletes have had gay experiences. The Big Apple Softball League (initially known as the Manhattan Community Athletic Association) was initially formed in 1977 for gay softball players in the New York City area. That same year, the
North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance The North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) is a non-profit, international association of gay and lesbian softball leagues. As of 2023, NAGAAA rebranded to International Pride Softball. NAGAAA was founded in 1977 and the first ele ...
was formed for future gay softball teams.


1980s

The New York Ramblers began in 1980 when an ad was placed in the ''
Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the creat ...
'' to gay men who wanted to play soccer as a team called the Rambles. In 1980, the
International Gay Bowling Organization The International Gay Bowling Organization (IGBO) represents over 5000 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) members from Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, United Kingdom and United States. The organization was established in 1980 to ...
(IGBO) was formed. In 1991, the
Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance The Gay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance (GLTA) is a not-for-profit international organization that manages and sanctions the gay tennis circuit around the world. The goal of the organization is to promote access to tennis and diversity and acceptance w ...
was formed at the July 1991 San Diego Open. The first local gay tennis organizations were formed in Dallas and Los Angeles in 1979. The San Francisco, Houston and San Diego followed through 1983. In 1982, the West Hollywood Aquatics was formed as a swim and water polo team. That same year, the West Hollywood Wrestling Club was organized as the first gay competitive wrestling team in the United States. In 1985, the Los Angeles Blades was organized as the first gay hockey team in the United States. In 1986, following the second Gay Games, Tony Jasinski organized the San Francisco Gay Basketball Association by organizing basketball games at the Hamilton United Methodist Church's Earl Paltenghi Youth Center Gymnasium.


1990s

In 1998, the
Washington Renegades RFC The Washington Renegades are a Division III and Division IV rugby union club based in Washington D.C. Established on October 24, 1998, by Mark Hertzog. In October 1999, the club played its first 15s match against the Roanoke Rugby Football Club. ...
was formed as the first gay rugby team in the United States. In 1999, the New York City Gay Hockey Association was organized.


2010s

In 2010, the
DC Gay Flag Football League DC Gay Flag Football League (DCGFFL) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit LGBT flag football league consisting of 20 teams in Washington, D.C. It is a member of Team DC, which provides a network of sporting outlets for the LGBT community of the Washingto ...
was founded, joining two dozen other teams as part of the
National Gay Flag Football League National Gay Flag Football League (NGFFL) is a nonprofit LGBT flag football league, currently comprising 200 teams in 22 leagues in the United States and Canada. History The NGFFL was founded by Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler in 2002. Teams c ...
. In 2013, soccer's
Robbie Rogers Robert Hampton Rogers III (born May 12, 1987) is an American former professional soccer player. He played as a winger and as a left back. Rogers has also represented the United States men's national soccer team. In February 2013, Rogers came o ...
and basketball's
Jason Collins Jason Paul Collins (born December 2, 1978) is an American former professional basketball player who was a center for 13 seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball for the Stanford Cardinal, where he was ...
each publicly came out as gay. In 2014, football's
Michael Sam Michael Alan Sam Jr. (born January 7, 1990) is an American professional football defensive lineman for the Barcelona Dragons in the European League of Football. A defensive end, Sam played college football for the Missouri Tigers and was drafted ...
publicly came out as gay at the NFL draft.


2020s

In October 2020, WNBA star
Sue Bird Suzanne Brigit Bird (born October 16, 1980) is an American former professional basketball player who played her entire career with the Seattle Storm of the Women's National Basketball Association ( WNBA) Bird was drafted by the Storm first over ...
and FIFA World Cup Champion
Megan Rapinoe Megan Anna Rapinoe (; born July 5, 1985) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a winger and captains OL Reign of the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL), as well as the United States national team. Winner of the Ballon d ...
became engaged to marry. In June 2021,
Carl Nassib Carl Paul Nassib (born April 12, 1993) is an American football outside linebacker for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL) . He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lions, earning unanimous All-American h ...
, then of the
Las Vegas Raiders The Las Vegas Raiders are a professional American football team based in the Las Vegas metropolitan area. The Raiders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West divis ...
, became the first active NFL player to come out as gay. In July 2021,
Luke Prokop Luke Prokop (born May 6, 2002) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman for the Seattle Thunderbirds of the Western Hockey League as a prospect for the Nashville Predators of the National Hockey League (NHL), who selected him in the 202 ...
, who was drafted by the
Nashville Predators The Nashville Predators (commonly referred to as the Preds) are a professional ice hockey team based in Nashville, Tennessee. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division in the Western Conference, and ha ...
in the
2020 NHL Entry Draft The 2020 NHL Entry Draft was the 58th NHL Entry Draft, held from October 6–7, 2020. The draft was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pan ...
, became the first active player signed to a
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
contract to come out as gay.


Further reading

* Beasley, Neil (2016) ''Football's Coming Out: Life as a Gay Fan and Player''. ondon Floodlit Dreams Ltd. * Magrath, Rory (2016) ''Inclusive Masculinities in Contemporary Football: Men in the Beautiful Game''. Abingdon: Routledge. * Rogers, Robbie; Marcus, Eric (2014) ''Coming Out to Play''. London: The Robson Press.


See also

*
European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation The European Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation (EGLSF) is a sporting body in Europe. It was founded by West German and Dutch LGBT sport clubs in 1989 after being inspired by the first Gay Games in San Francisco, and has since expanded in scope to ...
*
Federation of Gay Games The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was star ...
* Gay Football Supporters Network *
Homosexuality in American football There has been only one player who has publicly come out as gay or bisexual while being an active player in the National Football League (NFL): Carl Nassib, who revealed himself as gay on June 21, 2021. He later became the first openly gay player ...
*
Homosexuality in association football Homophobia has been widespread in men's association football, also known as soccer, throughout the world. Journalist Matt Williams stated that being a gay professional player in football is still a taboo, which journalist Simon Barnes has said wil ...
*
Homosexuality in English football Homosexuality in English football has been described as a taboo subject by both players and the media. As of 2022, there is only one openly gay male footballer in England's top four men's divisions, Jake Daniels, a forward for Blackpool F.C. S ...
*
Homosexuality in sports in the United States The homosexual sports community in the United States, like the country itself, enjoys one of the highest levels of acceptance and support in the world. A vibrant and rapidly growing community, it is enjoying an exponential growth. The public opin ...
*
International Gay and Lesbian Football Association The International Gay and Lesbian Football Association (IGLFA) is an international organization which was founded in 1992 with the intention of promoting Association Football, association football (known as soccer in the United States and football ...
*
International Gay Rugby International Gay Rugby (IGR), formerly known as the International Gay Rugby Association and Board (IGRAB), is the umbrella organisation for the world's gay and inclusive rugby clubs. Based in London, UK, IGR is recognised by World Rugby as the ...
*
List of IGLFA member clubs The following football clubs (soccer teams) cater to gay or lesbian members and have previously been, or are current member clubs of the International Gay and Lesbian Football Association, IGLFA. Many of the clubs host multiple teams. Argentina * ...
*
List of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender sportspeople This is a list of notable, openly lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, and transgender sportspeople as well as those who identify as belonging to the broader queer community. List ...
*
Principle 6 campaign The Principle Six campaign, also Principle 6, or P6, was launched in January 2014 as an Olympic protests of Russian anti-gay laws in conjunction with the 2014 Winter Olympics being held in Sochi, Russia. Principle 6 refers to the sixth principle ...
*
Transgender people in sports The participation of transgender people in competitive sports, a traditionally sex-segregated institution, is a controversial issue, particularly the inclusion of transgender women and girls in women's sports. Opponents argue that transgender ...
*
World Outgames The World Outgames were a sporting and cultural event hosted by the gay community. The Outgames were open to all who wish to participate, without regard to sexual orientation. There were no qualifying standards, although competitions were arranged a ...


References


External links


10 Openly Gay Footballers. History of World Football.
lgbtworldchannel, 29 July 2016. YouTube (11:45 min)
Keegan Hirst. UK Rugby Player coming out story.
ITV: Good Morning Britain, 18 August 2015, YouTube (06:39 min)
Homosexuality In Sports Now Impossible To Ignore
- AP, Steve Wilstein, 21 June 1995 {{LGBT