The Gay and Lesbian Athletics Foundation (GLAF) is a nonprofit organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in the United States. Its purpose is to increase acceptance and visibility of LGBTQ athletes in the professional, amateur, and recreational athletics communities.
GLAF Managing Director Noa Padowitz describes the group's objectives: [1]
GLAF's advisory board includes many prominent gay and lesbian athletes, including tennis player Billie Jean King, former National Football League players Dave Kopay and Esera Tuaolo, [2] former Major League Baseball player Billy Bean, Olympian gold medalists Bruce Hayes and Mark Tewksbury, [3] and triathlete Christopher Bergland.
David Marquette Kopay is a former American football running back in the National Football League (NFL) who in 1975 became one of the first professional athletes to come out as gay.
Esera Tavai Tuaolo, nicknamed "Mr. Aloha", is an American former professional football player who was a defensive tackle for nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Oregon State Beavers.
Mark Roger Tewksbury, is a Canadian former competitive swimmer. He is best known for winning the gold medal in the 100-metre backstroke at the 1992 Summer Olympics. He also hosted the first season of How It's Made, a Canadian documentary series, in 2001.
Jason Paul Collins 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 an All-American in 2000–01. Collins was selected by the Houston Rockets as the 18th overall pick in the 2001 NBA draft. He went on to play for the New Jersey Nets, Memphis Grizzlies, Minnesota Timberwolves, Atlanta Hawks, Boston Celtics, Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets.
In the Life is an American lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) television newsmagazine which was broadcast on public television from 1992 to 2012, and produced by In The Life Media. It was created by the Emmy Award-winning producer John Scagliotti. Running for twenty years, it was the first and longest running national LGBT television program in history.
Harriet Morris "Holly" Metcalf is a six-time USA national/ Olympic team member in women's rowing, who won a gold medal in rowing at the 1984 Summer Olympics for the women's eight.
The Chicago Pride Parade, also colloquially called the Chicago Gay Pride Parade or PRIDE Chicago, is an annual pride parade held on the last Sunday of June in Chicago, Illinois in the United States. It is considered a culmination of the larger Gay and Lesbian Pride Month in Chicago, as promulgated by the Chicago City Council and Mayor of Chicago. Chicago's Pride Parade is one of the largest by attendance in the world. The event takes place outside and celebrates equal rights for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people, which is also known as the celebration of LGBTQ rights.
The Oregon State Beavers football team represents Oregon State University in NCAA Division I FBS college football. The team first fielded an organized football team in 1893 and is a member of the Pac-12 Conference.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world.
The Q Hall of Fame Canada, also known as Queer Hall of Fame, was a Canadian hall of fame dedicated to commemorate the history of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community in Canada. They honoured those that have been human rights pioneers and documented the accomplishments and lives of these people. Headquartered in Vancouver, British Columbia, the Q Hall of Fame was an independently registered federal not for profit organization with the Minister of Industry for Canada.
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 first was organized for the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.
Wade Alan Davis II is an American speaker, activist, writer, educator and former American football player.
You Can Play is a social activism campaign that aims to eliminate homophobia in sports, based on the slogan, "If you can play, you can play." The campaign was launched on March 4, 2012, by three co-founders: Patrick Burke, Brian Kitts, and Glenn Witman. The death of Brendan Burke, son of Brian and brother of Patrick, played a significant role in inspiring the campaign. Notably, "You Can Play" is an official partner of the National Hockey League, with Wade Davis serving as the former executive director of the organization. Presently, Wade Davis holds the position of Director of Professional Sports.
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, while with the Las Vegas Raiders. He became the first openly gay player to play in an NFL game on September 13, 2021. He later became the first openly gay player in an NFL playoff game on January 15, 2022. Six former NFL players have come out publicly after they retired. In the 2014 NFL draft, the St. Louis Rams drafted Michael Sam in the seventh round, the 249th of 256 players selected, which made him the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL. However, on August 30, St. Louis released Sam as part of a final round of cuts to reduce their roster to the league-mandated 53 players before the start of the regular season.
The National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame was a hall of fame established in 2013 to honor LGBT and allied personalities, as well as organizations "whose achievements and efforts have enhanced sports and athletics for the gay and lesbian community". It was established shortly after Jason Collins became the first openly gay NBA player. It is located on the grounds of Center on Halsted in Chicago, Illinois.
The homosexual sports community in the United States has one of the highest levels of acceptance and support in the world and is rapidly growing as of 2020. General public opinion and jurisprudence regarding homosexuality in the United States has become significantly more accepting since the late 1980s; for example, by the early 2020s, an overwhelming majority of Americans approved of the legality of same-sex marriages.
Brian Marshall is a Canadian retired track and field athlete, who competed in the men's high jump at the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Coming Out Colton is an American reality television series created by Jeff Jenkins that follows Colton Underwood as he comes out of the closet. The unscripted series of six episodes premiered December 3, 2021, on Netflix. Underwood, a former professional football player, starred in the 23rd season of The Bachelor in 2019, before publicly coming out as gay in April 2021.
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