List
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.
Ryan Thomas O'Callaghan is a former American football offensive tackle. He played college football for the California Golden Bears and was selected by the New England Patriots in the fifth round of the 2006 NFL draft. He also played for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Cyd Zeigler Jr. is a commentator and author in the field of sexuality and sports. Zeigler co-founded Outsports and the National Gay Flag Football League. He had a featured part in the documentary F(l)ag Football (2015).
Edwin B. Gallagher, better known as Ed Gallagher, was an American football player who played for the University of Pittsburgh at offensive tackle from 1977 to 1979.
The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world.
Chris Mosier is an American advocate for transgender rights and competitive triathlete, duathlete, and racewalker. He started his athletic career before transitioning, started his transition in 2010, and in 2015 earned a spot on the Team USA sprint duathlon men's team for the 2016 World Championship in the men's 35-39 age group division, making him the first known out trans athlete to join a U.S. national team different from his sex at birth.
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 came out 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.
Athletes and artists who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, pansexual, non-binary, queer, and/or intersex, and/or who have openly been in a same-sex relationship (LGBTQI+) have competed in the Olympic and Paralympic Games, either openly, or having come out some time afterward.
Although gay athletes and coaches are increasingly accepted in college sports, they continue to be controversial among some people.
Dylan Geick is an American social media personality, writer, and amateur wrestler. He speaks on his experience as an LGBTQ person in athletics and the army. Geick wrestled for the Columbia Lions from 2017 to 2018. Geick served in the United States Army for a brief period of just over one year, before leaving.
Kayla Colleen Kiyoko Miracle is an American wrestler competing through Campbellsville University, Kentucky. She is currently majoring in Sports Management.
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Media related to LGBT sportspeople at Wikimedia Commons