Oregon State softball coach out and a proud father
Kirk Walker, the head coach of the Oregon State softball team, is the only publicly out Division I coach in the country. Story

Gay Lax Coach Finds and Gives Support
Missouri lacrosse coach Kyle Hawkins was known at Outsports for almost two years as Frustrated_Coach. He came out on Outsports in June after some of his players and their parents asked the university to remove him as head coach. Story

'Made' into a Soccer Player
MTV's "Made" headed to the middle of Vermont to make over an overweight gay teenager who wanted to join his high school soccer team. It was a great reminder of how powerful the bond of sports can be, and how the next generation of athletes promises to be much less homophobic than the lot we have now. Story  Discuss

Lesbians at Fresno State?
What is going on in the athletic department at Fresno State? In this Wizard of Odd, it's lesbians, dykes and atheists, oh my. On Campus

A Gay Rower Finds Acceptance
Growing up in Wyoming, Ryan White equated being gay with a painful death. But slowly he summoned the courage to tell his friends and his teammates on the Pacific Lutheran University rowing team. Their acceptance (he was voted a captain) taught him what "team" really means. Story

Back To School
More and more resources are popping up for young gay athletes. Nat Brown has created a new scholarship aimed at helping gay athletes while Pat Griffin is heading up It Takes a Team, which offers educational tools about gay sports.
l New Gay Athletes Scholarship
l It Takes A Team

Player Finds Right Time to Come Out
After his college tennis team van nearly crashed, Matt Coin decided it was the perfect time to tell his teammates a secret. "I told them that I was dating someone and that it was a guy." One teammate replied: "Oh, [you're dating] the hot Abercrombie-looking guy" Story

Much response
When Matt Coin came out as a tennis player in 2005, he was not ready for the thousands of e-mails he received.

Athlete to His Gay Coach: 'You the Man'
Cross-country coach Keith Lutman decided he was going to be himself and not hide being gay, whether at high school jobs in liberal Connecticut or conservative Virginia. The positive reaction from his athletes showed the value of being true to yourself. Story

Gay Campus Jocks Find Common Bond
One by one, college athletes like gymnast Graham Ackerman (left), are coming out. They’re doing it for themselves and for their teams, but progress is slow. Ryan Quinn knows of 36 gay athletes who want to come out but who first want to bond with other gay athletes and share their experiences. Story

Not Out at UCLA
"It's awful I have to compromise myself to play a sport. There's no good way to come out of the closet. There's just bad or worse." -- Anonymous male UCLA athlete. UCLA may be located in liberal Los Angeles, but its gay athletes feel no more comfortable coming out. Story

Out Gymnast is Champion Again
Openly gay collegiate gymnast Graham Ackerman won the national championship in the floor exercise at the 2005 Men’s Collegiate Gymnastics Championships at West Point, N.Y. Plus, we talk to a closeted collegiate gymnast. Story

Just One of the Guys
When Andrew Goldstein, a lacrosse goalie at Dartmouth, came out, nothing happened. And that's the way it should be. Story

College Jocks: Tell Your Story
Two college athletes propose to start a journal that will be a forum and outlet for the opinions, ideas, theories, debates, and experiences of all college athletes, whether or not they ever have the opportunity to attend the conference. Story

Gay on the Court
No one ever accused most college students of being the best and the brightest. So it's not too surprising that college basketball fans and players would resort to antigay taunts to try and demean an opponent. We had two examples in Feb. 2004. Story

Homophobia Alleged in Softball Program
Andrea Zimbardi, an honor student and a senior captain on the University of Florida's softball team, was kicked off the Gators’ squad in March. Her coach told her it was because Zimbardi had spread lies and misconceptions about an assistant coach and about the program. Zimbardi, though, suspects the real reason is that she’s a lesbian. Story
Update: Florida Settles With Lesbian Athlete

Coming Out Earns Team's Respect
"In my experience, coming out to my team did not evoke homophobia, but rather inspired a new level of respect, both as friends and as teammates.  I told them that I was gay." Story

No More Running Away
Billy Glover was an accomplished cross country runner with a problem--his new coach wanted nothing to do with him because he was gay. Story

Skier: My Life as a Gay Athlete
Jordan Goldwarg (left) was not unique in coming to terms with his sexuality. He debated how to tell his family and friends. But, most difficult, he debated how to tell his teammates on his college cross-country ski team. As an active athlete, Goldwarg was about to do something that was unique--he would come out to his team. Story

Jock Struggles With Coming Out
A star Indiana high school basketball player has a secret he's wrestling with--how to come out of the closet. He weighs his feelings of isolation and his inability to share his sorrow against the risks involved with such a declaration in a small town. Story

Gays and Title IX
Title IX, the federal legislation that seeks parity for men and women in college sports, is a hot topic on campus as the law turns 30. We have two perspectives on how the law affects gays and lesbians in sports.
Gene Dermody: Many young gay men harmed.
Robert DeKoven: Homophobia rampant in women's sports.

Lesbian Sues School
Student, 15, was kicked out of gym class because of her orientation. Story

Out On The Football Field
When Dwight Slater came out to his football team at Stanford, head coach Tyrone Willingham made up a game plan to help Slater come out to his family and friends.  The plan backfired.  Story  

Covert Homophobia Keeps Closet Doors Locked
Two events on swim teams at two very different colleges slipped under the radar recently, yet are indicative of the tacit homophobic attitude that keeps the closet doors of sports locked for so many.  Story

Harvard Water Polo Swimmer Featured In Genre
Mike Crosby, an openly gay water polo player at Harvard, is on the cover of this month's Genre magazine.  He talks about being gay, and being in love, in and out of the pool.  Previously, Mike was on a Harvard panel about gays in sports.

Brandon Triche
Persevering Through Adversity
In many ways Brandon Triche was your typical college senior, frazzled by pulling an all-nighter after a computer erased most of a term paper due for his communications class.  In other significant ways, though, Triche's life has been far from typical.  Telling his parents in high school that he's gay and being sent to ``about a million'' psychiatrists and pastors who tried to make him see the error of his ways.  Story

NCAA Is Finally Addressing Homophobia
"H" has been the scarlet letter in sports, as homosexuality has simply been ignored by many in the sports world.  The NCAA trying to change that, addressing it head-on in an article from their newsletter.  Story

NCAA Committee Proposes Homophobia Education 
The NCAA Committee on Women's Athletics (CWA) is concerned that homophobia in intercollegiate athletics has become a problem with a variety of negative effects -- for student-athletes, coaches and athletics administrators. Story

"Not Gay" at UVA
For more than 20 years, the fans at Virginia home football games have declared their heterosexuality after every home team touchdown, field goal and safety.  Now, some student-athletes are doing something about it.  Story. 

Stanford Looking For Gay Athletes For Athletics Progam
Stanford University is looking for gay athletes who would be willing to participate in a program for the Athletics Department.  Story.

NCAA Considering Gay and Lesbian Council
In January 2000, the NCAA modified its nondiscrimination policy by adding "sexual orientation" to its list of age, color, disability, gender, national origin, race, religion, and creed.  Story.

Reflections Of A Gay Athletic Director
It was just over two years ago that The Chronicle "outed" me. Give the folks their credit for getting the scoop, but I had decidedly mixed feelings about it. A Chronicle reporter had been talking to a former Oberlin College employee and had been told: "Oberlin is so liberal, they just hired a gay male athletic director."  Story.