Month: October 2012

Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe continues to be a vocal advocate for same-sex marriage and the fight against a Minnesota ballot imitative that would constitutionally ban such unions in the state. He has released a powerful video arguing the case as one for freedom and families. "If you're telling someone how to live their life, […]

Denver Stiffs blogger Jeffrey Morton used National Coming Out Day last week to tell his readers and fans that he’s gay. He talked at length about coming out to his mother, which didn’t go over as well as he’d have liked. He also talked at length about stereotypes and their power over his life — […]

Brendon Ayanbadejo in an NFL player who is pro-gay marriage. ESPN the Magazine polled a combined 62 athletes anonymously from the NBA, NHL, NFL and Major League Baseball on a host of political and social issues and found 59% of those polled support gay marriage. The percentages were 92% in favor among NHL players polled; […]

The Federation of Gay Games is skipping the upcoming Peace and Sport conference in Sochi, Russia, after conference organizers could not ensure the safety of the Gay Games delegate. Russia is homophobic and a judge this year banned a Pride House for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Peace and Sport has held previous conference […]

New England Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes made a strange gay joke on Twitter yesterday. Spikes doesn’t have much past with the issue, so it came out of nowhere. And just hours before National Coming Out Day, it was a little off-color for him to be making the joke. Still, he tweeted: On one hand, it's […]

Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe is hoping to turn two of his unique phrases into money to help fight a Minnesota ballot amendment that would outlaw same-sex marriage. Kluwe is selling shirts that play off two articles he wrote ripping an anti-gay marriage politician. In one, he said gay marriage won't "magically turn you into […]

Outsports will host a live Google+ hangout discussion with the incredible It Gets Better project this Thursday at 5pmET. In recognition of National Coming Out Day, we’ll be talking about coming out in sports, whether you’re on a high school, college or pro team. We’ve got some great folks joining the discussion: Outsports will host […]

Wade Davis talks about looking past yourself in the coming out process

Thursday is National Coming Out Day, a day for LGBT people to stand up and be counted. It’s a perfect time to remind everyone that gay and lesbian athletes are part of the community of people making their voices heard and being proud. The perception is that few athletes are out and this owes to […]

Updated with statement from the NFL, Oct. 9, 10:45pmET The NFL will host a symposium on inclusion and diversity on Wednesday in New York at the League headquarters. The NFL has also invited other pro-sports leagues to attend. And in a statement to Outsports, NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello said two gay-rights groups will be participating: […]

Orlando Cruz (Photo: Juan Luis Martinez Perez) In the days since featherweight boxer Orlando Cruz has come out as gay, the response within the sport has been positive, and that includes those who just shrugged. That's a good thing and shows that Cruz made the right call to be open about who he is. Tim […]

Chris Kluwe (Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn-US PRESSWIRE) On Sept. 7, Minnesota Vikings punter wrote an epic takedown of an anti-gay marriage politician, bringing "Cockmonster" into the lexicon (2.1 million page views). Days later, he wrote a revised piece for his blog on TwinCities.com that did not get as much attention but is equally fantastic. Kluwe has […]

Weir after his Finland skate (from his Twitter feed) Johnny Weir finished fourth in his return to men's figure skating at the Finlandia Cup in Espoo, Finland, this weekend. The annual event is usually low-key, but the stands were packed, because the men's event had some pretty big hitters, including reigning world bronze medalist Yuzuru […]

While I’m not a big fan of discussion panels, the three presented Friday at Blogs With Balls 5 in Toronto were pretty fantastic. I was super impressed with each one: All educational and quite entertaining. Topics of discussion included the role of social media in sports media, the rise of various big-time sports-news outlets and […]

Orlando Cruz (Photo: Juan Luis Martinez Perez) Every time an athlete comes out as gay, we at Outsports get asked what it means. My answer is usually along the lines of it's great news, but don't expect a flood of athletes to come out. This is how I feel about the news that featherweight boxer […]

Featherweight boxer Orlando Cruz has become the first big-time active professional boxer to come out as gay. According to USA Today, Cruz, who has a strong professional record of 18-2-1, said he wants to be out as his career continues to build: I've been fighting for more than 24 years and as I continue my […]

Dana White Dana White, the president of the Ultimate Fighting Championships, caught a lot of justified heat in 2009 when he called a journalist a "f—ing faggot" on a video blog. His initial apology rang sort of hollow, but he is trying again. Fuel TV's Ariel Helwani asked White to name any regrets from his […]

Brendon Ayanbadejo Brendon Ayanbadejo and Matt Birk are teammates on the Baltimore Ravens. They are also on opposing sides of gay marriage — Ayanbadejo favors it, Birk is opposed. Nonetheless, Ayanbadejo says Birk is not homophobic and they remain great teammates and their children play together. But he thinks Birk's view are outdated and told […]

Matt Willig appears in the NOH8 campaign Matt Willig wasn’t like the other folks roaming around the NOH8 campaign studio on a warm afternoon when we met last June. A C-list pop diva was entertaining the crew with her antics. Photographer Adam Bouska, hardly the size of an offensive lineman, was readying his camera as […]

Former National Football League commissioner Paul Tagliabue announced last night that he and his wife Chan are donating $100,000 to Marylanders for Marriage Equality. The state is voting on a same-sex marriage law in November. Tagliabue has long been out front on gay-equality issues. His son, Drew Tagliabue, is gay and is the executive director […]