People magazine has a feature profiling several current and former professional athletes who have come out publicly. The magazine opted to focus on pro athletes we assume to tie into the drafting of Michael Sam. The athletes they highlighted include Sam, WNBA star Brittney Griner, pro soccer players (and couple) Joanna Lohman and Lianne Sanderson, You Can Play's Wade Davis and former MLB player Billy Bean.
The magazine was able to land a rare interview with Sam, who has eschewed virtually every media request since coming out publicly earlier this year. The piece about Lohman and Sanderson is also particularly interesting.
While all of these athletes have spoken publicly several times about being LGBT and in sports, it's nice to see a big mainstream publication bring these stories into American households. Just as ESPN's broadcasting of Michael Sam's draft-day kiss drew power from its appearance on American TV sets, this will have an effect as people who don't usually engage in LGBT sports issues read these stories.
Check out the video People magazine put together interviewing these athletes.
