With all the stories Outsports runs about LGBT youth, it's gotten co-founders Jim Buzinski and Cyd Zeigler thinking about their own experiences growing up gay. We rarely talk about our experiences as gay youth and gay athletes, so today we dive into our personal stories in and outside of sports.
It was a while back, but some of the stories they have are very similar to those we hear from gay teenagers and college athletes every day. There's the bullying (even if we didn't usually call it that back then), the name-calling, the slurs and the macho attitude that pervades sports. A lot of that hasn't changed, even if it has gotten better in certain areas.
Some of the stories are also very different. Growing up gay in 2016 is stepping into a world that has changed dramatically on our issues since 1986. We talk about some of those important changes and how they have shifted society.