Preston Williams comes by his support of the LGBTQ community naturally.
The Miami Dolphins receiver who hopes to make a return to the field this week against the Atlanta Falcons, has had LGBTQ friends in his life for years, going back to growing up as a kid as well as his college days catching touchdowns at Colorado State University.
“I’ve got a lot of friends in the LGBT community and I respect their cause,” Williams told Outsports Friday.
Williams is the only NFL player to have made an LGBTQ-specific charity the recipient of one of his My Cause My Cleats efforts, wearing these in 2019:
His charity of choice was Pridelines, a nonprofit in Miami whose mission is to support, educate and empower South Florida’s LGBTQ youth and community. Williams said he had been talking with the people who run Pridelines before the MCMC campaign in 2019, and it was important to him to show his support.
“I chose the cleats because everyone is their own person,” Williams said. “You can’t be mean to somebody about what they like or who they like.”
Williams said his support of the LGBTQ community is not unique on the Dolphins roster. The locker room is respectful, he said, and it is ready for a gay athlete if someone on the team ever chooses to come out.
“We respect everybody,” Williams said. “If someone on the team were part of the LGBT community, he’s still our brother. If someone decides they want to come out, we’ll support them.”
The Dolphins earlier this season played against the Las Vegas Raiders, who have openly gay defensive end Carl Nassib on the roster. Williams said there was no homophobia he heard in and around the team leading up to that game. And he reflected with pride on the June day Nassib came out publicly.
“That was a pretty cool day,” Williams said. “He was one of the first to do it, but he won’t be the last.”
Sunday will also be a Pride Day, hosted by the Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium. The event is designed to welcome the LGBTQ community to the game and provide networking and educational opportunities aimed at inclusion.
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