Karleigh Webb, an Outsports contributor for four years, has received a GLAAD Media Award nomination for her article last June about Pride Nights at sporting events.
Her heartfelt column revolved around the refusal of five Tampa Bay Rays players to wear a rainbow Pride logo on their uniforms for the club’s Pride Night, designed to welcome LGBT fans.
Acknowledging the incredible progress our community has made in and out of sports in recent years, she lamented that discomfort with and hatred for LGBT people still exists.
“2021 was perhaps the gayest, queerest, most transtastic year in the sports world ever,” she wrote. “Yet, 2022’s heightened level of open derision, from the Tampa Bay Rays clubhouse, to statehouses across the U.S., leaves me a little bit angry, but more so hurt.”
Ironically, the announcement comes the day after Philadelphia Flyer Ivan Proporov refused to wear a rainbow Pride jersey during warm-ups fo a game.
Webb was part of the Ousports team that won a Special Recognition at last year’s GLAAD Media Awards for our coverage of Team LGBTQ at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. She also contributed to Outsports’ 2000 nomination for the series, Trans athletes’ fight for inclusion in World Rugby. This is the eighth time Outsports has been nominated for a GLAAD Media Award in a Digital Journalism category.
Congratulations and good luck Karleigh!