Outsports is thrilled to announce our acquisition by Q.Digital, the leading LGBTQ digital-media publication company. The move was first shared by Digiday.
Outsports began publishing in 1999 by co-founders Cyd Zeigler and Jim Buzinski. Since then, we have provided the world’s leading and award-winning LGBTQ sports news, information and opinion. Outsports has been, for over two decades, the go-to source for the LGBTQ sports community.
We realize some people may be finding or following Outsports for the first time. So we’ve compiled 21 stories we’ve run during our time with Vox Media to acquaint people with our groundbreaking work.
We’re extremely proud of the work we’ve done over the last dozen years to advance LGBTQ inclusion in sports. Here is some of our best work over that time.
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Our weekly playbook is packed with everything from locker room chatter to pressing LGBTQ sports issues.
Fallon Fox Comes Out as Trans Pro MMA Fighter, 2013
She talks with Outsports about gay-conversion therapy, her passion for Mixed Martial Arts and her post-coming-out fears.
Transition Game, 2013
America’s first publicly out transgender high school coach, Stephen Alexander, is opening minds in the conservative rural town of Glocester, R.I.
The eagle has landed: The exclusive behind-the-scenes of Michael Sam coming out, 2014
When Michael Sam decided to come out publicly ahead of the 2014 NFL Draft, he recruited publicist Howard Bragman to be part of his team. Bragman involved Outspots in every decision. This is that behind-the-scenes story.
Gay Kentucky basketball player comes out at a game, gets chased by opposing team, 2015
Kentucky high school basketball player Dalton Maldonado came out at a game after being called a gay slur. When the opposing team chased him in a car, his team rallied to his defense. Now he wants to help other young athletes in Indiana, Kentucky and the world.
A first! NFL credentials gay media outlet for the Super Bowl, 2015
When Outsports requested a media credential for Super Bowl XLIX in Phoenix and Glendale, Ariz., we weren’t sure of the response. The NFL credentialed us that year, and they have every year since when we’ve requested it.
Los Angeles Dodgers executive Erik Braverman comes out as gay to inspire youth, 2015
Erik Braverman has been out in his private life for years, but has kept his orientation from many in baseball. With MLB’s very public embrace of the LGBT community, Braverman wants youth to know they can be out in pro sports
Exclusive: Read the Olympics’ new transgender guidelines that will not mandate surgery, 2016
The International Olympic Committee has received a new recommendation for guidelines it is expected to fully adopt, opening the door for more trans athletes to compete internationally.
San Francisco 49ers assistant Katie Sowers is the first out LGBT coach in NFL, 2017
‘One of the most important things is to be true to who you are,’ Katie Sowers told Outsports in her exclusive public coming-out story on Outsports. She went on to coach in a Super Bowl with the 49ers a couple years later.
Former Patriots and Chiefs tackle Ryan O’Callaghan comes out as gay, 2017
O’Callaghan had always planned to end his life after football, until Kansas City Chiefs staffers stepped in. Outsports had the exclusive story of his publicly coming out as gay, earning a GLAAD Award nomination for the video that accompanied
This gay college athlete was disowned by her parents and left with nothing, 2018
The NCAA barred Emily Scheck from competing while she was raising money on GoFundMe to help cover her college costs. After Outsports’ article, the NCAA reversed its decision and said Scheck can keep outside donations made to her, as well as keep her eligibility.
Openly gay college football player Jake Bain happy being just one of the guys, 2018
Gay college football player Jake Bain is fitting right in as a freshman at Indiana State and is an LGBT activist by example.
Gay W. Virginia high school soccer player comes out by dancing with homecoming king, 2018
Michael Martin, an all-state goalie, slow danced with the guy who gave him the courage to be himself. Inspired by Robbie Rogers, Martin now hopes to inspire others.
College basketball coach comes out as gay, because ‘I don’t want to die with the lie’, 2020
After 10 years and in a period of great uncertainty, Matt Lynch decides he could hide no more and strives to be a role model for other LGBTQ coaches.
Raiders player Carl Nassib comes out as gay, first active player in NFL history, 2021
When Carl Nassib shared a video on Instagram talking about being gay in the NFL, Outsports was the first to have the news and became a thought leader on the subject quoted across the national and international media.
Meet the 16 out gay and bi football players in the NFL’s 104-year history, 2021
Carl Nassib was the first to ever play a down as openly gay, but the rest are still trailblazers. This post has consistently opened people’s eyes to the presence of gay and bi men in the NFL and been a traffic leader for Outsports for several years.
At least 186 out LGBTQ athletes at the Tokyo Summer Olympics, by far a record, 2021
There were more out LGBTQ athletes in Tokyo than all the previous Summer Olympics combined. Here’s Outsports’ comprehensive list of all the publicly out athletes we know of in Tokyo.
This queer Princeton diver is a New York club kid and TikTok sensation, 2022
Griffin Maxwell Brooks tests heteronormative limits every day, and their more than 1 million TikTok followers love them for it.
Byron Perkins, D1 Hampton University football player, comes out as gay, 2022
“I’m gay,” Perkins told Outsports, which was the first publication to talk about his coming out. “This is who I am, this is who I’ve been, and this is who I’m going to be.” The gay college football player later registered for the NFL Draft.
Jacksonville Jaguars strength coach Kevin Maxen comes out in the NFL, a first in major U.S. men’s pro sports, 2023
Kevin Maxen, an associate strength coach with the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, is coming out publicly in hopes of living his life openly without fear, and to inspire others to do so as well. “I don’t want to feel like I have to think about it anymore,” Maxen told Outsports in an exclusive interview. “I don’t want to feel like I have to lie about who I am seeing, or why I am living with someone else.
The NHL has banned Pride Tape, creating its own ‘Don’t Say Gay’ policy on the ice, 2023
The NHL banned Pride Tape and Pride jerseys from the ice, in addition to issuing a memo about LGBTQ and other initiatives. Thanks to Outsports’ reporting, the NHL later reversed its ban of Pride Tape.
Two college baseball rivals have become boyfriends off the field, 2023
After meeting when their teams played each other, Cole Philpott and Aiden Phipps sparked an incredible baseball romance.
