Month: August 2011

Openly gay cyclist Graeme Obree trotted out some bullshit from a bygone era this week when he told the Scottish Sun that gay athletes should stay in the closet until they retire. I don't think being gay and an active sportsman is a good thing. While I was competing and in a changing room environment […]

Bingham died on Sept. 11, 2001, as one of the passengers who stormed a cockpit manned by hijackers.

Outsports' 2011 list of the 100 most important moments in LGBT sports history features the Gay Rodeo at No. 35.

The Tampa Bay Rays have joined the growing list of MLB teams to create an ‘It Gets Better’ video. Included in the video are players Johnny Damon (right), BJ Upton, Sam Fuld, Sean Rodriguez (who sends a message in Spanish) and manager Joe Maddon. Damon talks about being teased because he had a stuttering problem: […]

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Volleyball, 1982. Betty Baxter was a successful Canadian volleyball player and coach. After being named the head coach of the women’s national volleyball team in 1979, she won the Canadian Interuniversity Athletics Union’s coach of the year award. Yet in 1982, […]

Thanks to Joe in Philly for alerting us that the Philadelphia Phillies have released a video for the It Gets Better project featuring Chase Utley, Roy Halladay, Hunter Pence, John Mayberry, Jr. and Michael Stutes. The Phillies, with the Major League's best record, join the growing list of baseball teams that have produced the anti-bullying […]

Philipp Lahm is captain of the German soccer team and he has a new book out where he denies rumors he’s gay, says he doesn’t have a problem with gays but that gay players should stay in the closet anyway. AP has these excerpts: “First, I am not a homosexual. I am not married to […]

Most athletes at some point pretend as a child that they’re a pro player, the championship is on the line, and they make the winning shot/run/catch/throw…. When I was 12 I was Larry Bird shaking off a defender and hitting a fadeaway jumpshot to win the NBA title. For Nick Pratto of the Huntington Beach […]

Note: Bumped to the top of the blog since it has gotten an interesting dialogue going. We have written a lot celebrating how it has gotten better for many gay teenage athletes, profiling several this year with their heartwarming stories of acceptance. But this story out of Northumberland County in Ontario, Canada, reminds us that […]

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Cross-country, 1996. We hear about the fear of “guilt by association” driving homophobia in locker rooms, but we don’t have many specific examples of it happening. One of the rare cases involves a distance runner on the Huntington Beach (Calif.) High […]

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Pro football, 2002: Then New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey created a media stir when he declared that he would not want a gay teammate. His reasoning? The showers, of course. From our story at the time: In a Sept. […]

Pairs bodybuilding Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Multisports, 1990: After being held twice in San Francisco, the Gay Games got more international when they were staged Aug. 4-11 in Vancouver. These were the first Gay Games I attended and I was hooked; I have been to […]

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Sports media, 2004. When I first met LZ Granderson he was writing sports for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and opening a gay bar in Atlanta. From our first meeting, Granderson struck me as a smart, personable, soulful guy who was on the […]

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Horse racing, 1975: John Damien, a jockey, trainer and racing steward, was living the good life when he was told by the Ontario Racing Commission that he would not be retained. The reason? Damien was gay. As reported by Xtra in […]

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Bowling, 1980. While softball, aquatics and other sports get many of the headlines, the largest sport-based gay organization in the world is the International Gay Bowling Organization. In the 1970s, gay leagues began emerging but the sport really took off in […]

She’s one of the lightning rods of women’s sports with a tough coaching style and lots of national championships. But no matter what side of the fence you’re on, your heart has to feel for Pat Summit. The legendary Tennessee Lady Vols coach announced this week that she suffers from the early onset of dementia […]

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. College football, 2009. In 2000, Brian K. Sims was the co-captain of the Bloomsberg University football team that finished the season as the Div. 2 national runners-up. He was also openly gay on the team. While many today still claim it’s […]

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history. Golf, 2010. When trans golfer Lana Lawless won the 2009 Long Drivers of America title, it was too much for the organization to handle. They quickly changed their rules stating that female participants must have been born biologically female to compete, […]

The 15 members of the Bethany College Fighting Swedes golf team have been suspended for three tournaments after posing naked for a team photo (with golf clubs hiding the naughty parts). From KAKE: The men posed with the head of their golf club covering their private parts. The picture was then posted on facebook with […]

LaRon Landry A funny sideline moment with former Washington Redskin Charles Mann doing an awkward sideline interview with LaRon Landry (O.J. Atogwe is watching). Mann tells Landry he "looks fantastic" but makes it very clear it's in a 100% non-homoerotic, non-gay way: LaRon Landry A funny sideline moment with former Washington Redskin Charles Mann doing […]