Outsports Archives

49er fans dressed as Joe Montana and Jerry Rice (Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports) I consider myself a sporty gay. I love tennis. I cried twice during the past Olympics. I played soccer and ran track in high school. I did intramural basketball in college. But the closest I’ve ever come to playing football was capture […]

There were boyfriends on the same hockey team, and partners playing tennis. There was a father-son duo of teammates in softball and an almost-all straight basketball team. The 6th annual Sin City Shootout Sports Festival, held in Las Vegas Jan. 19-21, certainly criss-crossed the LGBT rainbow. There were 5,271 registered participants, an increase of about […]

Jeremy Abbott is going for his 4th U.S. title (Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports) Lets just start off by saying the U.S. Figure Skating Assn. must be gasping for air in this pre-Olympic year. Let's have a look at whom you will not be seeing at the U.S. Nationals this weekend in Omaha, Neb. 2010 National […]

The largest LGBT sporting event of the year in North America is set for Las Vegas as the 6th annual Sin City Shootout Sports Festival offers 12 sports with about 5,250 registered to participate. More than 6,000 are expected to play and watch, with about 95% of all rooms at the event’s host hotel -– […]

Chris Kluwe (Photo: Bruce Kluckhohn-US PRESSWIRE) Being regarded as an "activist" in 2012 was a new experience for me. I’ve never really considered myself an "activist" — basically I treat people the way I would like to be treated and expect them to do the same. I think if we all approached life that way […]

LGBT youth represent as much as 40% of the homeless youth. Often they run away from home because of family rejection and then face rampant discrimination when seeking alternative housing. LGBT homeless youth suffer higher rates of abuse and victimization, and engage in risky behavior at alarming rates – often for survival. New York City’s […]

Relaunched LGBTQ student-athlete organization is making inroads, building membership and expanding quickly Anna Aagenes My college girlfriend and I were both Division I student-athletes. Although she and I were both smart, strong and determined women, we both struggled with being the only “out” members of our varsity sports teams. According the Campus Pride 2012 LGBTQ […]

Fawn Yacker is the director of The Last Closet, a campaign to end homophobia in men's pro sports. NFL commissioner Roger Goodell Over 50,000 athletes have participated in the five major U.S. sports leagues since their inception. None have come out publicly while actively playing. The Last Closet is calling on members of the sports […]

Wade Davis talks about looking past yourself in the coming out process

Weir after his Finland skate (from his Twitter feed) Johnny Weir finished fourth in his return to men's figure skating at the Finlandia Cup in Espoo, Finland, this weekend. The annual event is usually low-key, but the stands were packed, because the men's event had some pretty big hitters, including reigning world bronze medalist Yuzuru […]

David Boudia The London Olympics are over, but attitudes still linger in the air. As usual, the U.S. thumps itself on the back, congratulating ourselves on a mighty haul of medals – 104. Many Americans take this as proof that we are better than everybody else – especially the Chinese, who were second with 88 […]

James Magnussen, swimming Like most, I watched the Summer Olympics on TV from the comfort of my couch. Here in Canada, CTV was the official broadcaster for the Olympics, and based on the many tweets I saw on Twitter complaining about NBC’s coverage below the 49th parallel, I’m pretty sure I had the better seats. […]

The largest annual LGBT sporting event continues to grow as the Gay Softball World Series jumps up two teams from last year to 153 when play kicks off Tuesday, Aug. 14, at multiple fields in Minneapolis. There are 2,404 registered players across five skill-based divisions, except Master’s, which is for the over-50 crowd. The top-tiered […]

Editor's note: Softball coach Mary Nutter died of heart failure on July 24 while on vacation in Colorado. She was a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association Hall of Fame. No one loved the sport of softball more than Mary Nutter. Every player that picked up a ball, every coach that gave a word […]

Roger Brigham When the Federation of Gay Games (FGG) and Gay and Lesbian International Sports Association (GLISA) recently announced that they had ended two years of talk on running a combined global sports and cultural festival in 2018, the wheels were set in motion for plans for Gay Games X to go forward, and critics […]

Editor's Note: Charlie Carson, the longtime veteran of Team New York Aquatics, is gracious enough to give us some updates from the IGLA Championships in Iceland. We are at the halfway point of the 20th International Gay & Lesbian Aquatics Championships, hosted in Reykjavik, Iceland, by the swimmers of the local Styrmir Sports Club – […]

The World Figure Skating Championships concluded in Nice, France last weekend, but don’t be surprised if you missed it. For the first year in recent memory the Worlds did not receive a moment of live broadcast time on any major network. Taking into account what happened, this might be for the best. In an era […]

Editor's note: Fawn Yacker is director of the award-winning film 'Training Rules,' about homophobia in Penn State's women's basketball program. She is currently working on a project about homophobia in men's pro sports. Joe Paterno describes the current “tragedy” at Penn State as “…one of the great sorrows of my life.” He should add to […]

Billy Bean, Eric Alva Over the past decade, I have watched with bated breath as our community fought to repeal the “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” policy that would finally allow the members of our armed forces who happen to be gay or lesbian to be honest about who they are as they fight courageously for […]

Editor's Note: Greg Congdon was a high school football player and wrestler in rural Pennsylvania. He struggled with his sexual orientation for years until he was outed. It was such a touchstone in 1998 that it is our #83 most important moment in gay sports history. For the first time ever, Greg tells his story […]