Thelesbian,gay,bisexual,transgender,queer, and othernon-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world.
There have been several notable openly athletes, includingJason Collins,John Curry,Orlando Cruz, andBillie Jean King. In 1982, theGay Games was founded. Since then, many gay sporting organizations have been founded along with sporting events that feature gay athletes.
While overall, the trend is towards open acceptance of gay athletes,[1] the level of acceptance can vary due to factors such as the athlete's age, sport, and location. As a consequence of the existinghomophobia in the sports community, there have been notable lawsuits fighting against this discrimination.
Born in 1949,John Curry was a successful British figure skater.[2] Using his unique skating style, Curry won the gold medal in the1976 Olympic Games in Innsbruck, Austria.[3] Two days after his victory, Curry confirmed a newspaper report about his sexuality, becoming one of the first openly gay gold medalists. Less than three weeks later, and amid the fallout from the revelations, Curry won gold again at the World Figure Skating Championships in Gothenburg. He had completed a "grand slam" of European, Olympic and World championships in under fifty days. Curry died at the age of 44 after a fight withAIDS.[4]
Billie Jean King is a former number one women's tennis player in the world and, according to KK Ottesen of theWashington Post, is known as a feminist icon.[5] She was born in California in 1943 and competed professionally throughout the 1960s and 1970s.[6] More than a decade after her athletic career, King was outed as lesbian by a former partner, something King had not yet openly announced.[7] After this revelation, King took a stronger stance on the push for gay rights and continued to vouch for gender equality, specifically equal pay.[5] In 2009, she was awarded aPresidential Medal of Freedom by the White House in recognition of her involvement in pushing for gender equality and the fact she was a notable and successful openly lesbian athlete.[7][8]
Jason Collins, born in 1978, was a US collegiate and professional basketball player.[9] Collins played Division One basketball atStanford University where he received First Team All-Pac10 honors in the 2000–2001 season. Later, he was drafted in the first round of theNational Basketball Association (NBA) draft where he played 13 seasons.[10] In 2013, Collins came out as gay in aSports Illustrated article written in the first person with the help of a journalist, which officially made him the first openly gay NBA player.[11] Although his reveal did not come without its critics, Collins received positive support and was pictured on the cover ofTime Magazine's Top 100 Most Influential People.[12]
Michael Sam, born in 1990, was a US collegiate football player at theUniversity of Missouri.[13] At Missouri, in his final season in 2013, Sam was named theSoutheastern Conference (SEC) Defensive Player of the Year, and he was also named an All-American.[13] Following his collegiate career, in an interview withESPN, Sam openly came out as gay.[14] In April 2014, Sam was selected in the seventh round of theNational Football League (NFL)draft by theSt. Louis Rams, becoming the first openly gay athlete ever to be drafted into the NFL.[14] Subsequently, Sam was awarded the 2014ESPYS Arthur Ashe Courage Award for "courageously announc[ing] he was gay prior to the NFL draft."[15] However, the Rams released him during the final preseason roster cuts. He also spent time on theDallas Cowboys'practice squad before being waived. He signed with theMontreal Alouettes before the 2015 season,[16] and became the first publicly gay player to play in aCanadian Football League regular-season game.[17] However, he left the league after that one game.[18][19]
Megan Rapinoe, born in 1985, is a notable women's soccer player.[20] Rapinoe is a two-timeFIFA Women's World Cup champion with theUnited States women's national soccer team, the latter of which she was awarded the Golden Boot and Golden Ball award for her performance in the tournament.[21] Rapinoe is openly lesbian, and in 2013 she received the Board of Directors Award by the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center for her role in activism for the LGBTQ+ community.[22] The world champion is also well known for her activism in other sectors, such as gender and racial inequality.[22]
Heteronormativity, from professional sports to children's athletics, can be seen as the dominant paradigm in sports culture.[23] It is defined as the view of heterosexuality as the standard or preferred sexuality, and this exclusive way of thinking is often taken to the extreme in sports culture, which subsequently places an emphasis onhegemonic masculinity.[24]Arnd Krüger has shown that the history of homosexuality in sports is closely linked to the history of sports and goes back to antiquity.[25] The prevalence of heteronormative thinking in athletics has led to a sports culture that is traditionally highly intolerant to homosexuality.[26] This attitude has been documented in adolescent sports especially, as a recent study by Danny Osborne and William E. Wagner, III showed that male adolescents who participated in popular sports, such as football, basketball, and baseball were significantly more likely to hold homophobic attitudes than other peers their age.[27] In 1995, three athletes (in theNFL,NBA andtrack and field) who spoke toThe Advocate said that they were more afraid of the reaction of their team mates than the media response.[28]
In a 2009 study on the well-being of same-sex-attracted youth in the United States, Lindsey Wilkinson and Jennifer Pearson found that lower self-esteem and higher rates of depression in same-sex attracted youth were correlated with the prevalence of football in high schools.[29] Sociology researchers Sartore and Cunningham also found similar stigmatization in the view of homosexual coaches, as high school parents were shown to be unwilling to allow their children to be coached by someone who is gay or lesbian.[30] They also found a similar attitude from high school athletes themselves toward participating on teams coached by either gay or lesbian coaches. However, recent scholars have documented an increasing trend toward openly gay athletes in high school and collegiate level sports.[31]
In professional sports leagues, homosexuality remains largely stigmatized in the four major North American professional sports leagues.Jason Collins of theNational Basketball Association (NBA), along withCarl Nassib and Michael Sam of theNational Football League (NFL), have come out while actively playing, and a small number of athletes have come out after their careers such asWade Davis,Kwame Harris,Dave Kopay,Ryan O'Callaghan,Roy Simmons, andEsera Tuaolo (NFL);Billy Bean andGlenn Burke (MLB); andJohn Amaechi (NBA).[32][33][34] This same trend can also be found in England'sProfessional Footballers' Association (PFA), as a 2010 ad campaign devised by the PFA against homophobia failed because no professional football player was willing to associate themselves with the advertisement.[35] The trend is also prevalent among English football fans. A 2018 study showed that among live attendance fans, the use of homophobic slurs is extremely common. The study finds that the motive behind the offensive language is that the fans are"try[ing] to gain an advantage for their team."[36]
Sociologists who have examined lesbians in American sport in the 1980s and 1990s found overt and covert mechanisms of social discrimination.[37] However, homophobia has been on a rapid decline over previous decades, and in 2013, studies showed that attitudes toward female homosexuality in sports have improved since the research conducted on lesbian athletes in the mid-1990s.[37]
There has been an increase in the number of individual athletes who have publicly come out as LGBTQ. Additionally, there have been many attempts since the 2000s by organizations such as theNational Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) to break down homophobic attitudes in collegiate and professional team sports.[38] The NCLR has worked with theSan Francisco 49ers and collegiate athletic departments at universities such as North Carolina, Florida, and Stanford to revise team policies to more openly accommodate LBGT athletes.[38]
Out on the Fields, a survey initiated in 2015 by members of the organizing committee ofBingham Cup Sydney 2014, the world cup of gay rugby, and members of the Sydney Convicts, Australia's first gay rugby union club, is the first and largest study conducted on homophobia in sports.[39] It surveyed 9494 athletes with varying sexual identities (25% of which identified as heterosexual).[39] The survey found that 1% of the participants believed that lesbian, gay, and bisexual athletes were 'completely accepted' in sports culture, while 80% of respondents said they had witnessed or experienced homophobia in a sporting environment.[39] The rates and occurrences of discrimination based on sexuality in sports are high with 62% of survey respondents claiming that homophobia is more common in team sports than any other part of society.[39] Additionally, the study found that the United States was the least LGBTQ+ inclusive country, while Canada ranked the most inclusive.[39]
There is a gender difference in the responses to male and female athletes who come out as LGBT.Brittney Griner softened the blowback from announcing her sexuality by casually coming out in an interview almost immediately after being drafted into theWomen's National Basketball Association (WNBA) in the United States. This was a month before Jason Collins came out, and there was a media uproar for him, while there was barely any coverage over Griner's announcement.[40]
TheNational Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) announced its support of LGBT student-athletes, coaches, and administrators in intercollegiate athletics, in 2010.[41] Since then, the association has been defending its core values of equality, inclusion, fairness, and respect in regard to all people involved in NCAA sports and events.[42] The defense of these values has very publicly come into play in determining host cities for championship events. The NCAA expressed concern over Indiana'sReligious Freedom Restoration Act and the hosting of the 2015 Men's Basketball Final Four Tournament,[43] and it banned North Carolina from hosting championship events until 2019 after it passed thePublic Facilities Privacy and Security Act (H.B. 2).[44]
The case ofJennifer Harris againstPenn State, more specifically theirwomen's basketball coachRene Portland, was about homosexuality.[45] In 2006, theNational Center for Lesbian Rights accused Rene Portland of forcing Jennifer Harris to transfer because of bias against lesbians. The advocacy group claimed that Portland was biased against lesbians for decades, citing a 1986 interview in which she stated that she would not have lesbians in her program.[46] The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court, with Penn State finding Portland in violation of policy. She was fined $10,000 by the university in lieu of a one-game suspension, and warned that another infraction would result in the termination of her employment.[47] Portland resigned from her position as women's head basketball coach in March 2007.[48]
LGBT-focused leagues and events have been created since the late 1970s.
In 1977 theNorth American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance was founded; it is anon-profit, international association of gay and lesbiansoftball leagues.[49]
In 1980, theInternational Gay Bowling Organization (IGBO) was formed.[50]
One of the earliest-recorded gay sports event organizing committees is theFederation of Gay Games (initially known as the United States Gay Olympics Committee), which was established in 1980 byTom Waddell, Mark Brown and Paul Mart.[51]TheGay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance ofsexual diversity, featuring LGBT athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was started in the United States inSan Francisco, California, in 1982, as the brainchild of Olympic decathlete (Mexico City 1968) and medical doctorTom Waddell, Brenda Young,[52] and others.[53] In 2006, a schism occurred between the Federation of Gay Games and the Montreal organizing committee for the Gay Games, leading to the Montreal committee organizing a rival multi-sports event, theWorld Outgames, which shut down due to financial struggles in 2017.[54]
By 1989, theEuropean Gay and Lesbian Sport Federation was formed to organize theEuroGames for LGBT athletes in Europe. The EuroGames are an LGBT+ multi-sport event in Europe, licensed to a local city host each year and organized (most often) by one or more of the federation's member clubs. The official name of the EuroGames is the European Gay and Lesbian Multi-Sports Championships. It is a Dutch initiative inspired by GayGames, first organized in The Hague in 1992.[55]
TheGay and Lesbian Tennis Alliance, founded in 1991, is a not-for-profit international organization that manages and sanctions thegaytennis circuit around the world.[56] The goal of the organization is to promote access to tennis and diversity and acceptance within the sport.[57]
[Bingham Cup]] inSydney in 2014, the world cup of gay rugby, and members of the Sydney Convicts, Australia's first gay rugby union club, is the first and largest study conducted on homophobia in sports.[39] It surveyed 9494 athletes with varying sexual identities (25% of whom identified as heterosexual). The survey found that 1% of the participants believed that lesbian, gay, and bisexual athletes were 'completely accepted' in sports culture, while 80% of respondents said they had witnessed or experienced homophobia in a sporting environment. The rates and occurrences of discrimination based on sexuality in sports were high, with 62% of survey respondents claiming that homophobia is more common in team sports than any other part of society. Additionally, the study found that the United States was the least LGBTQ+-inclusive country, while Canada ranked the most inclusive.[39]
The organizationInternational Gay Rugby was founded in 2000.[58] The Mark Kendall Bingham Memorial Tournament (referred to as theBingham Cup), a biennial international rugby union competition predominantly for gay and bisexual men, was established in 2002 inMark Bingham's memory.[59]
TheGay Polo League is a worldwide organization of LGBTQpolo players with members in 15 countries. It was founded in 2006 by polo player Chip McKenney.[60][61][62] It is headquartered inWellington, Florida.[60]
Prior to the2025 Women's Rugby World Cup, 40% of players were reported to have come out as queer.[63]
You Can Play is an international initiative to combat homophobia in sports.[64]
TheSydney Convicts Rugby Club was launched in 2004 as Australia's first gay rugby union men's team, and as of 2025[update] continues to go from strength to strength.[65]
Canada is home to a large LGBT sports community, having hosted theinaugural World OutGames in 2006.[66] Local organizations like Équipe Montréal, represent LGBT sport within their respective cities.[67] There is also OutSport Toronto and Team Vancouver.[68]
The firstNorth America Outgames, a gay, lesbian, bisexual and trans-gendered sports and culture event, were held inCalgary,Alberta, Canada, from April 1 to 8, 2007.[69]
Canada was also a leader in creating thePride House facilities for LGBT athletes at sporting events, organizing the first-ever Olympic Pride House whenVancouver hosted the2010 Winter Olympics.[70] Similarly, Toronto's Pride House during the2015 Pan American Games was the first time a Pride House facility was available at the Pan Ams.[71] At the2018 Olympic Games in South Korea, the Canadian athletes' pavilion also doubled as a Pride House for all LGBT athletes at the games regardless of nationality, due to South Korean organizers' reluctance to organize a Pride House of their own.[72]
In December 2013,The 519 receivedToronto City Council approval to build a sports and recreation centre focused on sport inclusion. Once built, the new centre will provide a home to Toronto's over 6,000 LGBT sport participants.[73]
On May 22, 2015, AmericanMichael Sam signed a two-year contract with theMontreal Alouettes.[74][75] The signing made him the first openly gay player in theCanadian Football League’s history.[75] On August 7, 2015, he played for theMontreal Alouettes in a game against theOttawa Redblacks, making him the first publicly gay player to play in aCanadian Football League regular season game.[76][77] However, he left the league after that one game.[18][19]
Canadian media have also often been leaders in covering the issue of homophobia in sports; in 1993,CBC Radio aired a groundbreaking hour-long documentary on LGBT sportspeople as a special episode of its sports seriesThe Inside Track.[78] Canadian filmmakers have also produced a number of notable documentary films about LGBT issues in sport, includingNoam Gonick'sTo Russia with Love (2014),[79] Michael Del Monte'sTransformer (2017)[80] andPaul-Émile d'Entremont'sStanding on the Line (2019).[81] The Canadian drama filmBreakfast with Scot, about a gay retired hockey player, was authorized by theToronto Maple Leafs to use the team's real name and logo in the film,[82] making it the first gay-themed film ever to receive this type of approval from a professional sports league.[83][84]
Canadian sports teams are active partners inYou Can Play, an international initiative to combat homophobia in sports.[48] The initiative was launched in 2012 byBrian Burke while he was general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but is active in both Canada and the United States. TheCanadian Olympic Committee also organizes #oneteam, aspeakers bureau for LGBTQ identified and supportive athletes to speak on homophobia in sports.[85]
In 2018, France hosted the 10th Gay Games, helping to raise awareness for LGBTQ+ rights.[86]
Dutee Chand, a prominent female Indian athlete, came out in 2019 when she told reporters she is in a same-sex relationship.[87] Her decision made her India's first openly gay athlete and was met by protests from her hometown, where she was declared an outcast.[87] A couple of months later, in Italy'sUniversiade in 2019, she claimed the gold medal.[88]
The first gay rugby team in Ireland,[89]Emerald Warriors RFC, was established in 2003.[90]
Ten-time national track and field winner Dennis Finnegan of Ireland came out as gay in 2020 as a guest on the Five Rings To Rule Them All podcast.[91] Finnegan expressed on the podcast that he did so to give members of the LGBTQ+ community more "confidence."[91]
The first openly gay football team in the United Kingdom isStonewall F.C., that was formed in 1991.[92] Two years earlier,Gay Football Supporters Network was formed; aGFSN National League was formed later in 2002 among GFSN members who wanted to participate in amateur competition as well as support major professional teams.[93]
The first openly gay rugby team in the world, theKings Cross Steelers, was formed in 1995 in London.[94] The first openly gay rugby team in Northern Ireland, theUlster Titans, was formed in 2007, and the first Scottish gay rugby team, theCaledonian Thebans RFC,[95] was formed in 2002.[96]
In 1996, Graces Cricket Club was organized as the first gay cricket club in the world.[97]
Ishigaki Ju Jitsu Club began in 1994 in the United Kingdom, for gay and gay-friendly people.[98]
The first decade of the 21st century saw two high-profile Welshrugby union figures come out while active. First, in 2007, international refereeNigel Owens came out.[99] Then, in 2009,Gareth Thomas, at the timethe country's most-capped player (and later arugby league international), came out. Thomas was believed to be the first professional male player in a team sport to come out while active.[100]
In 1990,Justin Fashanu became the first openly gay British footballer. He died eight years later, in 1998.[101]
The world's first LGBTQA inclusivelacrosse team, the Rainbow Rexes, of the United Kingdom, were founded in 2018.[102][103][104]
In 1975, former football playerDavid Kopay was the first professional athlete from a major team to come out.[105] After the public strongly denied Kopay's claims of other gay professional athletes, a study published in theJournal of Sex Research in February of 1977 found that around 25% of all male college athletes have had gay experiences.[106]
In 1977, theNorth American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance was formed for future gay softball teams.[107]
TheNew York Ramblers began in 1980[108] when an ad was placed in theVillage Voice to gay men who wanted to play soccer as a team called the Rambles.[109]
Glenn Burke was the firstMajor League Baseball player to come out as gay, announcing it in 1982 after he retired.[110]
In 1985, theLos Angeles Blades was organized as the first gay hockey team in the United States.[111]
In 1986, following the secondGay Games, Tony Jasinski organized the San Francisco Gay Basketball Association.[112]
In 1996,Muffin Spencer-Devlin became the firstLPGA player to come out as gay.[113]
In 1998, theWashington Renegades RFC was formed as the first gay rugby team in the United States.[114]
In 1999, theNew York City Gay Hockey Association was organized.[115]
In 2002,Sue Wicks came out as gay, making her the first openly gay person playing in theWNBA.[116]
Also in 2002, theNational Gay Flag Football League was founded by Jim Buzinski andCyd Zeigler.[117][118]
Kirk Walker came out as gay to theOregon State Beavers softball team while he was their head coach in 2005, and while still the head coach came out to the websiteOutsports in 2007.[119][120] He was the first openly gay male coach inNCAA Division I history.[121][122]
In 2006, a gay rights advocacy group, theNational Center for Lesbian Rights, accused Rene Portland of forcing playerJennifer Harris to transfer because of bias against lesbians. The advocacy group claimed that Portland was biased against lesbians for decades and cited a 1986 interview in which she claimed she talked to recruits and parents of recruits about lesbians stating, "I will not have it in my program."[46] There were also claims of Portland telling key recruits—to discourage them from attending another school—that the other team was "full of lesbians." The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court and Penn State found Portland in violation of policy. She was fined $10,000 by the university in lieu of a one-game suspension and warned that another infraction would result in the termination of her employment.[47] Rene Portland eventually resigned from her position as women's head basketball coach.[48]
In 2010, theDC Gay Flag Football League was founded,[123] joining two dozen other teams as part of theNational Gay Flag Football League.[124]
In 2013, soccer'sRobbie Rogers came out as gay.[125] Later in 2013, Robbie Rogers became the first openly gay man to compete in a top North American professional sports league when he played his first match for theLA Galaxy.[126][127][128]
Also in 2013,Jason Collins came out as gay;[125] in 2014, he played for theBrooklyn Nets of theNBA, making him the first openly gay athlete to play in any of the four major North American professional sports leagues.[129][130][131]
In the 2014NFL draft, theSt. Louis Rams draftedMichael Sam in the seventh round, the 249th of 256 players selected,[132] which made him the first openly gay player to be drafted into the NFL.[133][134] However, on August 30, St. Louis released Sam as part of a final round of cuts to reduce their roster to the league-mandated 53 players before the start of the regular season.[135][136]
Also in 2014,Division III playerConner Mertens came out as bisexual in January 2014, becoming the first active college football player at any level to publicly come out as bisexual or gay.[137][138] In August 2014,Arizona State playerChip Sarafin became the first publicly out activeDivision I player when he came out as gay.[139]
UmpireDale Scott came out as gay in 2014, becoming the first active openly gay official in the MLB, NBA, NFL or NHL.[140]
Also in 2014, shortly after the end of the season, sophomore starting guardDerrick Gordon of theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst came out as gay, making him the firstDivision I men's basketball player to do so while still playing in college.[141] Later that year, still playing for theUniversity of Massachusetts Amherst, he became the first openly gay player in Division I to play in a men's basketball game.[142]
In 2015,Sean Conroy became the first openly gay active professional baseball player, while playing for theSonoma Stompers[143] of theindependent baseball league called thePacific Association.[144][145]
Later in 2015,David Denson, while playing for theHelena Brewers, aminor league team affiliated with theMilwaukee Brewers, became the first active player in affiliated professional baseball to come out as gay.[146][147]
Jesse Taylor, a basketball player atDakota Wesleyan University, came out as gay in 2015, making himSouth Dakota's first openly gay college athlete.[148]
Also in 2015,Bryant University assistant basketball coach Chris Burns came out as gay, making him the first openly gay coach inNCAA Division I men's basketball.[149]
In 2016, as a player forSeton Hall University,Derrick Gordon became the first openly gay man to play in theMarch Madness tournament.[150]
In 2017,Scott Frantz became the first openly gay college football player to play in a game for anNCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision school.[151]
In 2018,Tadd Fujikawa came out as gay, becoming the first male professional golfer to do so.[152][153]
Also in 2018,Todd Harrity came out as gay, thus becoming the first openly gay professional male squash player in the world. At the time he was ranked No. 1 in the United States out of all male squash players.[154][155]
Also in 2018, Bradley Kim of theUnited States Air Force Academy came out as gay, thus becoming the first openly gay football player to play for any military academy in the United States; open homosexuality was forbidden in the U.S. Armed Forces until 2011.[156] That same year, Division II Wyatt Pertuset ofCapital University became the first openly gay college player to score a touchdown.[157][158]
Also in 2018,Abrahm DeVine, a swimmer forStanford University, came out as gay, making him one of "very few openly gay swimmers competing on the elite level."[159][160][161] In September 2019, DeVine said he was dropped from the Stanford team due tohomophobia, which team coaches denied in a statement which did not include why they took the action.[162][163][164]
In June 2021,Carl Nassib, then of theLas Vegas Raiders, became the first active NFL player to come out as gay.[165] He later became the first openly gay player in an NFL playoff game on January 15, 2022.[166][167]
In July 2021,Luke Prokop, who was drafted by theNashville Predators in the2020 NHL Entry Draft, became the first active player signed to aNational Hockey League contract to come out as gay.[168] On November 17, 2023, Prokop became the first openly gay player in theAmerican Hockey League's history, by making his first appearance in a game as a player for theMilwaukee Admirals.[169]
In 2022, Byron Perkins ofHampton University came out as gay, making him the first openly gay football player at anyhistorically black college or university.[170][171]
