VISIBILITY OF PRO PLAYERS COMING OUT There has never been a “Stonewall Uprising” moment that has allowed LGBTQ+ athletes to feel safe and comfortable coming out en masse. But looking at the graph below you can see that 2013, the year Jason Collins came out and received both public and private support for his courageous decision, the list of out athletes began to grow, many of them becoming vocal advocates for change and acceptance. In honor of Pride Bowl all football players names are in red. Professional Athletes Come Out EARLY 1970s • Dr. Tom Waddell is out Olympic decathlete who founds Gay Games based on Olympic Games; 1st Games held in San Francisco 1975 •D ave Kopay is 1st NFL player outed by newspaper article quoting unnamed NFL player as its source 1977 • Tennis pro Renée Richards comes out as transgender woman 1981 • Tennis superstar Billie Jean King outed when ex-lover files palimony suit; King pushes for gender equality & equal pay; 1973 defeats Bobby Riggs in famous Battle of the Sexes; 1974 establishes Women’s Sports Foundation • Tennis great Martina Navratilova comes out as bisexual 1988 • Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis outed as both gay & HIV-positive when hits his head & bleeds into water at Seoul Olympics; 2016 poses for ESPN’s Body Issue 1992 • NFL player Roy Simmons retires; comes out as gay 1999 • Billy Bean retires from baseball; is 1st pro MLB player to come out; 2014 becomes MLB’s 1st Ambassador for Inclusion; 2016 becomes VP of social responsibility & inclusion; now VP & advisor to MLB Commissioner
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2002 •R etired NFL player Esera Tualolo comes out as gay; active advocate with Vikings & NFL for LGBTQ+ community inclusion; 2014 honored with Compete Sports Diversity’s Legacy Award 2003 •T railblazer pro soccer player Joanna Lohman comes out while active; 1st female sports envoy for U.S. Dept. of State; works with empowering women & girls through soccer worldwide; 2019 retires from pro ranks, will continue local/worldwide advocacy work 2005 •W NBA star Sheryl Swoopes comes out as lesbian while active player; 2011 gets engaged to a man & marries in 2017 but never admits to being bisexual 2007 •J ohn Amaechi, OBE becomes 1st NBA player to come out after retiring from game 2009 •R ep. Brian Sims, D-Pa, captain of Div. 1 football team at Bloomsburg Univ. comes out as gay to teammates, coach & administration; 2012 becomes first openly gay elected legislator in Pa. history •W elshman Gareth Thomas comes out as gay while still playing professional rugby 2010 •T riathlete Chris Mosier comes out as transgender man; 2013 honored as Compete Sports Diversity’s Athlete of the Year; 2015 becomes first openly trans man to earn spot on Team USA in his identified gender; 2016 is 1st openly trans man in ESPN’s Body Issue; 2018 becomes 1st openly trans athlete to appear in Nike’s Unlimited Courage ad premiering during NBC's primetime coverage of Sochi Olympic games •K ye Allums comes out as transgender man; without hormone replacement becomes first trans man to play on women’s team in NCAA Div. 1 basketball history
22 COMPETE 2019 Pride Bowl Special Edition
