ESPN Search

Organizers and participants committed to fighting for the inclusion of LGBT athletes at every level, from pros to rec leagues

It's easy to ask simplistic questions when an athlete comes out. It's much harder to have honest and respectful conversations about sex, love, intimacy and religion. We've failed to do this many times. Let's start now.

In ESPN The Magazine's Taboo Issue, LZ Granderson writes that by purporting to respect athlete privacy by avoiding talk of sexuality, writers are actually perpetuating the stigma and failing to move the issue forward.

Jason Collins is broadening the conversation about gay athletes, and that's a great thing, says Will Sheridan, who came out publicly after his playing days at Villanova.

Rick Reilly recounts the story of baseball's Glenn Burke, who painfully paved the way for Jason Collins as a gay professional athlete more than 30 years ago.

This week began with NBA player Jason Collins rocking the sports world by announcing he is gay and continued with the unlikely entrance of former Green Bay Packers safety LeRoy Butler into the issue. Now let me pass along Ian O'Connor's well-repor...

Vince Lombardi, whose brother was gay, would've been proud of Jason Collins.

PHOENIX -- Worldviews are regional. Your thoughts on a subject are undoubtedly influenced by where you are from and the people who raised you and your lifelong associations. That can be good news and bad news. And, of course, it can get complicated. ...

Major U.S. men's sports leagues have been preparing for the moment when an active player announces he's gay. It was never a matter of if, but when.

What exactly does it mean to be an openly gay athlete? Well, the recent news surrounding Brittney Griner shows the changing dialogue around gay athletes in sports.

Thursday marked an historic day in hockey, as the NHL and NHL Players' Association announced a partnership with You Can Play, an organization founded to eliminate homophobia in sports and create a safe environment for gay athletes. As participants...

In a video interview with HuffPost Live, Phil Jackson is asked whether sports organizations and players need to be more inclusive of gay athletes. Jackson, who played 12 seasons in the NBA and coached for 20, winning 11 championships along the way...

A couple of weeks ago, Kenneth Faried signed on as an Athlete Ally, the first NBA player to do so. Athlete Ally is an advocacy organization that supports dialogue and awareness that will make the sports world more inclusive toward gay athletes. It wa...

If ever there were a year for a pioneering gay athlete to come out, 2011 was it. But Howard Bryant writes that league commissioners like Roger Goodell and Bud Selig must first pave the way for openness in sports.

Hall of Famer Charles Barkley is certain he played with gay teammates on two or three teams during his basketball career -- and says it didn't bother him a bit.

LZ Granderson speaks to a gay professional athlete who is considering coming out of the closet.