LGBTQ+ athletes who helped break down barriers in sport

While homosexuality and queer identification is far more accepted in general society now, the world of sports has been a little behind when it comes to gay tolerence.

That being said, things are catching up and we have more openly gay atheletes competing in the world than ever before.

But of course, there’s been some notable trailblazers in this field as well. Let’s take a look at some of today’s current and former openly gay athletes who have helped change public perception. 

On May 1, 1981, tennis legend Billie Jean King made history by becoming the first prominent professional female athlete to publicly come out about her homosexuality.

Unfortutely, it was not on exactly on her terms as her former secretary filed a palimony case case against King, claiming she has been in a relationship with the 12 time grand slam winner and was entitled financial support following their break up.

Rumours had circulated for many years at this point, and King even denied publicly denied in an interview for Playboy in 1975, but this time she opted to come out.

“I said: I’m going to do it. I don't care. This is important to me to tell the truth.’” King said in reflection of the event to NBC news in 2017. “The one thing my mother always said, ‘To thine own self be true.’”

As one of the hard men of rugby league in Australia, Ian Roberts caused a major stir in 1995 when he came out as gay. Not only was it a first for the professional sport, and hard contact sports in general, but his uber-tough on-field persona was really at odds with society’s perception of gay men at the time.

It wasn’t excatly an easy process for Roberts either. The rugby league supporting public and media weren’t exactly kind at the time and the Manly Sea Eagles prop had to endure a torrent of abuse from fans at games at the time, including at least one occasion when he was violently attacked by a spectator.

“I used to feel for my mum and dad at games because people would scream out – I was worried they had to hear that but there are certain things you can’t protect your family from," Roberts said on his experience coming out in the 90s to starobserver.com.au.

Still, Roberts continued to be a gay rights activist in his home country and helped change the perception of homosexuality for a generation of sports fans.

In more accepting times, Jakub Jankto – a midfielder for the Czech Republic National Football Team made headlines on Valenties Day 2023 when he announced he was gay over social media.

“Hi I am Jakub Jankto. Like everybody else, I have my strengths, I have my weaknesses, I have a family, I have my friends. I have a job which I have been doing as best as I can for years, with seriousness, professionalism and passion,” he said on his video shared on Twitter.

“Like everybody else, I also want to live my life in freedom without fears, without prejudice, without violence - but with love. I am homosexual and I no longer want to hide myself.”

Jankto currently plays for AC Sparta Prague and is the most high profile gay man playing association footall professionally. His message has received an outpouring of public support, from former team mates to the English Premier League.

American Football is sport full of bravado and machismo, so it should be no surprise that it took until 2014 to see a gay man playing in the NFL. And Michael Sam chose to come out to the public in the most sensational fashion.

The defensive end revealed just after the 2014 NFL draft that he was gay: "I am an openly, proud gay man," Sam said, as reported by NFL.com

He had been open about his sexuality prior, however, and told his University of Missouri teammates that he was gay in an introductary session in 2013, and found them supportive. Spurred on by this support, he decided to make a more public statement a few months down the line.

Almost five years later, Ryan Russell caused just as big of stir when he came out as bisexual, though the circumstances were a little different. A former defensive end for both the Cowboys and the Buccaneers, Russell wasn’t playing at the time, but wanted to his platform to speak on the issue.

Even though openly LGBTQ people are thriving in every area of public life — politics, entertainment, the top corporations in America — they are so invisible in pro sports that a gossip blogger is doing a favor for a bisexual football player by not disclosing that he happens to date men,” Russell’s essay read.

“Nobody should need a favor to live honestly. In nobody’s world should being careful mean not being yourself. The career you choose shouldn’t dictate the parts of yourself that you embrace.” 

Moving to the world of basketball, in 2013 the NBA saw their first openly gay player come out in Jason Paul Collins – a first for professional team sports in America at the time.

A center for the Washington Wizards at the time, Collins broke the news in a Sports Illustrated article, writing, “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.

“I didn’t set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I’m happy to start the conversation,” he said. “I wish I wasn’t the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, ‘I’m different.’ If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I’m raising my hand.” 

Just one year later, Collins retired from the NBA after 13 seasons in the league.

One of the most well known gay activists right now would have to be Megan Rapinoe, the captain of the US National Soccer Team who led them to a FIFA World Cup title in 2019. She publicly came out in the July 2012 edition of 'Out' magazine, stating that she had been in a relationship with Australian soccer player Sarah Walsh since 2009.

“I think female athletes, in general, are at the forefront of every protest in general because we’re gay, we’re women, we’re women of color, we’re sort of everything all at one time,” Rapinoe said of her experience in 2019, as reported by NBC News.

 “We’re unfortunately constantly being oppressed in some sort of way. So I feel like us just being athletes, us just being at the pinnacle of our game is kind of a protest in a way and is sort of defiant in and of itself,” she said at the time.

When the news broke in June of 2021, many were shocked. Defensive end Carl Nassib announced he was gay via a social media post, before also explaining that he had donated $100,000 to The Trevor Project – an organization that focuses on harm prevention in LGBTQ youth.

“I just want to take a quick moment to say that I’m gay,” Nassib said in the video posted to twitter. “I just think that representation and visibility are so important. I actually hope that like one day videos like this and the whole coming-out process are just not necessary, but until then I’m going to do my best and my part to cultivate a culture that’s accepting, that’s compassionate.”

Nassib joined the Browns and would enjoy stints with the Bucs, and the Raiders, where he officially came out in 2021 – making him the is the first openly gay active player in the league. Nassib would retire in 2023 at the start of the 23/24 season.