LGBTQ Icons In Sports History

Source: Joe Robbins / Getty

It’s 2019, and there’s not one openly LGBTQ player in the NBA or NFL. But all of that may change starting today. Former Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive end Ryan Russell bravely came out as bisexual in a recent interview with ESPN.com. The 27-year old NFL vet said in the interview:

“My truth is that I’m a talented football player, a damn good writer, a loving son, an overbearing brother, a caring friend, a loyal lover, and a bisexual man. Out of love, admiration and respect, I want the next team to sign me valuing me for what I do and knowing who I truly am.”

Russell’s openness has garnered him much love and respect from fans and folks on social media.

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Then there are the others.

https://twitter.com/dallascowboyz27/status/1167119952165396481

But thankfully, the others aren’t  powerful enough to stop Ryan Russell from being free. And they certainly couldn’t stop the brave men and women throughout sports history who risked their careers by coming out as LGBT or Q.

Hit the flip to check out all the heroic men and women in sports who blazed the trail for athletes like Russell.

Billie Jean King

King became the first prominent female athlete to come out as gay in 1981.

Caitlyn Jenner

Assigned male at birth, Caitlyn Jenner publicly came out as a trans woman in April 2015.

Michael Sam

In 2014, Sam became the first publicly gay player to be drafted in the NFL.

Sheryl Swoopes

In 2005, the WNBA champ came out publicly as a lesbian, making her the highest-profile team sport athlete (at the time) to come out while playing.

Jason Collins

After the 2012–13 NBA season concluded, Collins publicly came out as gay. He became a free agent and did not play again until February 2014, when he signed with the Nets and became the first openly gay athlete to play in any of four major North American pro sports leagues.

Glenn Burke

In 1977, Burke became the first MLB player to come out as gay to teammates and team owners during his professional career and the first to publicly acknowledge it,stating, “They can’t ever say now that a gay man can’t play in the majors, because I’m a gay man and I made it.”