Sunday, September 25, 2011

The NFL makes Sexual Orientation a Protected Class


The sports world is coming around. The NFL has put sexual orientation on its list of protected classes. So now an athlete can come out and not feel threaten that he could get fired.
A new collective bargaining agreement from the NFL Players Association states that, "There will be no discrimination in any form against any player by the Management Council, any Club or by the NFLPA because of race, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, or activity or lack of activity on behalf of the NFLPA."


Olsen discovered the change after comparing the latest version of the agreement to the last one in 2006, which didn't include the words, "sexual orientation." The new agreement was ratified by the players on August 4 and signed by the commissioner the next day. It lasts until 2021.


Three former NFL players have come out after leaving the sport behind — Esera Tuaolo in 2002, Roy Simmons in 1992, and David Kopay in 1975. But none has lived openly while still playing.
This is a good move for the NFL.


source

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Kudos to the NFL for this. I think they saw the inevitable writing on the wall and figured now was the time to acknowledge that they probably do have gay players out there.

Look, by pure numbers there are a lot of gay people in sports. Statistics bear it out too.

Anonymous said...

I'm glad this finally happened. Jerry Smith, one of the best tight ends (no pun intended) to ever play the game, died of AIDS and stayed in the closet his whole life.

I hope I never see that happen again to another NFL player.

Bob said...

Wow. Very interesting.

apitt said...

I am proud of the NFL for taking this step forward. It's about time.

Kyle Leach said...

About time. Good for them. Hoping this has a domino effect for other sports leagues V.

Unknown said...

Good stuff

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Viktor is a small town southern boy living in Los Angeles. You can find him on Twitter, writing about pop culture, politics, and comics. He’s the creator of the graphic novel StrangeLore and currently getting back into screenwriting.