(And he's coming to Cologne...)Brian Sims
Residence: Philadephia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Sport: U.S. Football
At a glance:
In 2000, Brian Sims was the captain of the Bloomsburg University football team in northeast Pennsylvania. In the middle of the greatest season in the Division II school’s history, he did the unthinkable: he came out of the closet! In doing so, the regional All-American and team captain became the only openly gay college football captain in NCAA history and the most notable college player to ever come out.
Following a trip to the National Championship, and after 12 seasons of winning football, Sims, a high school and college football champion, packed up his cleats and went to law school. Now, nine years after his record-setting season, Sims is an LGBT advocate and successful policy attorney, living and working in Philadelphia.
His story was detailed recently by OutSports and he became an instant celebrity. To date, Sims’ story has been featured by Gay.com, TheAdvocate.com, and numerous newspapers, prompting literally hundreds of personal responses from athletes, coaches, parents and allies in over 30 states and 15 countries!
Brian told the FGG “I'm so proud of the years I spent playing football and the teammates that I had during those years. Having this opportunity handed to me to let people know that, is something I'm really excited to do.
The truth is that most Americans, especially those under 30, are so incredibly tolerant and understanding of LGBT civil rights and it's just a matter of letting them know that their peers feel the same way. Interestingly, only 1/3rd of young people think that their peers are as accepting of LGBT civil rights as they are, when in reality, it's an overwhelming majority.
According to Brian, “having the opportunity to look people in the eyes, especially young people, and say ‘hey thanks for the support so far, now tell your friends why you're so supportive. Oh, and they already agree with you, too’ is a pretty great message to get to spread.”
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