Dan Woog writes on how Hudson Taylor became an Athlete Ally

From Dan Woog in Seattle Gay News:

Hudson Taylor is not Gay. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

But three years ago, when the University of Maryland wrestler put a Human Rights Campaign sticker on his headgear, some people wondered about his sexuality.

Taylor didn't care. He was more concerned about sending a strong show of support to the Gay community. For him, the medium - sports - was an appropriate means for an important message.

Taylor admits he had 'zero exposure' to Gay people growing up. 'I started wrestling when I was 6,' he recalls. 'All my friends were other wrestlers. I didn't think the LGBT world pertained to me.'

But in middle school he sang in a choir. At Blair Academy in New Jersey he performed in musicals and plays. 'No one was out when I was there, but homophobic comments of my friends - and me - always got corrected,' he says. He lived in two worlds - 'jock and thespian' - and his horizons broadened.

The HRC sticker was his first act of public advocacy. It attracted plenty of attention, and in February of his senior year the Outsports website interviewed him. To Taylor's surprise, 2,000 e-mails poured in. Many came from closeted young athletes. 'It was jaw-dropping,' Taylor says. 'About half of them made me cry.' For the first time, he realized the power of allies to make a difference.

Read more about Hudson Taylor and Athlete Ally

Sean Avery joins Athlete Ally board

News from Athlete Ally:

Athlete Ally, a non-profit organization dedicated to challenging homophobia in sports, is pleased to announce that Sean Avery has joined the board of directors. Avery, a former NHL player and New York Ranger, will help further the mission of Athlete Ally by encouraging more straight athletes to start speaking out against homophobia in athletics.

“With few athletes feeling comfortable or safe enough to come out, a professional athlete ally like Sean Avery can make all the difference,” said Hudson Taylor, Athlete Ally Founder and Executive Director. “We look forward to working with Sean to make sport a space for everyone and empowering athletes everywhere to start using their voice as athlete allies.”


Keep reading HERE.

Hudson Taylor video interview on bullying

Watch Athlete Ally's Hudson Taylor discuss bullying with Steph Watts.

Hudson Taylor nominated for GQ magazine award

From The Gentlemen's Fund website, the nomination profile of Athlete Ally's Hudson Taylor:


Hudson Taylor, the founding Executive Director of Athlete Ally, is a competing athlete and Division I college wrestling coach at Columbia University. Committed to civil rights and social justice, Hudson wore a Human Rights Campaign sticker on his wrestling headgear in college to show solidarity — as a heterosexual athlete ally — with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. This single act drew media attention around the country and prompted thousands of inspiring, personal messages.

With this encouragement, Hudson became committed to speaking louder as advocate and founded the non-profit organization, Athlete Ally. He was recently honored for his work by PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays). Hudson is also a blogger for the Huffington Post and was recognized by the publication as "Person of the Day" on April 8, 2011. He continually fights to end homophobia and transphobia in a wholesome and respectful manner in order to appeal to both male and female members of the sports community as well as to its most conservative and religious participants.

Athlete Ally is a non-profit sports resource encouraging all individuals involved in sports to respect every member of their communities, regardless of perceived or actual sexual-orientation, gender identity or expression, and to lead others in doing the same. Athlete Ally provides social advocacy campaigns, on-campus trainings, and practical tools, including resources to locate and learn about allied athletes, coaches, teams, athletic clubs and sports-based advocacy projects around the country.

NCAA features Hudson Taylor and Athlete Ally

Hudson Taylor made the home page of the NCAA website! The NCAA is the governing body for university sport in the USA. Here's their report on his work:

How does the best wrestler in the room wind up getting bullied?

How does a 197-pound titan become the butt of locker room jokes? How is a three-time All-American excluded, his cause so unwelcomed by teammates that they hide his headgear?

The gay jokes. The homophobic slurs, those comments uttered so habitually on the practice mats that no one stops to notice what they actually mean or whom they hurt. They stung Hudson Taylor.

Wear an equal rights sticker on your helmet during a match and we’ll have a hard time cheering for you, some of his Maryland teammates warned. Their words clawed at Taylor, tore at him the way their words tore at so many athletes never bold enough to speak out before. He wondered if by taking this stance he was actually hindering his cause, if his teammates were becoming more homophobic simply because he asked them not to be.

“Sometimes, 18- to 22-year-old young men don’t realize how much an impact their words have,” said Maryland wrestling coach Kerry McCoy. “Hudson brought that issue to the forefront for our team.”

Keep reading HERE.

Hudson Taylor calls for an "Athletic Equality Index"

Hudson Taylor has a new essay on the Huffington Post:

In the wake of Houston Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark's suspension from Major League Soccer for using a homophobic slur on the field, it is clear that professional sports teams are beginning to take lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) equality and allyship seriously. Homophobia that would have passed as an unfortunate part of athletic culture a few years ago is now being treated with the weight and severity it warrants. Though Clark's suspension is meaningful, such penalties can only advance our athletic culture so far.

As an athlete and coach, I have seen, with rare exception, that maximizing positive outcomes means balancing punishment with empowerment, and systems to discourage with systems to encourage. While suspensions and fines help to define what type of conduct is expected of professional athletes, they do little to change the overarching narrative that sport snubs LGBT coaches, athletes, and fans. Furthermore, because these penalties occur as isolated incidences without a structure or system for understanding them in relation to one another, their effect on LGBT empowerment is limited. In turn, professional sports need a multidimensional model for assessing, amplifying, and institutionalizing LGBT allyship in a way that celebrates progress as much as it discourages prejudice.

The Human Rights Campaign figured this out 10 years ago in the business world, when they implemented the Corporate Equality Index (CEI). What began with only 13 participating companies has launched into an equality arms race, with 10 of the top 20 Fortune-500 companiesnow receiving perfect marks. Today, high-scoring companies even brand themselves by their CEI scores, showcasing the HRC logo on website homepages. These companies care how their clients, customers, and employees perceive them on LGBT inclusivity and equality and are willing to make policy and procedural improvements based on those perceptions.

Keep reading HERE.

5 May 2012 / Premiere of "Legalize Gay" on LOGO, featuring Gay Games Ambassador Brian Sims

"Legalize Gay" - co-produced with Rogue Culture Productions and Logo television - is a documentary that captures the courage and conviction of a new generation of activists -- gay and straight -- as they campaign for LGBT equality in marriage, non-discrimination in sports and at work, same-sex sex education, standing up to bullying and forging inclusive college campuses. They often take these stands in parts of the country hostile to gay and lesbian rights. A movie by Christopher Hines.

The film features Gay Games Ambassador Brian Sims, as well as athlete allies Hudson Taylor and Ben Cohen.

www.legalizegaymovie.com

Premieres on MTV's Logo network, 8 p.m., Saturday, May 5, 2012

UCLA newspaper reports on visit from Hudson Taylor

UCLA student newspaper The Daily Bruin reports on Hudson Taylor's recent visit for Athlete Ally:

Hidden in a crowded audience of UCLA student-athletes, two male athletes laughed and joked that the presenter speaking in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights was “so gay.”

An earshot away sat Jordan, a UCLA basketball player who identifies as gay and whose real name is not disclosed out of a request for anonymity.

These comments stood in contrast to the words of Hudson Taylor, a former All-American wrestler and current coach at Columbia University, who came to UCLA on Monday night to promote Athlete Ally, an organization that advocates for acceptance of LGBT athletes. Taylor is a “straight ally,” a heterosexual who has openly taken a stance against homophobia in the locker room.

Taylor urged the audience of athletes to refrain from using derogatory homophobic phrases such as “That is so gay” and “He’s such a fag” in the locker room.

“I was really disappointed in some of the comments from the crowd – the lack of character and disrespect that was shown,” Jordan said.

As part of the quarterly Wooden Academy Leadership and Development Program sponsored by UCLA Athletics, the event was mandatory for all first-year and transfer student-athletes.

“This was something new to me, I wasn’t quite aware of what was going on. I have a lot of respect for (Taylor), for what he is doing,” said Xavier Su’a-Filo, a sophomore offensive tackle on UCLA’s football team.

Around 200 student-athletes attended the event; however, Su’a-Filo and Jerry Neuheisel, Su’a-Filo’s teammate and a freshman quarterback, reluctantly said that the mandatory nature of the event was the reason they attended. When Ally Week assistant director Cyrus Sinai thanked the audience for attending, a few mutters of “It’s mandatory” floated around Collins Court.

But other student-athletes were willing to show their support of the LGBT community as an Athlete Ally. Throughout last week and after Monday night’s presentation, athletes were invited to participate in photo shoots.

Keep reading HERE.

16 April 2012 / Hudson Taylor meets Athlete Allies at UCLA

From Outsports:

UCLA fights homophobia in athletic department with Hudson Taylor
Apr 16th, 2012 by Cyd Zeigler jr..

UCLA, with one of the most storied athletic departments in the NCAA, has embraced the fight against homophobia in sports with a full Athlete Ally initiative including a visit from Hudson Taylor on Monday. For the last week, varsity and club-sport athletes have taken part in an ally photo shoot. Participating in the shoots have been members of the track & field, lacrosse, water polo, swimming, hockey, softball and basketball teams.

On Monday, Taylor will visit with coaches before speaking with UCLA athletes at 5:30pm; A program open to the entire student body starts at 8pm. You can find out the when and where below, or on the UCLA Athlete Ally Facebook page.

Keph Senett on campaigns against homophobia in sport

In Xtra.ca, Keph Senett asks if campaigns are having an impact on homophobia in sport in Canada and beyond:

While more professional athletes have come out of the closet in the past year than in the past decade, an expert on homophobia in professional sports says it is still the last great bastion of institutionalized homophobia.

In 2011, dozens of athletes publicly came out across a spectrum of disciplines, ranging from swimming to cycling to soccer. Momentum gathered as several high-profile organizational figures — such as Phoenix Suns president Rick Welts and ESPN radio host Jared Max — followed suit, and straight allies like wrestler Hudson Taylor, of the Athlete Ally foundation, and rugby player Ben Cohen, who founded the StandUp Foundation, helped put the anti-homophobia message on the international agenda.

The same year, Major League Baseball got involved at the franchise level when the San Francisco Giants participated in Dan Savage’s It Gets Better project, and by the end of the season a total of eight MLB teams had produced videos for the campaign.

Former basketballer Charles Barkley was vocal in his ondemnation of homophobia in sports, and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network ran its Think B4 You Speak campaign on television during a National Basketball Association game in May.

Gains were made even in the world of soccer, which has been heavily criticized for its lack of organizational support for an anti-homophobia strategy. In 2011, the United Kingdom’s The Justin Campaign, which advocates against homophobia in the sport, secured official endorsements from both The Football Association and the Union of European Football Associations.

Indeed, if a spectator dropped in for the 2011 sports season only, it seems likely that he or she might conclude that homophobia in sport is an antiquated issue, a throwback to a different, less enlightened time.

But according to Caroline Fusco, an associate professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education at the University of Toronto, professional sport remains a stronghold of homophobic attitudes.

“Sport as a space has been one that has really been there for the production of a certain kind of hyper-masculinity. Particularly when you think of pro sports, the big ones: hockey, football, baseball. These all tie in to the rugged notion of masculinity, and these attitudes remain — that gay men aren’t masculine,” she says.

Strategies like Brian and Patrick Burke’s You Can Play campaign, which is aimed at the National Hockey League, are trying to change that. Advocates go after the highest-profile names they can secure to create messaging that challenges that notion.

It’s an effective method. The events of 2011 seem to suggest a sea change in the sporting culture. But is the endorsement or coming out of a collection of high-profile sports figures a reasonable measure of the state of homophobia in sport? Is it the best way to tackle homophobia?

Marc Naimark, vice-president of external affairs for the Federation of Gay Games (FGG), seems to think not. “The Federation of Gay Games [has] continued to offer opportunities for LGBT athletes to be active in sport in a safe environment while engaging straight athletes in clubs or at sports competitions,” he says. “When we consider sheer numbers, that is far more significant than the elusive out pro athlete.”

Keep reading HERE.

Share your story of witnessing homophobia in sport with Athlete Ally

A message from Hudson Taylor of Athlete Ally:

March 11, 2012

Maya Angelou once said: "there is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you." Reflecting on how this quote pertains to combating homophobia in sports, it occurred to me that I haven't heard nearly enough stories about other people's experiences with anti-LGBT prejudice in athletics. If we are going to do everything we can to help our athletic communities move in the right direction, we must first gain an understanding of where they are coming from.

To accomplish this, I am gathering as many untold stories as possible. I am seeking athletes, coaches, parents, and fans to tell the world about their experiences in or perceptions of athletics. What do lockerrooms look and sound like across the country? What homophobic and transphobic language and experiences have you witnessed on and off the playing field?

I believe that collecting and telling these stories will help empower more allies to take a stand and help end homophobia in sports. If you have ever experienced or witnessed homophobia in athletics, please share your story with me at hudson@athleteally.org . Also, each story will be shared annonymously to protect those who wish to participate. Please limit your story to 1000 words.

As always thank you for spreading the word and continuing to help advocate for the respect and inclusion or all.

Together,
Hudson

Athlete Ally to partner with NCAA

A message from Hudson Taylor from Athlete Ally about a new partnership with the National Collegiate Athletics Association, the governing body for university sport in the USA:


I'm proud to announce that the NCAA Department of Inclusion is an official partner of Athlete Ally.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to speak at the annual NCAA convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. While there, I got the chance to speak to student-athletes representing Division I, II, and III athletics. I used this as an opportunity to talk about the importance of LGBT allyship in sports and share what Athlete Ally is doing to combat homophobia and transphobia across the country. As a result of this presentation, the NCAA logo will soon be added to the Athlete Ally homepage. This is a true testament to the difference we are making.

Also, in the coming weeks I will be talking to the NCAA about how they can better serve the LGBT community within college athletics. If you have any ideas about what the NCAA or Athlete Ally can do differently, please reach out. The more ideas brought to the table the better!

Stay tuned as we continue to build on this important relationship and work with our friends at the NCAA to advance equality and respect on and off the playing field.

Sports personalities feature high on Campus Pride's "Hot List" of 25 top speakers for student events

From Campus Pride:

Campus Pride officially releases the 2011 HOT LIST! The list represents our "Top 25 LGBT Favorites" -- lecturers, comedians, musicians. poets, artists, researchers, activists and more. Every year Campus Pride picks the most diverse, provocative, inspiring and enlightening artists/speakers as a resource for your LGBT student organization. The purpose is to provide a recommendation of the BEST OF THE BEST in planning your campus events and activities.

The artists/speakers listed are not only our SIZZLING HOT PICKS but they also rate highly among recommendations from LGBT young adults at colleges and universities across the country. If you want to create change -- PICK FROM OUR TOP 25 LGBT FAVORITES!

BURNING HOT: Learn more about each artist/speaker and don't forget to mention the Campus Pride HOT LIST!

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On the list you'll find speakers such as:

Ben Cohen, MBE
Campus Pride Hot Tag -- Speaker/Lecturer, Sports

Ben Cohen, MBE, is an England Rugby World Cup champion, and among the world’s greatest athletes. He ranks second in all-time scoring for England, and first among straight professional athletes to focus his philanthropic efforts for the benefit of the LGBT community. In May 2011, Cohen founded the StandUp Foundation, Inc., the world’s first foundation dedicated to raising awareness of the long-term, damaging effects of bullying. The StandUp Foundation funds those doing real-world work to stop bullying, regardless of to whom it happens. Because lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people are often targeted by bullies, the foundation gives particular attention to this community. Cohen and his foundation considers removing homophobia from sports as central to his personal mission.

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Hudson Taylor
Campus Pride Hot Tag -- Speaker/Lecturer, Sports

Hudson Taylor is a competing athlete and Division I college wrestling coach at Columbia University. He graduated from the University of Maryland as a Division I three-time All-American wrestler in 2010 and currently ranks among the top-five pinners in NCAA history. Hudson grew up in an Evangelical Christian family with missionary roots. Committed to civil rights and social justice, Hudson wore a Human Rights Campaign sticker on his wrestling headgear in college to show solidarity — as a heterosexual athlete ally — with the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community. This single act drew media attention around the country and prompted thousands of inspiring, personal messages. With this encouragement, Hudson became committed to speaking louder as an athlete ally and created the Athlete Ally Pledge and Whydoyoufight.org blog to gather support from athletes and advocates around the country.

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LZ Granderson
Campus Pride Hot Tag -- Speaker/Lecturer, Sports

LZ Granderson is a senior writer and columnist for ESPN the Magazine and ESPN.com, as well as a regular contributor for ESPN’s Sports Center, Outside the Lines and First Take. A member of the National Association of Black Journalists, Mr. Granderson was a Columbia University Hechinger Institute Fellow, a 2009 GLAAD Award winner for online journalism and won first place in the opinion writing category for the 2008 Excellence in Journalism awards given by the National Lesbian Gay Journalist Association. He recently ignited an intense national community debate with his op ed piece, "Gay is not the new black" on CNN.com.

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Brian Sims
Campus Pride Hot Tag -- Speaker/Lecturer, Sports, Politics

In 2000, Brian Sims was the captain of the Bloomsburg University football team in northeast Pennsylvania, and following 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. Sims is currently running for the Pennsylvania State House and was formerly the Staff Counsel for Policy & Planning at The Philadelphia Bar Association. In addition to his practice, Sims serves as the former President of the Board of Directors of EqualityPA and as the Chairman of GALLOP (Gay & Lesbian Lawyers of Philadelphia). In 2009 he was selected as a State Political Leaders Fellow by the Center for Progressive Leadership and joined the National Campaign Board of The Victory Fund. He also travels and speaks about his experiences in college level athletics for LGBT students and allies.

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Michael Holtz
Campus Pride Hot Tag -- Lecturer/Speaker, Sports

Michael Holtz is an inspirational public speaker, inspiring people how to live their best lives and to embrace their uniqueness, empower themselves, and enrich the lives of others. He is also the founder and race director for the Swim for Equality series which has a race in June from Swim for Equality from Alcatraz in San Francisco Bay and in September 24 in Malibu, California. Through it all, Michael has trained, competed and achieved numerous prestigious honors to date. These include: Compete magazine's Athlete of the Year; Mr. Gay USA 2011; and first runner-up Mr. Gay World 2011. International Olympic and US springboard diving legend Greg Louganis describes Michael as, "A very committed, young, energetic man and a wonderful role model for what is good in the LGBT Community in Sports and Awareness.

Behind-the-scenes video of Hudson Taylor-Ben Cohen photo shoot for Out

Hudson Taylor on the coaching closet

Hudson Taylor writes on the situation of LGBT coaches on the Huffington Post:


One year ago I started Athlete Ally, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in an effort to educate and empower straight allies in sports to speak out against homophobia and transphobia. We began at a pivotal moment filled with promise for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. We saw more players come out, teams speak out, and allies take a stand than at any other time in history. But for all the progress that was made, one group remains in the shadows. It is sobering to admit that in 2012, almost all LGBT college coaches remain tightly closeted out of fear that admitting their sexuality will mean the end of their careers.

As a Division I wrestling coach and activist in this space, I have had the opportunity to speak to closeted college coaches around the country. Many fear that coming out would jeopardize their job security in an environment that provides few administrative options when discrimination occurs. These concerns exist among coaches working at private and public colleges and universities, including those with a reputation for progressive, egalitarian policies. It is no surprise, therefore, that openly LGBT college coaches are rare. For example, Sherri Murrell from Portland State is the only openly gay coach in NCAA Division I basketball, and Kirk Walker from Oregon State is the only openly gay Division I softball coach.

Keep reading HERE.

Promo clip for new documentary "Legalize Gay" features Ben Cohen and Hudson Taylor

Ben Cohen and Athlete Ally's Hudson Taylor is one of the young activists featured in a new documentary entitled Legalize Gay. Here's a teaser.
A new generation is leading the campaign for LGBT equality, often in parts of the country hostile to gay and lesbian rights. "Legalize Gay" captures the courage and passion of these young activists, gay and straight, who are determined to close the deal on full equality for the LBGT community. A film by Christopher Hines.

Hudson Taylor explains how he became an Athlete Ally

Hudson Taylor tells his story in the Huffington Post:


Like many athletes, I started playing sports at a young age. My earliest memories take me back to wrestling mats and arenas and early-morning drives with my father as we traveled to find the best competitions and open tournaments. We spent thousands of hours (yes, thousands) together in the car preparing for matches and talking about life. Though these conversations focused mainly on wrestling technique and tournament brackets, more often than not my dad found a way to weave lessons about decency and morality into discussions about athletic achievement. As he talked about his heroes -- the New York Yankee legends of the1950s who lifted American spirits in the wake of World War II -- my father set up a hierarchy of sports-based integrity that is still with me: Athletes become worthy of the greatest respect not when they win at their sport but when they stand up for the dignity of others and represent something bigger than themselves.

Keep reading HERE.

3 October 2011 / Hudson Taylor and Ben Cohen at University of Pennsylvania

News from an event from Penn Athletes and Allies Tackling Homophobia and Heterosexism that will take place at the University of Pennsylvania's Houston Hall of Flags from 7pm to 10pm on Monday 3 October:

Don't want to rock the boat? Afraid you can't make a difference? Well, think again. Remember, things don't just get better, you have to make them better.

If you want to help create a more accepting athletic community here at Penn, save the date and join PATH (Penn Athletes and Allies Tackling Homophobia) as we host two prominent straight LGBT athlete allies--Ben Cohen (former professional UK rugby player) and Hudson Taylor (three-time NCAA All-American wrestler and current wrestling coach at Columbia University).

Come see both of them address the importance of letting heterosexual athletes know that it is "okay" to have gay teammates, as well as of conveying to out/closeted athletes that they will not face negative consequences as an open LGBT athlete. The two will also address specific steps we can take in order to begin such change and begin the long road toward eliminating the homophobia and bullying that exists in the athletic community.

At the end of the event, we will open up the floor to questions, so come prepared! If you would rather your question be asked anonymously, you can email it to us at jmagnes@sas.upenn.edu. Hope to see everyone there!

Brian Sims speaking today at Philadelphia LGBT media summit

NLGJA National Convention & LGBT Media Summit Frday 2:30 pm, Panels & Workshops

Moderator: LZ Granderson
Panelists: Steve Buckley, Jemele Hill, Joanna Lohman, Jeff McMillan, Brian Sims, Hudson Taylor

Being gay in sports isn’t just for retirement anymore. In the past year, out athletes are playing on the field under the global glare of mainstream sports coverage, leaving the locker room and heading home to their same-sex partners – all openly. In this plenary, hear from some of the biggest names in sports, and the people who cover them, about how media coverage and league culture have to adapt to the new reality of the gay professional athlete.

Info HERE.

Hudson Taylor on MSNBC today

Athlete Ally's Hudson Taylor with Thomas Robert on MSNBC.