Nike Better World

This video was a hit at the Nike LGBT Sport Summit last weekend in Portland. Enjoy it!

"We won't rest until every living breathing person on this planet has access to sport". That's a message the FGG can support 100%.

Author of The Front Runner video message for Nike LGBT Sport Summit

Via Outsports, Patricia Nell Warren, author of 'The Front Runner' and longtime LGBT activist, talks about the gay sports movement in the 1960s and '70s, and her vision for the future of the movement.

A Washington angle to Nike LGBT Sport Summit

Les Johnson and Ashland Johnson at Portland Pride Parade

The Washington Blade looks at last weekend's Nike LGBT Sport Summit in Portland, where Team DC president Les Johnson represented the Federation of Gay Games, and where other Washingtonians also participated:

A transgender former George Washington University basketball player was among the nearly 30 people who took part in an LGBT sports summit at Nike’s world headquarters in Beaverton, Ore., from June 14-17.

Kye Allums, who came out as trans in a 2010 interview with the LGBT sports website Outsports.com, joined Team DC President Les Johnson and National Center for Lesbian Rights policy counsel Ashland Johnson, who also lives in D.C., at the confab. Campus Pride, ESPN, Nike and the National Collegiate Athletic Association were among the 20 organizations that sent representatives to the summit.

During the three-day gathering, participants drafted four broad goals on which they will work over the next four years to end harassment and discrimination against LGBT athletes and coaches. These include collaborations with major professional sports leagues to make them more LGBT inclusive, increased visibility of out collegiate athletes and coaches and the implementation of LGBT-inclusive policies in at least five adult and youth recreational leagues. The fourth objective is to have at least two million young people hear what summit organizers describe as an inclusive definition of “athletic champion.”

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“We’re tired of just waiting around and progress being really slow so we got together,” said Johnson, who represented the Federation of Gay Games at the summit. “We’re trying to do something bold and get Nike behind us. And we’ve got some fresh ideas.”

Several summit participants also marched with the Nike contingent in the Portland Pride Parade that coincided with the end of the gathering.

“It’s the Nike LGBT Sports Summit, but it really is a collaboration between Nike and a bunch of us who want to get this done,” stressed Zeigler, referring to the sporting apparel’s support of the gathering. “Being yourself and maximizing your potential—these are all important pieces of Nike’s brand. What we’re doing is matching Nike’s brand.”

Read in full HERE.

In-depth story on Nike LGBT Sport Summit

The Oregonian has an in-depth story on last weekend's Nike LGBT Sport Summit:

Planning for the event started about nine months ago when Kirk Walker, the Oregon State University softball coach, told Cyd Zeigler, Jr., co-founder of the publication Outsports.com, he should contact Goman of Nike.

Participants roster
Organizations involved in the summit included: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; Athlete Ally; Br{ache the Silence; Campus Pride; ESPN; Fearless campaign; Federation of Gay Games; Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD); Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); I Am Enough; It Gets Better project; National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR); National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); Nike; Our Group; Outsports; StandUp Foundation; and You Can Play project

Walker, who is openly gay, knew Zeigler was interested in creating an event to bring together several groups that "were not working together toward their common goal of opening sports to everyone," Zeigler said.

"The communication and trust that was built over this weekend can do that."

Les Johnson,an official with Federation of Gay Games, said Nike was a good host, providing food and a place to meet, the Tiger Woods Conference Center.

Two facilitators associated with Nike guided discussion. Someone else from the company took notes to be distributed to participants.

Two facilitators associated with Nike guided discussion. Someone else from the company took notes that are expected to be distributed to participants.

The event from Thursday evening to Saturday afternoon was one of the latest focused on LGBT issues on the campus.

In the past year, the campus has featured speakers including English rugby player Ben Cohen, founder of the StandUP Foundation; Rick Welts, the Golden State Warriors president and chief of operations; U.S. Olympian Jessica Mendoza; and Hudson Taylor, Columbia University wrestling coach and founder of Athlete Ally. Cohen and Taylor spoke at the summit.

Also, Nike has several groups, called “networks” that promote diversity. The Nike LGBT & Friends Network was recently awarded the “Corporate Excellence” award from the Portland Q Center. Also, the company has been recognized by the Human Rights Campaign for 10 consecutive years of 100 percent scores on HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.

The weekend summit can only enhance Nike's position among nearly all its customers, said Ira Kalb, professor of clinical marketing at the University of Southern California Marshall School of Business.

Also, the LGBT market "is very loyal ... and they buy products from companies with equal opportunity in the workplace," Kalb said, "and they pay attention to the news."

Read in full HERE.

David Kopay video for Nike LGBT Sport Summit

Via Outsports, David Kopay, the first former professional athlete to come out of the closet, talks about his experiences and his hope for the future, for the participants at the Nike LGBT Sports Summit.

Greg Louganis video message to participants at Nike LGBT Sports Summit

Four-time Olympic gold medal diver Greg Louganis talks to the Nike LGBT Sports Summit about his coming out and his hopes for the movement going forward.

Nike LGBT Sports Summit concludes with call for action for young athletes

Groundbreaking Nike LGBT Sports Summit Takes on Bullying, Homophobia and Transphobia in Sports
Comprehensive Action Plan Aims to Redefine ‘Athletic Champion’

(Beaverton, OR, June 18, 2012)—Many of the nation’s top lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer sports leaders joined Nike representatives at Nike World Headquarters for the first-ever Nike LGBT Sports Summit to combat bullying and anti-LGBTQ bias and discrimination in sports.

Advocates and organizations pooled their expertise and strengths over the last four days—June 14 to June 17—to develop a unified plan to end harassment and discrimination against LGBTQ athletes and coaches in kindergarten through high school, college, recreational sports, and professional sports.

In the next year, this newly formed LGBTQ sports coalition will work to achieve the following goals:

• Each of the major American professional sports leagues will be engaged to work with our member organizations toward inclusion in their league.
• The visibility of out collegiate athletes, coaches, and allies will be increased through a multi-pronged approach.
• The national youth and adult recreational leagues will receive a LGBTQ inclusive model policy, and at least five leagues　will have adopted such a policy.
• Two million young people will have heard a new, inclusive definition of "athletic champion," and their physical education teachers and coaches will have received inclusive training resources.

Outsports co-founder Cyd Zeigler began developing the summit last year after identifying a failure by LGBTQ sports advocates to work together toward a common goal. Zeigler then joined forces with National Center for Lesbian Rights Sports Project Director Helen Carroll and Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network’s Changing the Game Sports Director Pat Griffin. Zeigler approached Nike about hosting the event, and they jumped at the chance.

"As athletes and coaches, we all understand the power of working as a team," said Zeigler. "This summit has given us the unique opportunity to identify our common goals and move forward as a united movement. Working together, we will dismantle bullying and anti-LGBTQ bias and discrimination in sports in the next four years."

Said Carroll: "I am excited to see transgender people, people of color, men, women and allies in sports working together to create a unified movement that captures the power of our different experiences and voices. The strength from this collaboration and these specific plans will make the sports world safer and more inclusive for all."

Organizations involved in the summit included: American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance; Athlete Ally; Br{ache the Silence; Campus Pride; ESPN; Fearless campaign; Federation of Gay Games; Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD); Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN); I Am Enough; It Gets Better project; National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR); National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA); Nike; Our Group; Outsports; StandUp Foundation; and You Can Play project.

"This summit happened at the right time," said Griffin. "We are riding the crest of a wave of attitude change about LGBTQ people in sports. We hope that the action plans that were identified at the summit will speed up this change."

Plans for future summits include an open invitation to other organizations and individuals to join these and future action plans to eliminate bullying and LGBTQ bias and discrimination in sports.

The event concluded with summit participants joining the Nike contingency in the Portland Pride Parade.

FGG to participate in Nike Sports Summit

The Federation of Gay Games is pleased to be invited to this event, and is looking forward to what we are sure will be productive discussions. From Outsports:

Homophobia and transphobia are persistent problems in sport that have silenced gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender athletes and coaches for much of the last century. Thanks to pioneers like former NFL player Dave Kopay, tennis great Martina Navratilova, and transgender professional tennis player Renee Richards, the climate for LGBT athletes and coaches began to shift three decades ago…but only marginally.

In contrast, 2011 was a watershed year in the fight to end homophobia and transphobia in sports. We have finally reached a tipping point when anti-gay slurs, silence and discrimination are no longer the accepted norms in sports. Increasing numbers of LGBT athletes are coming out, and many more straight allies are speaking up to support them. Joining established athletics-focused groups like the NCLR sports project and Outsports.com, LGBT advocacy groups like GLSEN, It Gets Better andGLAAD are widening their focus to include sports. It seems as though more new organizations are also coming forward to fight discrimination in sports every few weeks. Each organization is doing great things. Some target high schools sports, others target college athletics or professional sports; Some focus on legal advocacy, others outreach or media.

These changes are exciting and reflect a shifting culture in sport. Once dominated by discrimination and silence, a new climate of support and openness for LGBT athletes is emerging. The increasing numbers of groups focused on making sports a great place for everyone who wants to play or coach are helping to speed up the pace of change. But our effectiveness in ending homophobia in sports has been limited because we are not working together effectively. Despite being led by athletes and coaches whose success is built on communication and teamwork, most of these advocacy groups aren’t talking to one another. We all share the same goal, but we haven’t been playing like a team.

On June 14 in Beaverton, Ore., that will change. Thirty leaders who are actively advocating for LGBT equality in sports will come together at Nike World Headquarters for the first-ever Nike LGBT Sports Summit. The goal of this ground-breaking event is to create a team game plan for ending homophobia and transphobia in sport that takes advantage of the best thinking and strengths of each organization. The aim is to increase our ability to collaborate on bringing about the change we all are committed to.

For the better part of three days, summit participants will identify and commit to completing specific action plans toward ending anti-LGBT discrimination in sports. They’ll also forge inter-group relationships to carry out these action plans. The organizations involved in this inaugural summit include the American Alliance for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance, Athlete Ally, Br{ach the Silence,Campus Pride, ESPN, Fearless campaign, Federation of Gay Games, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), It Gets Better campaign, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Nike, Our Group, Outsports, StandUp Foundation, and You Can Play project.

To maximize the effectiveness of our collaborative efforts, we envision this summit as the first of an annual event. Our intention is to include other organizations and individuals who share our goals as we extend our network over the coming year. The 2013 summit will be open to everyone who is committed to ending homophobia and transphobia in sports.

Thanks to Nike’s commitment to making sport a respectful and inclusive experience for LGBT athletes, we have an opportunity to make the next 12 months an even more amazing year of progress for LGBT athletes and coaches at all levels of sports. We’re also blessed to have the support of online sports leader SB Nation and worldwide tech leader Microsoft. The commitment of these companies, along with the organizations involved, opens an opportunity like never before to make equality in sports a reality for all.

We hope that pioneers of our movement will be proud to see the progress we are forging on the foundation of their courage and determination. Together, we will end homophobia and transphobia in sports. We hope you will join us in the coming year.