Top 10 2014 LGBT Moments in Sports
We’ve put together our top ten 2014 LGBT moments in sports around the world.
Our highlights include moments featuring Tom Daley, Ian Thorpe, Robbie Rogers, Michael Sam, and many more.
Barack Obama sends gay delegates to Sochi Olympics
The Sochi Olympics attracted a lot of negative feedback due to the anti gay laws that exist in Russia. President Obama made a clear statement of support for LGBT athletes.
He announced that he, his wife, and the Vice President would not be attending the ceremonies. In his place, he was sending delegates that included two openly gay athletes.
Gay Olympians take home medals at Sochi Olympics
From a story about the opening ceremonies, we head to the actual results of the Olympics for LGBT athletes.
rukkle was thrilled to see that there were seven out Olympians and that they took home six medals and placed extremely well in many of the events.
Five of the medals were won by Ireen Wüst, who is a Dutch speed skater.
UN encourages World Cup LGBT athletes to come out.
The UN Human Rights Commissioner issued a statement during this year’s World Cup encouraging LGBT athletes to come out.
Navi Pillay made the statement with the belief that it would encourage both acceptance and equality for the LGBT community throughout the world.
Robbie Rogers and Leeds launch Beyond It campaign
Speaking of the World Cup, we were thrilled when earlier this year Robbie Rogers and Leeds United partnered together to launch the Beyond It! campaign.
The campaign would run both in the stadium and throughout the community. Leeds’ managing director, David Haigh, stated that part of the campaign would include going into the community to educate individuals about tolerance and acceptance.
Kiss In campaign launches to support Michael Sam
Another campaign that excited rukkle this year in sports was the Kiss In campaign campaign (aka #KissIn) to support the first openly gay American footballer to play in the NFL.
Michael Sam faced some criticism for kissing his boyfriend to celebrate being drafted by the NFL.
To show support for Sam, social media users were encouraged to change their profile picture to an image of two men kissing.
Gay Rugby team makes history
An Australian gay rugby team made history this year by being the first to play in a professional match.
On July 6th, Sydney Convicts headed to Macquarie University to play in a professional match arranged to combat homophobia in sports.
John Barrowman kisses man at opening of the Commonwealth Games
Leave it to fan favourite John Barrowman (Torchwood, Arrow) to add a bit of LGBT spice to the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
At the games being held in Glasgow, he kissed a kilted man and then those around them cheered, “Here’s to equality!”
Tom Daley named biggest sporting inspiration
Earlier this year, Tom Daley was named one of rukkle’s best coming out videos online.
He added another title to his list of accomplishments this year by being named the biggest sporting inspiration.
The poll was voted on by young people living in the United Kingdom.
Ian Thorpe comes out
After years of denial, Ian Thorpe, finally admitted what many of us had long known, that he was gay. In a year of athletes coming out, Thorpe’s was one of the most surprising.
He’s broken 22 World Records and won 5 Olympic Golds, but it took him a lot of courage to confirm that he was gay in an interview that also covered his battle with depression, drugs, and alcohol.
2014 Gay and Lesbian inductees announced
Our final top 10 LGBT moments in sports features the LGBT athletes that were inducted in the National Gay and Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame.
This year’s list of inductees included Tom Daley, Gareth Thomas, Jerry Smith, Fallon Fox, and Brittney Grenier. As well, Nike, Inc and the Ben Cohen StandUp foundation were inducted in too.
In an outstanding year full of memorable moments for LGBT athletes, rukkle is proud to have put together our top 10 2014 LGBT moments in sports.
