USFL kicks off wh gay and bi ordator of officials and umpire - Outsports

Contents:

• STEVE STRIMLG WILL OFFICIATE A NATNAL SEMIFAL, THE FIRST OUT GAY REFEREE TO DO SO
• GAY PAC-12 REFEREE HAS BEEN WH HIS PARTNER FOR 29 YEARS. NOW HE'S G OUT TO HELP OTHERS.
• GAY FOOTBALL REFEREE THKS ’40 PER CENT’ OF PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS ULD BE LGBTQ+
• RYAN ATK: FROM LMAN TO CHAMPN - FIRST OPENLY GAY REFEREE ON EXPERIENC
• FOOTBALL REFERE OUT AS GAY TO SHOW THAT THE BETIFUL GAME IS FOR EVERYONE
• 8 OPENLY GAY AND BI LLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS PLAYED SEASON ON THEIR TERMS
• OPENLY GAY PRO-FOOTBALL REFEREE AMANDA SER-COOK WILL BE PART OF DIVERSE XFL OFFICIATG CREW
• THERE ARE 7 OPENLY GAY OR BI LLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS THIS SEASON
• "YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED" - FIFA'S ONLY OPENLY GAY REFEREE IGOR BENEVENUTO BELIEV 40% OF FOOTBALLERS ARE GAY OR BISEXUAL
• EFL REFEREE JAM ADCK: ‘I’M AN OPENLY GAY MAN FOOTBALL’
• CRAIG NAPIER AND LLOYD WILSON: STTISH REFERE E OUT AS GAY BID TO 'CHANGE CLIMATE' FOOTBALL

STEVE STRIMLG WILL OFFICIATE A NATNAL SEMIFAL, THE FIRST OUT GAY REFEREE TO DO SO

No doubt, Strimlg beg publicly out as a gay man mak him a trailblazer for the LGBTQ muny. For gay men who may not otherwise see the possibily of officiatg llege football, Strimlg is an spiratn. In fact, Strimlg’s choice to share his story publicly about beg a gay man officiatg stemmed om wantg to help other people.

“The articl I read about other gay people sports each say how much they helped others, ” Strimlg said at the time. But Ser-Cook is breakg new ground as the first openly gay official to work a major natnal profsnal football league, last year the short-lived Alliance of Amerin Football and this year the XFL.

The head of officials for the Atlanta chapter of the Natnal Gay Flag Football League was there, heard me, and suggted I e help out on the weekends.

GAY PAC-12 REFEREE HAS BEEN WH HIS PARTNER FOR 29 YEARS. NOW HE'S G OUT TO HELP OTHERS.

“Sce I me out at 20, [beg gay] on the field has never been an issue, and has never been a terrent, ” he said.

[avatar er=”lewisj163″ size=”thumbnail” align=”left” /]Football Zebras wrer Josh Lewis has officiated adult flag-football leagu, cludg the Natnal Flag Football League of Atlanta, the Chigo Metropolan Sports Associatn, the New York Gay Football League, and the Natnal Gay Flag Football League.

GAY FOOTBALL REFEREE THKS ’40 PER CENT’ OF PLAYERS AND OFFICIALS ULD BE LGBTQ+

Steve Strimlg don't need you to know he's gay. Already on ESPN and Fox Sports every tumn Saturday, Strimlg certaly don't seek some form of notoriety as a gay referee football, Ameri's most powerful cultural stutn. The articl I read about other gay people sports each say how much they helped others.

If someone los assignments bee he's gay?

Through all, beg gay hasn't held him back om advancg as an official.

RYAN ATK: FROM LMAN TO CHAMPN - FIRST OPENLY GAY REFEREE ON EXPERIENC

"I've never thought beg gay was hard for me at all. Take me beg gay away and I had the same good and bad thgs my life as anyone else. Strimlg rri himself wh a ep self-nfince that has eed him om the fears drivg so many other gay people sports om sharg their te selv.

"Losg those years as an official wasn't bee I was gay - It was bee I was an asshole. Still, Strimlg unrstands that his experienc - largely ee om homophobia - are partly a byproduct of livg Los Angel at a time when society's perspectiv of gay people are changg rapidly. Last year Outsports ran the story of a closeted gay high school and llege official Louisiana who had seen and heard btal homophobia om fans and his fellow officials.

Other gay officials at some of llege's hight levels have shared wh me a fear of losg assignments if they talk about beg married to their hband. While Strimlg -- never a "Wt Hollywood, go out to the clubs kd of guy" -- has certaly heard homophobic language on the field and the locker room over the years -- "that's how guys talk" -- he personally will not tolerate other gay officials losg opportuni bee of who they are. That's not bee Michael and I are gay.

FOOTBALL REFERE OUT AS GAY TO SHOW THAT THE BETIFUL GAME IS FOR EVERYONE

While plenty of people officiatg know about his fay, he unrstands there are still pockets of football where gay people are not pletely unrstood. Steve Strimlg is breakg more ground as an out gay football referee, this time leadg the entire group of officials for the upstart USFL.

“The articl I read about other gay people sports each say how much they helped others, ” he told me at the time. Amanda Ser has broken ground as a football official on a number of levels, and she’s the first publicly out gay referee profsnal football. For Ser’s story, which was also wrten by out gay football official Joshua Lewis, head over to Football Zebras.

FIFA’s first openly gay football referee believ that up to 40 per cent of people volved football are LGBTQ+. Brazil’s Igor Benevenuto recently ma history by beg the first FIFA-ranked referee to e out as gay, after more than two s of hidg his tth,.

8 OPENLY GAY AND BI LLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS PLAYED SEASON ON THEIR TERMS

Gays are ed to not beg themselv.

“There are many gay people soccer. “Thirty to forty per cent of them are homosexual or bisexual, or have done somethg at one time wh another man.

OPENLY GAY PRO-FOOTBALL REFEREE AMANDA SER-COOK WILL BE PART OF DIVERSE XFL OFFICIATG CREW

“You would be surprised at jt who is homosexual this dtry. He said: “In Brazil homosexualy is seen as an illns siar to alholism, which n be overe.

While there are many out, LGBTQ+ players the women’s game, out gay footballers are rare the men’s game. In May, Jake Daniels beme the first active top-flight male pro to e out as gay sce Jt Fashanu 1990.

Football referee Jam Adck speaks to the BBC's LGBT Sport Podst"I'm very appreciative of the fact that I'm an openly gay man football. "Adck has worked as a fourth official the Premier League'People know I'm gay and jt accept - I'm fortunate for that'As a child of the '80s and '90s, Adck was ed to hearg the same tired stereotyp - that people who loved sport uldn't be gay as, who is om Long Eaton Derbyshire, didn't e out until he was 27 - but his experienc wh the game have been nothg but posive.

THERE ARE 7 OPENLY GAY OR BI LLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYERS THIS SEASON

And, to be hont, there's been tert om lleagu sayg, 'I'm proud of you Jam, that you're able to be openly gay sport, ' bee they know the barriers that are still place. "They're fully supportive and don't change the way they are around me or the way they speak to me bee they thought I was a heterosexual guy, and now they fd out I'm a gay guy.

"I don't need to wear a T-shirt sayg: 'I'm Jam Adck and I'm a gay guy.

"I've not had any homophobic abe thrown at me, and I n't tell you a story where I've had to bat or overe that.

"YOU WOULD BE SURPRISED" - FIFA'S ONLY OPENLY GAY REFEREE IGOR BENEVENUTO BELIEV 40% OF FOOTBALLERS ARE GAY OR BISEXUAL

"To e out as gay or not e out as gay, you have to choose that as a person and not as a ref. I'm not refereeg bee I'm gay, I'm refereeg bee I'm refereeg a game of football - so jt treat me as a normal human beg.

EFL REFEREE JAM ADCK: ‘I’M AN OPENLY GAY MAN FOOTBALL’

"That's where my fay, my iends, and my football lleagu have been so supportive - bee don't matter that I am gay and volved sport, and refereeg the Football League. Ryan Atk has refereed four Natnal League gam this season, most recently Dagenham & Redbridge's w agast Alrshot on 16 November"I got a lot of people jt pattg me on the back and sayg 'well done, don't matter that you are gay'. "In Augt 2017, Ryan Atk beme the first man refereeg England's profsnal leagu to e out as then, he has gone om workg as an assistant referee the English Football League to refereeg the Natnal League this nng the le to beg the man the middle, he has been nomated has been named as one of Stonewall's Sport Champns for the chary's Rabow Lac mpaign, which started on Friday and is aimed at tacklg homophobia sport, Atk spoke to the BBC's LGBT Sport Podst and says he hop that others n follow his footsteps.

"'Still work to be done'Wybe goalkeeper Ryan Allsop reported alleged abe to referee John Bby at half-time their w agast Tranmere RoversMany refere workg English football n speak of the sults they are exposed to om the stands, and even as recently as the past week, there was an alleged cint of homophobic abe a League One occurred durg Tranmere's match agast Wybe and led to a man beg arrted. And if we haven't even achieved that, then homophobia football is trailg behd.

CRAIG NAPIER AND LLOYD WILSON: STTISH REFERE E OUT AS GAY BID TO 'CHANGE CLIMATE' FOOTBALL

"'The culture is slowly changg'Atralian gby unn thori end Israel Fol's ntract over a social media post which he said "hell awas" gay peopleSiar problems exist other sports too. Earlier this year, Atralian gby unn thori end Israel Fol's ntract over a social media post which he said "hell awas" gay England forward Billy Vunipola was later warned by his club si Saracens about his behavur after fendg Fol's actns.