Hudson Taylor
When I profiled University of Maryland wrestler Hudson Taylor and his fight for gay rights in February, he was overwhelmed by the reaction he received. Having a champion straight athlete make a public stand on such as issue struck a chord with a lot of people. From the 400 e-mails and countless stories he heard, Taylor was inspired (with prompting from his sister) to start asking people why they fight for gay rights.
From that came a blog, Why Do You Fight?, which has a simple premise: People are asked “why do you fight for equality?” The anonymous posts from both gay and straight people, some long and others just a sentence, have an inspiring and moving effect. Some examples:
- I fight so my children won’t have to.
- I fight because Jesus never said a damn thing about gay people and no doubt he had his reasons!
- I just turned 29 years old, and when I think high school, the one thing I regret the most is that I wasn’t a better friend to those who needed my friendship the most. As an adult, I proudly stand up for gay equality.
- I fight for my son. There is no better young man in the world. He is thoughtful, kind, bright, and the most loving individual I know. He has the right to the kind of life that is available to my daughter and anyone else that exists. I love him, and I fight.
- As a survivor of a hate-based rape, I fight for those who were silenced forever by hatred.
The blog is new and Taylor hopes it becomes a “safe space for anybody to show the reasons for believing in equality and to build bridges.” In the e-mails he got after the Outsports article ran, he said he was most moved by those from “kids out there who were pretty lonely and unable to express themselves to anyone.” He is labeling submissions from the states they are sent from so someone who feels isolated in a place like Idaho might see a post from a kindred spirit.
He solicited stories from people he met via various Facebook groups, which then led to the blog. Taylor does not mention himself anywhere on the blog, because he said he does not want it to be about him, but rather a place for anyone to share. He is moderating all submissions because he wants to keep the site positive and not have it overrun by haters or spammers.
Now graduated from Maryland, Taylor is applying to law schools this fall and will be a volunteer assistant coach with the Columbia University wrestling team. He has spent the summer teaching at wrestling clinics, interning with a federal judge in New Jersey and indulging in his passion for magic tricks. But he always has time to hear stories from people fighting the good fight for gay rights.
I urge anyone reading this to add their voice to “Why Do You Fight?” It’s simple: Go to the blog, find the submission form on the right, say what you want and hit “submit.” Since all posts are anonymous, fill in some initials for the name field, and please say what state you are from.
on Jul 22nd, 2010 at 7:49 AM
Im glad we have straight athletes by our side.
on Jul 22nd, 2010 at 9:08 AM
Hudson Taylor is awesome. I’m so glad he went to my alma mater.
on Jul 22nd, 2010 at 9:41 AM
Amazing. What a great guy. Thanks Hudson and thanks Outsports for the update on this inspiring young man.
on Jul 22nd, 2010 at 10:53 AM
I like enjoy reading articles like this far more than the overkill coverage of say Tebow or Johnny Weir. It’s great to know there are athletes out there encouraging equality.
on Jul 22nd, 2010 at 3:37 PM
I just get a big dumb goofy smile on my face whenever I read about the guy.
There are probably at least two of him for every openly homophobic type in organized sport.
I hope he’ll give more of them the courage to “come out” as straight supporters of equal rights for gay.
on Dec 7th, 2010 at 4:33 PM
I’m beyond sick and tired of of people who are too ignorant to understand that marraige is about love. Even if you are a christian the Bible teaches love more than anything else. So for them to hate us just becasue we are differasnt is not only imoral its unGodly. I dont care what anyone says I’m a christain and gay and I know that God loves me. The Bible says that our relationship to God is between the indavidual and God. So how dare ANYONE try and tell me that I’m not a christian because I’m gay?! People need to realize that equality is a God given right. People need to stop hating for hatreds sake. people need to be more like hudson.
Read up on lawrence king. he was a 14 year old who was killed for asking another boy to be his valentine. When the message is so threatening that to be gay is an offense punishable by death we desperatly need to change the message. Fight for equality, stand up against those who make fun of gay people, never be afraid to do what is just. Larry was not a second class citizen, I am not a second class citizen and WE are not second class citizens. Its time we stop being treated as such. It is okay to be gay.
on May 24th, 2011 at 8:32 PM
Hudson Taylor is my personal hero, a skilled wrestler, very handsome and very pro-gay and pro-gay marriage. We need more straight athletes to join us in he GLBT community. God bless you Hudson Taylor, your family and the website!
on May 26th, 2011 at 7:05 PM
Wow! Hudson is my favorite straight sports star. My all-time favorite sports star is Greg Louganis, a 4-time gold medal and one time silver medal winner in 3 Olympics. He also came out as a gay man and he is also HIV+, as am I. WOW! Hudson! WOW! Greg! God BLESS you both.