Last spring just after GLSEN  launched Changing the Game, our new sports project, I got an email from Edward Tylicki from Nike.  Edward is a member of Nike’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Friends Employee Network.  Edward sought me out as director for the Sports Project because he wanted to know how Nike could support Changing the Game.

My initial reactions were complicated. On one hand, getting the support of a huge corporation like Nike was exciting and held enormous possibilities for helping us to get our message of safety, respect and inclusion in K-12 sports and physical education out there in a big way. On the other hand, I worried about what it would mean to accept the support of a company that had been targeted as a participant in taking advantage of “sweatshop” labor in their factories around the world. I have not bought anything with a swoosh on it for years in my own personal attempt to send Nike a message about this.

So, I did some homework.  In addition to going to the internet to read more about this, when I finally met Edward at GLSEN’s Respect dinner in May, I asked him to talk about Nike’s current labor policy and practices and about how Nike responds to these criticisms.  What I learned is that, over the last 10 years, Nike has taken some significant steps to monitor and correct the problems that labor advocates have been protesting.  In addition, Nike has initiated a “better world” campaign to focus on their “eco-conscious, people- and planet-improving goals” and, most importantly, Nike is putting its money where its mouth is.

Specific to LGBT issues, Nike works in collaboration with GLSEN Oregon to bring GSA students from Oregon schools together at the Nike Headquarters for an annual leadership day.  In just the last year, the Nike LGBT and Friends group has sponsored several events at their world headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon including talks with straight ally, Ben Cohen and lesbian and gay college coaches, Sherri Murrell and Kirk Walker.

Nike had a strong presence at Portland Pride Day last spring and donated all of the proceeds from the sale of their pride tee shirts to Changing the Game – 18K, to be exact  – an amazing demonstration of support for GLSEN and Changing the Game.

So when Edward asked me to participate on a National Coming Out Week event at Nike headquarters on Thursday, October 13 focused on straight allies and their role in making a sports great place for LGBT participants, I was more than excited to say yes.

In addition to me, representing GLSEN and Changing the Game, Nike also invited straight allies Hudson Taylor of Athlete Ally and Jessica Mendoza, a two time Olympic gold medalist and professional softball player.  Hudson also serves on the Changing the Game Advisory Group and Jessica is a Changing the Game All-Star.

When we arrived at the Nike campus, we were greeted by a wonderful exhibit of statements on larger colorful posters throughout the Nike complex of buildings.   Some posters described what an ally is.  Other posters were quotes from Nike executives about what being an ally means to them personally.    A TV monitor ran a continuous loop of Hudson, Ben Cohen and me talking about the importance of making sports safe and respectful for LGBT participants.

After an impressive tour of Nike Headquarters, Hudson, Jessica and I held a lunchtime talk about straight allies for about 50 Nike employees. Hudson and Jessica talked about how they came to be straight allies and told some personal stories about their experiences.  As a lesbian athlete, coach and advocate, I talked about the important roles that straight allies play in eliminating homophobia and transphobia in sport, and what straight allies can do to be most effective.  We fielded some great questions from the group and enjoyed a strong sense of support and interest from the Nike folks who came to hear us speak.

I have to say that for a veteran LGBT sports advocate who has been doing this work for over 30 years, it was an amazing experience to listen to Hudson and Jessica speak with such passion about their commitment to LGBT inclusion in and out of sport.  It bodes well for the future that young straight allies like Hudson and Jessica are providing athletes and coaches with such terrific examples of how to be a straight ally. As I said at the panel, no social justice movement is ever successful without the participation of allies. Whether we are talking about racial equality, women’s equality, disability rights or any other social justice movement , informed and committed allies fighting shoulder to shoulder with the people who are targeted by injustice make a huge positive difference.

We found out that, in a coincidence of scheduling, Kobe Bryant was also on the Nike campus that day. Our paths did not cross, but Edward gave one of Nike’s ally tee shirts to Kobe’s representative and expressed hope that Kobe would join Nike’s efforts to make sports a better place for LGBT people. You never know. The seeds of change can be planted in all kinds of different places.

Later that afternoon Nike hosted a community reception and invited several LGBT community advocacy groups from the Portland area: GLSEN Oregon, HRC and PFLAG, to name a few.  Hudson, Jessica and I again spoke to the group of about 125 people.  As part of the event, Edward gave me a check for the proceeds of the Nike Pride tee shirts in support of Changing the Game.

We also announced that Nike has awarded a $14K Community Grant to GLSEN Oregon to support training for Portland area K-12 coaches and physical education teachers to be led by Changing the Game in collaboration with GLSEN Oregon. The training, which will occur in the spring, will focus on providing coaches and teachers with information and best practices for how to ensure that their teams and classes are safe and inclusive for students of all sexual orientations and gender identities/expressions.

Throughout the day we were greeted by and talked with Nike employees and leaders who expressed support and genuine commitment to making the sports world a better place for LGBT people. We talked about the ways that Nike is already taking a leadership role in supporting the efforts of LGBT sports advocates and the ways they can take an even more powerful and visible role in the future.  The possibilities are amazing. At the end of the day, as I walked back to my hotel room in my new Nike Pride sneakers, I felt that LGBT sports advocates everywhere have a new superstar member of our team.

I kept thinking of this tee shirt that said, “Respect. Just Do It.”

Follow Pat Griffin on her blog.

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Tiger, I am more prone to be inquisitive, to promote discussion. I want to find out what your thinking was, I want to find out what your feelings are, and did you learn anything.

While some have criticized Tiger for hiding from the controversy ignited by his sexual indiscretion, I’ve been glad to see him address it head on. After taking some private time to sort through personal issues for a couple months, he has come out over the last two months and talked about the issue and has admitted unequivocally that he was wrong and at fault. This latest commercial is a great commentary on the issue, personal responsibility and the role of family.

We all make mistakes, but how we take responsibility for those mistakes speaks to our character. I’m sure all the Tiger haters will find a reason to attack him for it, but my respect for him is growing again.

Let the Masters begin.

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It all had the smell of a coverup and made James seem like an arrogant, humorless wuss, afraid that a fun little moment would somehow sully his reputation as a player. Fortunately, a tape shot by someone else has finally come to light, showing Crawford’s dunk.

After watching the dunk, I think Nike and James come off worse for trying to squelch the video than for anything embarrassing in the video. This, combined with James’ unsportsmanlike refusal to shake Dwight Howard’s hand after the Cleveland Cavaliers were bounced in the NBA Playoffs, has made me like him less and less. One dare not show King James being dunked on, and the King shakes no mere mortal’s hand. He’s becoming insufferable.

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What do you think of the new unis? Larger pic after the jump.

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I totally get GLAAD and Rybka’s role in this: Some gay people complained and they took it up with the magazine on their behalf. But for crying out loud, this isn’t anti-gay! I am so tired of hearing these complaints every time a company does something that mocks feminine behavior. Welcome to 2009: Feminine behavior DOES NOT EQUAL gay behavior!!

Just because some student is mocking boys who take ballet doesn’t mean the ad is anti-gay! I can’t stand the ballet. Not all gay people like the ballet, and all men in ballet aren’t gay (in fact, it’s likely that most aren’t). So some kid wanted to mock people who choose to take ballet; Gay people mock sports-lovers all the time, coming up with bullshit terms like “butch” to put them in a neat little box. I’m sorry, ballerinas are not a protected class!

Of course, the same people who got up-in-arms about the ad and immediately jumped to the anti-gay conclusion are many of the same people who jumped to the conclusion that Nike had created the ad, instead of doing their homework to learn that Nike had nothing to do with it.

Good for GLAAD for getting the story right. Now, to the rest of you who want to occupy their time with nonsense like this, they have more important things to do. So go take a boxing class or something and let your aggression out that way. Maybe I better do the same . . . .

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