Photo via @NFL/Twitter, @carlnassib/Instagram
June 28, 2021, 2:00 pm
Following the coming out of the first U.S. football player to be openly gay while being an active member of an NFL team and the predictable complaining coming out of the mouths of homophobes, the NFL has made its stance on LGBTQ+ people perfectly clear with a video released on their social media platforms. The simple 30-second clip types out white text on a black background, starting with the declaration that “football is gay.”
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It then deletes “gay” to replace it with “lesbian,” followed by terms like “queer” and “transgender” in between adjectives like “beautiful,” “accepting,” and “American.” It finishes its statement by stating that “football is for everyone.”
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The video then displays the NFL logo in Pride colors and says that the organization “proudly supports the Trevor Project,” a non-profit dedicated to preventing death by suicide in queer and trans youth.
“LGBTQ+ youth with at least one accepting adult have 40% lower risk of attempting suicide,” the video states at the end.
Multiple studies have found that emotional support affirming one’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity significantly lowers the risk of suicide among LGBTQ+ folks, even when they face other risk factors such as poverty. Large and beloved organizations and companies affirming and embracing the global queer community helps facilitate this as acceptance of these human beings continues to spread.
Of course, this process takes time, as evidenced by the predictable homophobes and transphobes who popped onto Twitter to lie about how they’re never going to watch football again because the NFL said it’s gay and didn’t even bother to say it’s for straight people even though it has been for the whole time.
Another reason why i will NOT be watching the NFLthia year. YOUVE JUST LOST A FAN FOR 40 YEARS @NFL
— SirChrsp (@ClickahoIic) June 28, 2021
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Football and the National Football League has broadly been considered a sport for only the straightest of manly bros since the NFL’s creation just over 100 years ago and beyond in spite of all the hugging those men tend to get up to during their little games. Thankfully, the strong majority of fans appear to be maintaining their love of the only sport where men in tight shorts pile up on one another every game in spite of it now officially being for gay people, too.
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And they’re bringing the jokes.
I cried when Nassib came out, I cried at the end of your article. My son had the courage to come out at 15, 8 years ago and my wife and I supported him every step. Bravo Sam, bravo!
— Tobynole (@jusevitch) June 28, 2021
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Others still are asking the NFL if football is also for Black folks, continuing to hammer the organization for its blacklisting of Colin Kaepernick after he knelt during the national anthem in support of Black lives. Though clearly it has a long way to go in terms of overall civil rights, at least the question of how the NFL feels about LGBTQ+ folks can be settled forever or until they get caught paying gay athletes less or something.
“The NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously sharing his truth today,” NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell said on its now openly gay defensive end Carl Nassib. “Representation matters. We share his hope that someday soon statements like his will no longer be newsworthy as we march toward full equality for the LGBTQ+ community. We wish Carl the best of luck this coming season.”
*First Published: June 28, 2021, 2:00 pm
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