Sometimes, the most impactful moments in sports happen outside the game.
In July, two game-changing civil rights victories happened relatively under the radar outside of the policy world. One: gay people gained increased employment discrimination protections. Two: the Equality Act, a major federal lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) nondiscrimination bill, was introduced by members of Congress.
Both wins could potentially change how we experience and celebrate diversity and inclusion in sports. In fact, they could open up a lot of opportunities for members of the sports community to live their lives openly.
Understandably, the burdens of coming out simply outweigh the benefits for many coaches, staff, and players. But these civil rights shifts can help recalibrate the scales.
For example, the recent EEOC's federal ruling, that sexual orientation discrimination is prohibited under existing federal employment law, expands critical employment protections to more LGBT employees, regardless of where they live or travel. Before this ruling, fewer than half of LGBT people lived in states that had those protections. So a coach who lived in California was protected from getting fired from her job based on his sexual orientation. However, if she moved to take a job in Oklahoma, she would have had to give up these rights and risked being fired if anyone knew she was gay. This reality has kept a lot of coaches hiding their identity, resulting in only a handful of out coaches in Division I sports.
But LGBT coaches now have more legal employment protections across the country.
This can change the way coaches live their lives and the diversity of the profession. Coaches now can't lose their jobs for being gay, removing a major barrier for many coaches who might not otherwise come out. Talented applicants, who avoided the coaching profession altogether due to pervasive homophobia, now have an incentive to enter the coaching market. And athletic programs will have to reconsider the factors they use to recruit, hire, retain, and fire coaches who identify as LGBT. Having coaches who feel safe to be themselves and a more inclusive market raises the bar for everyone. It's a huge victory for sports, period.
The Equality Act has the potential to be just as impactful. If enacted, this bill will amend several key sections of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in housing, public services, public spaces, education, credit, federal funding, jury service, and employment. In doing so, it will help support LGBT inclusion both on and off the field by eliminating the patchwork of LGBT legislation that currently exists along with the restraints it places on players, coaches, and fans.
What this means is a lesbian athlete from Washington State, traveling to Utah to play a game, could no longer be denied access to a hotel room or restaurant because of her sexual orientation. An out transgender sports reporter could not be refused service at a restaurant on assignment in North Carolina because of their gender identity. A sports-enthused family with two dads can take a road trip to see the Final Four, and no matter what city its held in, they will be protected like any other passionate fans.
Will these two civil rights wins serve as some kind of magic button that inspires or requires every LGBT coach, athlete, and fan to come out? Absolutely not. It's up to advocates to create the right legal and policy environments for those athletes, coaches, and fans to live their lives openly. And these two civil rights developments have the potential to do that.
But for now, at least more members of our sports community can go about their days, feeling a little less anxious, a little closer to their true selves, and I'm betting: better fans, coaches, and athletes.