NYCFC as Major League Soccer’s 20th team may be the news of the day, but we push ahead with the Columbus Crew as our 12th team for ally recruitment.

Last May, four current Crew players signed onto our Allies List. Chad Marshall, Aaron Schoenfeld, Konrad Warzycha, and Josh Williams all responded to fans and us on Twitter to join the cause.

It was great to see Seattle fans get involved yesterday and recruiting players so let’s work together again today. Use the list below to ask players to join by tweeting at us or using the #soccerally hashtag.

• Bernardo Anor, midfielder – joined the list; thanks Bernardo!
• Jairo Arrieta, forward
• Drew Beckie, defender
• Ethan Finlay, midfielder/forward
• Ryan Finley, forward
• Eric Gehrig, defender
• Kevan George, midfielder
• Federico Higuain, forward
• Kyle Hyland, defender
• Justin Meram, forward
• Dominic Oduro, forward/midfielder
• Matías Sánchez, midfielder
• Shawn Sloan, midfielder
• Ben Speas, midfielder/forward
• Tony Tchani, midfielder
• Will Trapp, midfielder
• Agustín Viana, defender/midfielder
• Daniel Withrow, goalkeeper

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

Supporters groups in Cascadia marked Friday’s International Day Against Homophobia with displays in the stands Saturday in Vancouver and Seattle.

For Vancouver it was a draw against Cascadia rivals Portland, but just as the Timbers Army had a week earlier, the Southsiders displayed an anti-homophobia banner:

VancouverSouthsiders.ca

The Seattle Sounders defeated league leaders FC Dallas but before the game Gorilla FC made this show of support for the LGBT community:

Great job GFC members! #athleteally #sounders #seattle cc @notdansavage #GorillaFC #mls twitter.com/GorillaFC/stat…

— Gorilla FC (@GorillaFC) May 19, 2013

Featured in the display are the faces of NBA player Jason Collins, slain gay politician Harvey Milk, tennis legend Martina Navratilova, Seattle Reign and USWNT midfielder Megan Rapinoe, Robbie Rogers in his USA jersey, and Seattle icon Dan Savage.

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

Two weeks down and two to go with over two dozen players added to our Allies List. We begin week three with the Seattle Sounders.

The Sounders currently have three players on the list who all joined when asked at this time last year: David Estrada, Brad Evans, and Eddie Johnson.

As we ask players from our first Cascadia team in this campaign to sign on, who will join them? Help ask players using the list below, and we’ll be both looking out for mentions of us on Twitter and tweets using the #soccerally hashtag.

• Will Bates, forward – joined the list; thanks Will!
• Marc Burch, defender – joined the list; thanks Marc!
• Ashani Fairclough, defender
• Michael Gspurning, goalkeeper – joined the list; thanks Michael!
• Marcus Hahnemann, goalkeeper
• Shalrie Joseph, midfielder
• Philip Lund, midfielder
• Mario Martinez, midfielder
• Obafemi Martins, forward
• Lamar Neagle, midfielder
• Samuel Ochoa, forward
• Mauro Rosales, midfielder
• Zach Scott, defender
• Djimi Traore, defender
• DeAndre Yedlin, defender – joined the list; thanks DeAndre!
• Steve Zakuani, midfielder
• Eriq Zavaleta, forward/defender

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

Landon Donovan did a chat with Huffington Post Live while in New York yesterday, and one of the questions raised was about LGBT issues in soccer.

Among issues surrounding gay soccer players in general, he talked about Robbie Rogers’ time training with the LA Galaxy:

Robbie’s a friend of mine and it’s very nice to have him there. To be honest it’s been sort of seamless, it’s normal. After the first few days there was probably some hesitation and [being] careful what you say or what you do but again we’re all human and he’s just like all of us and it’s been really nice.

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

In almost two weeks we have gained 27 members of our Allies List, and we hit the midway point of our month with the New York Red Bulls.

Four current Red Bulls players joined the list at this time last year: Connor Lade, Dax McCarty, Heath Pearce, and Jonny Steele. Let’s add to the list today by asking their teammates below to join. If they tweet at @gay4soccer or use the #soccerally hashtag we’ll see their replies. Also, with action in so many leagues this weekend, ask your favorite players in person when you can.

• Andre Akpan, forward
• Eric Alexander, midfielder – joined the list; thanks Eric!
• Brandon Barklage, midfielder
• Ruben Bover, midfielder
• Tim Cahill, midfielder
• Santiago Castano, goalkeeper
• Ian Christianson, midfielder
• Kevin Hartman, goalkeeper
• Ryan Meara, goalkeeper
• Amando Moreno, forward
• Lloyd Sam, midfielder

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

At the time I write this, only one new player has signed on as an ally from Sporting Kansas City, yesterday’s team. Let’s turn things around with DC United.

DC United was the first team in Major League Soccer to make a You Can Play video, featuring coach Ben Olsen, current Dynamo defender Mike Chabala, and Chris Pontius. Pontius, Bill Hamid, and Ethan White all signed onto our Allies List last season, as did the recently retired Robbie Russell.

There are plenty of other great guys at DC though, so let’s ask the players below to join the list. We’ll watch the #soccerally hashtag and mentions to our @gay4soccer handle on Twitter.

• Dwayne De Rosario, midfielder
• Nick DeLeon, midfielder
• Dejan Jakovic, defender
• Taylor Kemp, defender – joined the list; thanks Taylor!
• Perry Kitchen, midfielder
• Brandon McDonald, defender
• Kyle Porter, midfielder
• James Riley, defender
• Marcelo Saragosa, midfielder
• Michael Seaton, forward
• Conor Shanosky, midfielder
• Alam Syamsir, midfielder/forward
• Daniel Woolard, defender

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

Portland Thorns and US Women’s National Team forward Alex Morgan spoke with ESPN last week, and one of the topics was gay athletes:

On Robbie Rogers:

I remember watching Robbie in person at Columbus and he always caught my eye because he’s so fast. He’s quick. He’s a great soccer player. And I think that the US really needs someone who feels comfortable in their own skin and he is openly gay and he has semi come out of retirement right now training with Galaxy. So I hope he continues to feel comfortable and a team picks him up that he wants to play for. It looks good so far but all the best to Robbie.

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

Sporting Kansas City was the biggest success last year during our May ally recruitment drive. Could today be another boon as we ask players to join?

Last year was great, but players leave a team for a number of reasons. Sporting only has three allies remaining who all joined during last year’s push: Kevin Ellis, Jon Kempin, and Jimmy Nielsen.

Last year six Sporting players joined, more than any day yet this year. Help match that number this year by helping reach out to the players below. We’ll check our @gay4soccer handle and #soccerally hashtag for responses. And with matches tonight, don’t forget to also ask players in person when you can.

• Matt Besler, defender
• Claudio Bieler, forward
• Teal Bunbury, forward
• Aurelien Collin, defender
• Benny Feilhaber, midfielder
• Josh Gardner, defender/midfielder
• Peterson Joseph, midfielder
• Kei Kamara, forward
• Eric Kronberg, goalkeeper
• Mikey Lopez, midfielder – joined the list; thank you Mikey!
• Kyle Miller, defender
• Chance Myers, defender
• Paulo Nagamura, midfielder
• Lawrence Olum, defender
• Ike Opara, defender
• Jacob Peterson, forward
• Oriol Rosell, midfielder
• Soony Saad, forward
• C.J. Sapong, forward
• Seth Sinovic, defender
• Michael Thomas, midfielder
• Graham Zusi, midfielder

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

The Allies List has crossed the one hundred mark for Major League Soccer players represented and now it’s time for the San Jose Earthquakes to add to the ranks.

The Quakes have just been through a time of learning over the past few weeks following Alan Gordon’s use of a homophobic slur on the field, but the team already has a few allies. Mike Fucito took part in a Seattle-wide It Gets Better video while with the Sounders. Sam Garza and Dan Gargan both joined the list last season, and Dan Gargan represented the Chicago Fire last summer at an event for Equality Illinois.

Let’s get some Quakes to join this trio. Use the list below to ask players on Twitter to become allies by tweeting to us at @gay4soccer or with the #soccerally hashtag.

• David Bingham, goalkeeper – joined the list; thank you David!
• Cordell Cato, midfielder
• Marvin Chavez, midfielder
• Jason Hernandez, defender
• Adam Jahn, forward
• Steven Lenhart, forward
• Peter McGlynn, defender – joined the list; thank you Peter!
• Justin Morrow, defender
• Tommy Muller, defender
• Evan Newton, goalkeeper
• Brad Ring, midfielder
• Shea Salinas, midfielder
• Marcus Tracy, forward
• Chris Wondolowski, forward

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.

The Timbers Army led their fellow Portland Timbers fans in an anti-homophobia display prior to the team’s 3-0 victory over Chivas USA Sunday.

Anne Peterson of the Associated Press captured the display on video and posted it to YouTube:

It’s just the first of a bunch of displays like this we’ll be seeing over the next few weeks as supporters groups across Major League Soccer mark the International Day Against Homophobia coming up this Friday, May 17. Keep an eye on the stands across the League!

Several more images of the display coming up after the jump.

@gay4soccer #rctid twitter.com/Donkeygonga/st…

— Gilmer Gongora (@Donkeygonga) May 12, 2013

@gay4soccer Assume you saw this.Portland rules! #RCTID twitter.com/HiloRed6/statu…

— Neil Heassler (@HiloRed6) May 12, 2013

(via Shawn Levy)

#g4s writer gay4soccer and other talented contributors can be found at gay4soccer.