Because soccer isn't gay, but once in awhile it kinda is.
Issues
Soccer Ally May: Chicago Fire
05/09/13
The club spoke out for LGBT athletes this week, but with two players currently on the Allies List, the Chicago Fire are the next up in our May recruitment drive.
Last season the Fire had players appear at a cocktail hour put on by an LGBT rights organization and staffers pied in the face for the cause. But current players Dilly Duka and Paolo Tornaghi both signed on as allies at this same time last year.
Let’s add some players from this team that has shown great support in the past. Use the list below to ask players to join; we’ll keep an eye on our @gay4soccer Twitter handle and #soccerally hashtag for their replies. And if you’re a Fire fan–or fan of any team–and want to sign on you can do that here.
Soccer Ally May: Colorado Rapids
05/08/13
Two days into our May recruitment push for our Allies List and we already have five new players signed on so let’s keep up that great pace with the Colorado Rapids.
As with our other teams so far this week the Rapids are represented by only one player on the list, and that’s only by way of an offseason trade: Nathan Sturgis whom they acquired from Houston in December.
So let’s push for another good day today. We’ll keep an eye on our @gay4soccer mentions and the #soccerally hashtag for players up for joining. And there is midweek action tonight so if you’re in a place where you meet up with a player you can ask them in person.
Here’s the list of players from the Colorado Rapids on Twitter:
Chicago Fire Lobbies in Support of LGBT Athletes
05/08/13
The Chicago City Council votes on a resolution supporting LGBT athletes today, and the Chicago Fire were among those speaking in favor of it at hearings yesterday.
As part of the hearings Dan Lobring, Senior Director of Communications, shared the club’s support of Robbie Rogers, their work with Chicago Pride last year, and the work of the Section 8 supporters group and their diversity tifo last April.
Major League Soccer and the Chicago Fire are certainly ahead of the curve when it comes to the goals of the resolution, which calls on the leadership of professional sports leagues to hand down sanctions for use of homophobic language from players. It also calls for commissioners to publicly state support for out athletes, which we have seen Don Garber do several times since Robbie Rogers’ coming out in February.
(Update 1 PM CT)
The resolution supported by the Fire was passed unanimously by the Chicago City Council!
Soccer Ally May: Chivas USA
05/07/13
After a successful first day with the Montreal Impact our month-long push to add professional soccer players to our Allies List, we continue with Chivas USA.
Goalkeeper Dan Kennedy is currently the only Chivas player on our list. And as the face welcoming LGBT fans to the team’s pride night a few years ago he was one of the first players we included. Montreal increased from one to four yesterday. Can Chivas USA do the same?
Players can tweet at our @gay4soccer handle or use the #soccerally hashtag for inclusion on the list. You can also check out this post for our new way to ask players from any team, any league to join in person. And fans can join now as well using this web form.
But now onto the Chivas.
Houston Dynamo Supporters Group Repeatedly Tweets Homophobic Slurs
05/06/13
An officially recognized supporters group of the Houston Dynamo is tweeting homophobic slurs without apology.
Don’t want these words on the main page of the site, so images of the offending tweets after the jump.
Updates from the Dynamo, an apology from the group, and details on a conversation I had with the group’s leadership are all also after the jump.
Soccer Ally May: Montreal Impact
05/06/13
Our team by team recruitment drive for professional soccer players to join our Allies List begins today with the Montreal Impact.
This is our second time spending May going team by team through Major League Soccer asking players to sign on as allies of the LGBT community. You can also ask players of any team, any league to join in person to grab those who aren’t on social media. And of course, you can join yourself.
Defender Jeb Brovsky was the only player we added from the Montreal Impact last may, and ally Justin Braun was traded to Salt Lake and now Toronto leaving Brovsky the only ally on our list.
So let’s get the month started off in a big way; Montreal certainly has a big enough list of players on Twitter. We’ll be asking and so can you. Just have players tweet their support using our @gay4soccer handle or the #soccerally hashtag. We’ll be keeping an eye on both.
Here we go!
Soccer Ally May: This Year, It’s Live
05/03/13
by gay4soccer
in Issues
Last year, dozens of professional players all signed onto our Soccer Ally list in May as part of our team by team effort to recruit LGBT supportive folks in the soccer community.
Starting Monday we’ll start a recruitment push over social media team, from the clubs with one ally a piece to those who have the most with eight.
Social media is great for many, but it’s not the best way to reach everybody. Some supportive players just don’t use Twitter. There are others who use social media but our message just doesn’t get through. And there are leagues and teams that just don’t make social media as prominent as much as Major League Soccer does.
We want to reach out to all those people, and we’d like you to help.
Robbie Rogers Speaks to CNN and ABC
04/30/13
Robbie Rogers tweeted this photo of his interviewer Amy Robach and him.
CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 and ABC’s Nightline both aired previously recorded interviews with Robbie Rogers last night in the wake of NBA player Jason Collins coming out.
They were originally scheduled to air two weeks ago, but the breaking news from Boston have obviously been a priority for coverage since the Marathon bombings. It would be interesting to see the interviews in their entirety or as they were originally intended to air, as they have been clearly cut to fit into the narrative of the day.
With Anderson Cooper on CNN’s AC360:
The Anderson Cooper interview brought the quote of the night from Robbie Rogers:
There’s a good chance that I might come back to [soccer] but I need a few months to chill out, hang out with my family, go surf in California, just relax.
Midnight Riders to Hold Pride Night May 25
04/26/13
by gay4soccer
in Issues
The Midnight Riders, the largest and oldest supporters group of the New England Revolution, will be holding their first Pride Night on May 25th when the Revs take on Toronto FC.
The Revs haven’t yet had a Pride Night of this caliber themselves, so the Midnight Riders are taking the reins (pun intended) themselves, with a number of displays and other observances. The match takes place the weekend between the International Day Against Homophobia and Boston’s Pride Week celebrations.
The Riders will have special banners and flags throughout their section for the match, in addition to tossing rainbow streamers to kick off each match and for every goal scored by the home side. They will also be selling stickers and pins with proceeds going to BAGLY, a Boston-area organization that provides services for LGBT youth.
It’s great to see such a great ally stepping up in this way and making their May 25 match such a special event with a supporter-started Pride Night!
Go Midnight Riders!
UCLA Says You Can Play
04/22/13
by gay4soccer
in Issues
UCLA student athletes and coaches released the latest You Can Play video last week, which includes both the men’s and women’s soccer teams.
UCLA boasts having more athletes from their university represented in Major League Soccer than any other school, with 22 former players now on MLS squads. New England’s Kelyn Rowe, Vancouver’s Jordan Harvey, Salt Lake’s Tony Beltran, Philadelphia’s Amobi Okugo, and Portland’s Sal Zizzo are all former Bruins who are on our Allies List.
