Usain's Treble-Treble

Usain Bolt, the Jamaican sprinter who turns 30 on Sunday, today accomplished his “treble-treble” goal, by winning three gold medals (100m, 200m and the 4x100m relay) in three consecutive Olympics; Beijing 2008, London 2012 and Rio 2016.

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Some of our heroes never disappoint. Thank you, Usain!

...And the Winners Are...

Announcing the Asshole of the Day... @NicoHines  and @thedailybeast for outing closeted gay athletes at #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/4iWTjxRnGz

— Bock McMillan™ (@BockMcMillan) August 11, 2016

Read more about what qualified Nico Hines and The Daily Beast to this unusual honor at Joe.My.God.: Widespread Condemnation After The Daily Beast Effectively Outs Gay Olympians With Lurid Grindr Piece

Unlimited Courage

Clip Description
"On August 8, 2016 Nike aired a groundbreaking new ad during prime-time Olympic coverage. The ad gives a glimpse into Mosier's life, the questions he faces, and what motivates him to keep pushing forward. It's part of Nike's "Unlimited" campaign, which also features the likes of soccer star Alex Morgan, tennis champion Serena Williams, gymnastics phenom Simone Biles, and others.

In the video, Mosier confronts some of the unique uncertainties he faces as a trans athlete. Despite the unknown, he pushes forward."

Read more about the background to this story at Upworthy: Why it matters Nike is putting trans athlete Chris Mosier front and center in this new ad.

Climax - A 12 Hour Celebration

"Reach your climax as we celebrate out athletes and victories within the LGBT community from 12pm to 10pm SLT on February 22nd. We'll have plenty of music and dancing as we honor LGBT athletes who have overcome all odds and wowed us with their athletic talents.

Schedule:
DJ Jynxx 10am – 12pm
DJ Regi Yifu 12pm – 2pm
DJ LLedge 2pm – 4pm
DJ Gingersnap 4pm – 6pm
DJ Hotboy 6pm – 8pm
DJ Abi Bracken 8pm – 10pm

We look forward to seeing you at the Second Pride sim for this exciting event."

Say Thank You to Chris Kluwe

Our straight ally Chris Kluwe has yet again taken a stand against homophobia in sports, say thank you to him by signing this at Athlete Ally. Go here to sign (url)!
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"Whether as a staunch proponent of marriage equality, a vocal Ambassador for Athlete Ally, or a whistleblower at the workplace, Chris Kluwe's advocacy is rooted in his belief that we should always treat people the way we want to be treated. We are so grateful to Chris for doing everything he can to advance social change and for articulating his vision of fair play.

Dear Chris,

Thank you for standing by your principles and standing with the LGBT community, even under pressure. Every day you live up to the words of your recent Deadspin article "Never be afraid to do what's right. If no one ever says anything, nothing ever changes." Because of you, we are on the fast track to making sports a better, more inclusive place. We're grateful to have you on our side.

-The Athlete Ally Team and your supporters everywhere"

A Silent Protest

This is old news, but I still felt the need to blog about it as it shows us all - even opinionated loudmouths like myself - that one can sometimes convey a clear message extremely successfully and very subtly.

Emma Green Trégaro is a Swedish athlete and straight ally, who competed in high jump at the world championships in Moscow on Thursday. She colored her fingernails in rainbow-colors to show support for the LGBT community in Russia against the country's new homophobic law.

On a side note I would like to add that,  in my mind, Emma's second most notable achievement in life is catching and marrying a former crush of mine, the former high jumper and now successful trainer Yannick Trégaro.

You Can Play

(via J.M.G.)

"Locker rooms should be safe and sports venues should be free from homophobia. Athletes should be judged on talent, heart and work ethic, not sexual orientation." (The goal of You Can Play)
Brian Burke and Patrick Burke, honor the memory of their son and brother Brendan Burke by continuing his work against homophobia in sports. The website got operational today You Can Play - Gay athletes.Straight allies. Teaming up for respect.

"It's time to change the way the world thinks about athletes - both straight and gay. Talent, work ethic, and character are all that matters when evaluating a player. It's time for straight allies to show their character by enabling LGBT athletes to show their talents without fear. If you can play, You Can Play." 

Patrick Burke (co-founder)

In this video: Patrick Burke (Philadelphia), Brian Burke (Toronto), Rick Nash (Columbus), Duncan Keith (Chicago), Brian Boyle (New York), Matt Moulson (New York Islanders), Joffrey Lupul (Toronto), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia), Daniel Alfredsson (Ottawa), Scott Hartnell (Philadelphia), Corey Perry (Anaheim), Andy Greene (New Jersey), Dion Phaneuf (Toronto), Henrik Lundqvist (New York).