Pat Griffin's LGBT Sport Blog

On Wednesday, April 27 the NCAA announced that the Board of Governors was instituting a new requirement for sites hosting or bidding on NCAA events.  Current and future hosts for NCAA events wi...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2016/05/ncaa-takes-small-and-disappointing-step.html

March 21, 2016 An Open Letter From: The Common Ground Leadership Team We are a committee comprised of sports educators including members of the LGBTQ community and faith community who w...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2016/03/seeking-common-ground-people-of-faith.html

I highly recommend Kate Fagan's memoir. In fact, I would go so far as to say that anyone who wants to understand how homophobia affects women in sport, this is required reading. The Reappeari...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2014/05/the-reappearing-act-by-kate-fagan.html

It’s the start of a new year and it’s my birthday. Both are great occasions to reflect on the past and look to the future.  I have been an active and out lesbian LGBT sports advocate and ed...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2014/01/women-in-lgbt-sports-equality-movement.html

Last week I just happened to turn on CNN at the exact moment that President Obama walked into the White House press conference to make a surprise statement in the aftermath of the Trayvon Martin...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2013/07/making-connections-white-privilege-in.html

On Tuesday Outside the Lines aired a segment featuring a video of Mike Rice, the Rutgers men’s basketball coach, physically, emotionally and verbally bullying players on his team during pract...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2013/04/psychotic-coach-behavior-have-we-really.html

In December, Bev Kearney, the highly successful women’s track and field coach at the University of Texas, was looking forward to a new contract from the university with a substantial raise.  ...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2013/03/coaches-athletes-and-sex-not-good-game.html

If you peruse professional biographies for coaches, administrators and other staff on collegiate athletic department websites, you will notice a common characteristic of the vast majority: At th...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2013/02/the-power-of-one-sentence-heterosexism.html

Russia is sending a message to LGBT people, but it is definitely not a love note.  As much of the western world is moving toward greater acceptance and legal protections for LGBT people, Russia...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2013/02/from-russia-but-not-with-love_18.html

Over the last several months an impressive number of high profile straight men in sport have stepped forward to speak out publicly in support of marriage equality and the inclusion of LGBTQ ...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2013/01/straight-women-allies-in-sport-rare.html

For someone like me who has made a career advocating for the elimination of the discrimination and harassment that LGBT people experience in sport, it has been a dizzying two years of progress.�...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/10/the-incredible-omnipresent-yet.html

This is what the banner said. The banner was held up by student spectators at a nationally televised high school football in Alabama.  You can read about it here .  The purpose of the banne...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/09/purple-man-thats-so-gay.html

The London Olympic Games begin in a little over a week so, of course, speculation begins about the number of openly LGBT athletes will be competing.  This Advocate article identifies a handful...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/07/olympics-are-coming.html

Keelin Godsey is a world class athlete who competes in the women’s hammer throw. Keelin recently placed fifth in the US Olympic Trials, narrowly missing the cut for the team going to London...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/07/keelin-godsey-talks-about-his.html

Megan Rapinoe, in an interview with Out Magazine, clarified a statement she made in an earlier interview with Kick TV that seemed like she was coming out, but only if you paid close attention....

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/07/us-soccer-star-megan-rapinoe-to-world.html

This week we celebrate the 40th anniversary of the passage of Title IX.  For anyone who still does not know what Title IX is – it’s a federal law passed in 1972 that prohibits sex discri...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/06/40-years-and-counting-title-ix-and-road.html

I am very proud to be a part of a first ever event - A Summit on LGBT sports hosted by Nike.  Read the blog that Helen Carroll of NCLR, Cyd Zeigler of Outsports and I wrote about this event here...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/05/nike-hosts-lgbt-sports-summit.html

In December, 2010 I blogged about a lawsuit filed by Katie Brenny, a lesbian golf coach at the University of Minnesota who alleged that she was discriminated against on the basis of her sexu...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/05/update-on-lesbian-golf-coachs-lawsuit.html

Ron Brown, an assistant football coach at the University of Nebraska, has been on the public hot seat since he spoke against a proposed Omaha city ordinance banning discrimination based on sexua...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/05/coaching-and-preaching-when-football.html

Yesterday Campus Pride launched their Out To Play Project, an initiative focused on fostering LGBT equality in collegiate sports, with their first ever list of “The Best of the Best” college...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/05/measuring-lgbt-equality-in-sports.html

I saw the documentary Bully yesterday. It is a powerful film that should be required viewing for every K-12 educator and all students preparing to be K-12 educators. It is also important for stu...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/04/bully-documentary-sends-powerful-and.html

Here is an excellent article that explores the state of women in coaching and discusses the disturbing statistics that tell us the number of women coaching women’s teams has declined even as t...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/04/it-gets-better-not-for-women-coaches.html

First, let me apologize for my absence. I needed to take a break from blogging for awhile, but I am rejuvenated and back. This It Gets Better video made by the NYU Athletics Department is a g...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/04/nyu-athletics-department-delivers.html

In the space of two weeks reporters for national media have gotten themselves into hot water for tweets about sporting events. First up – Roland Martin of CNN who was disturbed by the David Be...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/02/sexist-tweets-ok-racist-tweets-not-so.html

This week Joe Paterno, the former Penn State iconic football coach, was laid to rest. In his 46 years as the Nittany Lions coach, he accomplished athletic goals most coaches can only dream of: Na...

http://ittakesateam.blogspot.com/2012/01/power-penn-state-and-joe-paternos.html