Is Will Neff gay? We’re the teenagers who arrive at their first ultimate casual game nervous and unsure of how to play. We are women who play female when necessary for proportional purposes.
We’re the guys who set an example for the neighborhood, giving everyone a chance to see the life-changing encounter we’ve all heard so much about. We adore ultimate and are gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) athletes.
Is Will Neff gay?
In a recent article, Will Neff asked the question. “Where are all the gay men in the ultimate community?” and explored the best ways to promote diversity and inclusion in our everyday interactions.
He spoke about his interactions with people, some of whom he later identified as gay, and others who he felt did not provide a supportive environment for LGBT athletes.
He provided guidance on how to improve our inclusion by changing the way we talk and understanding how certain advantages can be used to promote rather than hinder. The purpose of this reply is to educate him and others about some of the LGBT people, groups and contests that already exist, not to criticize his request.
LGBT athletes
After going through the comments on his article, it should be obvious that there are LGBT athletes who play ultimate. While this shouldn’t come as a surprise, it’s still surprising and nice to know how scattered we all are.
Will Neff An LGBT person who wants to play this great sport can do it in almost any city, just like ultimate can do it in almost any city. A quick Google search for “LGBT Ultimate League” or “LGBT Frisbee League” turns up numerous league ads in California, Chicago, and Washington, D.C., as well as Reddit links about players in the ultimate community facing this very issue.
LGBT League
As Will Neff has already said, there are LGBT ultimate leagues spread across the US and Canada. Big Gay Frisbee (BGF) Ultimate is working to reach out to these organizations and call on them to help build a communication network for LGBT athletes.
The Los Angeles-based organization has also identified other pockets of LGBT organizations, including BGF San Francisco, the UltimateOut group in Washington, D.C., and the Chicago Metropolitan Sports Association.
Even some of the organizations based in Toronto and Edmonton previously existed in Canada. These organizations show that there is a subset of LGBT ultimate players who have already created their own teams and divisions, much like the overall ultimate community.
politics
Anti-discrimination provisions go a long way toward ensuring acceptance of the LGBT community, although policies rarely interact with the larger community. Given the growing popularity of the MLU and AUDL and the long history of the USAU, many of their competitors are paid to compete, effectively making them sports employees.
With more than half of the US lacking anti-discrimination laws, it is now more important than ever to show solidarity with the LGBT community and promote participation. USAU, Austin Sol, and MLU are the only lead groups to publicly denounce HB2’s discriminatory language in North Carolina as of this writing.
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