Moving gay rights toward the goal line

Support for gay rights has advanced faster and further than I think anyone would have guessed a decade ago. Marriage equality in nine states and the District of Columbia? Really, who would have thought it? Here's another one: If you'd said, a decade ago, that the president of the NFL Players Association would soon be writing about how he looks forward to the day when a professional football player comes out as gay during his career, most people would likely have been very surprised by that as well. And yet, Domonique Foxworth writes that, despite intending to write "a nice Black History Month piece no one can disagree with," he ended up feeling "compelled to write about a modern-day civil rights movement."

It is my hope that the next generation of athletes will not support a culture of ignorance and discrimination and that gay athletes will feel comfortable being open about their sexuality. As we saw in the civil rights movement in the 1960s, progress comes with education and dialogue. And, at least in football, I want to make sure we are creating a forum where both can occur and people embrace diversity.

Foxworth isn't out there alone as a pioneer in support for gay rights among football players, of course; this season saw high-profile support for marriage equality from players like the Minnesota Vikings' Chris Kluwe and the Baltimore Ravens' Brendon Ayanbadejo. Not to engage in negative stereotyping or anything, but jocks! Successful, professional jocks!

Like I say, this is an issue moving mindblowingly fast. And already there's an effort to give voters in at least one state the chance to keep moving it forward in 2014. That state is Oregon, and it would be great if you'd donate to the campaign to make marriage equality a reality in Oregon.