Arts & Entertainment

GLSEN works for safe schools

Advocacy organization teams with Gaga, others for LGBT students

Published

13 years ago

January 17, 2013

Kevin Majoros

Lady Gaga (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

It’s been said that for social progress to occur, blood must be shed. One could spend a dissertation exploring the topic, but there’s evidence to support the concept. It will be interesting to see how things play out with U.S. gun laws after the Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo., massacres. But we’re far enough out to see some positive results come from the rash of gay teen suicides of 2010.

The Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN) is the leading national education organization focused on ensuring safe schools for all students. GLSEN’s initiatives strive to create healthy school climates by educating teachers, students and the general public about the value of respecting every individual regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Established in 1990 and now boasting 38 local chapters in the United States, GLSEN projects such as Day of Silence, ThinkB4YouSpeak and Changing the Game have grabbed national attention. Its staff has been working hard way before 2010, but those tragedies seemed to galvanize the organization with a spate of new programs and partnerships.

In November, GLSEN became a partner with Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Foundation to promote their shared missions by creating the Born Brave Bus tour, which includes pre-concert safe space tailgate parties.

GLSEN utilizes its own research department and national polling organizations to determine positive and negative changes in the national school climate. Its 2011 National School Climate Survey reached about 8,500 LGBT students.

Research indicators led to the creation of Changing the Game in 2011 whose mission is to assist K-12 schools in creating and maintaining an athletic and physical education climate based on the core principles of respect, safety and equal access for all.

“From our research studies, we found that less than 50 percent of LGBT students were participating in school sports,” says Robert McGarry, director of education at GLSEN. “We had been providing diversity training for educators for 20 years and found that it was time to fill the gap by providing education on managing a sports field or locker room.”

Most of the sports education tools, which include game plans for athletes, coaches, athletic directors, principals, physical education teachers and parents, were created by Project Director Pat Griffin.

Griffin is a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and the author of the book “Strong Women, Deep Closets: Lesbians and Homophobia in Sports.”

Getting the word out for a sports initiative targeted at K-12 schools is a little more difficult than for programs aimed at higher education that answer to the National College Athletic Association (NCAA) or the professional sports teams that answer to their respective commissioners.

To accomplish that task, Changing the Game reaches out to member organizations for coaches and athletic directors, attends national conferences and lends support to student alliance groups.

“Our research shows that coaches and physical education teachers are the least likely adult that a student will turn to with LGBT issues,” McGarry says. “Getting the word out to them is important to our mission.”

The need for projects like Changing the Game can be seen locally in the progression of the Team D.C. College Scholarship program.

The Team D.C. scholarships are aimed at local openly gay high school student athletes. When the program was established in 2008, the group struggled to get even one applicant.

After years of interactions with local educators and coaches, the 2012 scholarship board of directors had to choose from multiple applicants to narrow the awards down to six recipients.

Coming up for the Changing the Game project is an overhaul of its website to create a more youth-centric feel including an athlete all-star list.

The future looks bright for LGBT athletes considering the dedication of the people behind projects like Changing the Game. More information is at glsen.org.

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Sports

Jason Collins dies at 47

First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer

Published

21 hours ago

May 12, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

Jason Collins (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.

The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.

Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.

Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.

Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.

The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.

“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”

“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”

“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”

“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”

Photos

PHOTOS: ‘Studio 69’

Glitterati Productions hold party at Bunker

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Michael Key

'Studio 69' was held at Bunker on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

2 days ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP