Inclusiveness is an ongoing battle within the world of sports, as multiple events throughout the last year have displayed anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments to their communities.
One of the biggest to occur was the FIFA World Cup, as it was publicly known that its host country Qatar has a history of homophobic practices and laws.
According to an investigation from Human Rights Watch, there have been multiple reports of Qatari police beating and harassing of LGBTQ+ individuals because of their gender expression.
This has caused professional soccer players like Australian player Josh Cavallo, one of the only top-flight players to come out as gay, to speak out about the homophobic country.
In an interview with CNN, Cavallo says that although he wouldn’t be scared to visit the country since he is in the public eye, he worries about the wellbeing of those who visit and or even live in countries like Qatar.
Even though these physical dangers are less likely to occur within the United States, some individuals do share anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments.
Professional hockey player Ivan Provorov didn’t take part in last Tuesday’s Pride Night for the team. While other players from the Philadelphia Flyers were wearing Pride jerseys during their warm up, Provorov refused to wear one, citing his religious beliefs as reason to not participate.
While Provorov claimed that he respects everyone and their choices, many individuals, including Senior NHL Columnist Pierre LeBrun, spoke out against the statement.
“If he did respect everyone, he would have taken part in warm-up and worn the Pride Night jersey. Don’t hide behind religion,” LeBrun wrote in a quote tweet.
Mainstream sports aren’t the only ones dealing with these issues, as the esports community continues to fight for inclusivity. But that hasn’t stopped players from organizations like Faze Clan to speak out against its organization’s inclusivity sentiments.
Faze member Virus, real name Talal Almalki, responded to Faze’s official Pride Month tweet in a now deleted tweet, saying that because he is Muslim, he does not support gay rights, even if his organization does.
This caused backlash within the Faze and gaming community, asking for Almalki to be removed from the group.
It wasn’t until Tuesday that Almalki made the announcement that he is leaving Faze.
According to a video posted on YouTube in Arabic and information shared in English by esports reporter Jake Lucky, Almalki says he was barred from social media, events and deals from the organization and wasn’t treated the same as other members.
As these challenges within the sports community continue, some groups are fighting to make the sports community safe and open to all.
Nonprofit organizations like Pride in Football advocate to let LGBTQ+ fans of soccer to attend games as their true selves.
“We [the fans] are the backbone of the game – listen to us, especially when we are trying to make football a better environment for all,” Pride in Football said in an official statement against the FIFA World Cup.
Even with these setbacks and events, the LGBTQ+ and sports community continue to try and make sports inclusive for all and to kick homophobia out of stadiums for good.