The lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other non-heterosexual or non-cisgender (LGBTQ+) community is prevalent within sports across the world.
There have been several notable openly athletes, including Jason Collins, John Curry, Orlando Cruz, and Billie Jean King. In 1982, the Gay Games was founded. Since then, many gay sporting organizations have been founded along with sporting events that feature gay athletes.
While overall, the trend is towards open acceptance of gay athletes,[1] the level of acceptance can vary due to factors such as the athlete's age, sport, and location. As a consequence of the existing homophobia in the sports community, there have been notable lawsuits fighting against this discrimination.