LOS ANGELES – Nike, the world’s largest sports company, has made an unprecedented $200,000 donation to the LGBT Sports Coalition, which aims to end anti-LGBT bias in sports. Campus Pride is one of the inaugural partners of the LGBT Sports Coalition. This is the first donation made to the Coalition, and it’s the largest donation ever made by the Nike LGBT & Friends employee network
Nike and the LGBT Sports Coalition held the first LGBT Sports Summit at Nike World Headquarters in June 2012, in conjunction with the launch of the company’s #BeTrue campaign. The donation to the Coalition is the result of the proceeds from their wildly successful 2013 #BeTrue line, released last June, which included special-edition running shoes, T-shirts and various other products.
“Today we need more corporations to speak up and take a stand against anti-LGBT bias and bullying in sports,” said Shane Windmeyer, executive director of Campus Pride. “All of us in the LGBT Sports Coalition appreciate Nike, their long-standing actions as an LGBT-inclusive company, and this remarkable donation to support our educational efforts as coalition partners. Nike believes in us, and that says a lot to LGBTQ young people in sports.”
The LGBT Sports Coalition is a network of organizations and individuals whose goal is to end anti-LGBT bias in sports by 2016. The Coalition was formally constituted at the Nike LGBT Sports Summit earlier this year. Its focus is to unite the entire movement and focus the collective energies of members on various projects aimed at this common goal.
The donation from Nike will be used to fund projects developed by Coalition members. Those projects are designed to create change amongst athletes, coaches, administrators and fans in K-12, college, recreational and professional sports.
“This is an incredible show of support from Nike to recognize the important work that needs to be done by the Coalition to create more LGBTQ-inclusive spaces in the sports community,” said Break The Silence executive director Nevin Caple. “The donation from Nike will allow coalition members to build upon our collaborative efforts and focus on implementing the powerful projects we have planned.”
