Free won an Emmy Award for his work on the Daily Show in 2015. Free previously wrote for the Daily Show on Comedy Central and Any Given Wednesday with Bill Simmons on HBO.
Now, Free writes for the late night news satire show Full Frontal with Samantha Bee on TBS. Even in the NCAA, the topic of sexuality isn't much of a cultural norm, so he was a brave soul to admit something that big. He was one of the few Division I men's basketball players who have came out. Unfortunately, injuries like a torn meniscus in his right knee halted his dreams of playing in the NBA, and he apparently didn't want to play overseas.įree made headlines in 2011 when he came out as bisexual. Free had his chances to earn a starting role, despite the struggling program. However, Free chose to stay local and played college basketball for the California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). Travon Free is another example of a "what if." The Los Angeles Times described Free as "the team's best player" in 2002 when he started playing basketball at Dominguez High School in Compton, Calif. Here are eight basketball players who identify as LGBT and seven straight allies. Same goes for the straight allies you're about to come across. There's nothing wrong with either type of person.įrom the first LGBT NBA player John Amaechi to Golden State Warriors president and former Seattle SuperSonics ball boy Rick Welts, you're sure to recognize some, if not all, of the names on this list. Moreover, there are also straight allies who support the LGBT community, most likely because they have friends and/or family who identify as LGBT. The NBA and its fans may not agree with the personal statements the NBAers make about themselves, but you can't evade the fact that there are LGBT athletes in every sport. This includes NBA players and just athletes in general. They won't be accepted by everybody, but they'll at least get a heavy load off of their chest. It's fairly important for LGBT people to come out of the closet. The LGBT rights movements began to support bisexuals in 1972, which caused an uproar among some folks, but it is what it is.
The LGBT movement emerged as early as the 1870s, but homosexual rights groups didn't appear until after World War II in September 1945. Sure, there aren't as many LGBT folks as there are straight folks, but you still have to keep in mind that 10 million Americans, which is four percent of the population, identify as LGBT. The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) community remains a hot topic in the United States.