LGBT athletes at Yale have convened to create a support group especially for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer athletes. Spanning from almost all sports category, these athletes met casually through mutual friend and acquaintances and in unison figured out the need for a support group.
According to Yale Daily News, the six founding members of the support group are all men who give top priority for LGBT women who experience locker-room issues. The group aims to accommodate this problem that subsists across genders. Although, an organization of the same nature have existed at Yale named "Athletes and Allies," it went biased and focused to the "Allies." Yale Daily News added.
Four of the group's founding members are namely: Timothy Cox, running, 17; Jake Leffew, golf, 19; Luc Ryan-Schreiber, rugby, 17; and Wayne Zhang, diving, 18. The other two are not yet totally out with their families but pledge full support to the group.
Ryan-Shchreiber has received support from his teammates, but has experienced homophobic attacks and slurs from their previous head rugby coach in his freshman season. At present, the said coach is no longer part of their team.
Since then, Ryan-Shchreiber has decided to put up the support group to shelter Yale's student-athletes. He met with the athletic department to discuss his plans. In the first meeting with the Senior Associate Athletic Director Brian Tompkins, the director asked Ryan-Shchreiber to look for other gay athletes.
Since then, these athletes have become exactly the kind of organization that helps LGBT athletes. They encourage questioning athletes to come out and be true and invite them to join the support group. Having a support structure for LGBT persons in sports and finding acceptance from their coaches, teammates and fans make campus life at Yale healthy.
At Yale, giving that space into the athletic department is an ingredient to greater sportsmanship.
