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Are Gay Athletes Protected Against Discrimination?
Author: Scarinci Hollenbeck, LLC
Date: April 16, 2014
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In the past year, both Jason Collins and Michael Sam came out as the first gay male athletes actively participating in a sport.
Most recently, UMass Amherst basketball player, Derrick Gordon, came out.
One would think this isn’t an issue in sports locker rooms, but last year’s bullying issue with the Miami Dolphins showed differently. For this reason, it is important to bring up the discrimination laws that protect these men in the workplace, locker room or playing field.
Lack of Discrimination Laws
There is currently no federal law that protects gays against workplace discrimination despite multiple attempts to pass such legislation. However, numerous states have laws in place that prohibit sexual orientation discrimination in public and private jobs. These are present in California, Colorado, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Washington and Wisconsin – all of which have professional sports franchises. With such laws in place, any athlete found to be harassing or discriminating against a gay teammate could face legal issues.
Sports teams also have to make sure they are providing a safe work environment for athletes. In the Jonathan Martin and Richie Incognito bullying case, the Miami Dolphins were accused of having an unsafe locker room environment, as Martin felt unsafe being at work.
In the coming years, player’s associations across professional sports may begin to treat workplace safety and discrimination more seriously. In fact, it could even become a major topic of conversation during collective bargaining. After the incident with the Miami Dolphins, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the NFL Player’s Association and owners come to an agreement for stricter locker room discrimination and safety practices in the next collective bargaining agreement.
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