‘Football is Gay’: NFL Pledges Support for LGBTQ Community One Week After Carl Nassib Becomes First Active Player to Come Out
One week after Carl Nassib became the first active NFL player to announce he is gay, the league released a new commercial, pledging their support for the LGBTQ+ community.
The 30-second commercial opens with the message “Football is gay,” as light cheering begins to build in the background.
“Football is lesbian. Football is beautiful. Football is queer,” the video adds. “Football is life. Football is exciting. Football is culture. Football is transgender…Football is bisexual. Football is strong.”
If you love this game, you are welcome here. Football is for all. Football is for everyone.
The NFL stands by the LGBTQ+ community today and every day.
For more information on how you can help the @TrevorProject, visit https://t.co/YtauzLAHIF pic.twitter.com/bkdWkAZ3vF
— NFL (@NFL) June 28, 2021
The messages continue, “Football is freedom. Football is American. Football is accepting,” before closing with “Football is for everyone.”
The commercial comes out as Pride Month nears an end, but according to Outsports, a spokesperson for the NFL acknowledged the video was created as a direct response to Nassib’s announcement that he is gay.
“I am proud of the clear message this spot sends to the NFL’s LGBTQ+ fans: This game is unquestionably for you,” NFL senior director of diversity, equity and inclusion, Sam Rapoport, added to Outsports. “I will be playing its first line over and over in my head all season.”
When Nassib came out publicly last week, the Las Vegas Raiders defensive lineman also donated $100,000 to the Trevor Project, a nonprofit that provides assistance and suicide prevention for LGBTQ youth. The end of the NFL’s commercial features support of The Trevor Project, stating “LGBTQ+ youth with at least one accepting adult in their lives have 40 percent lower risk of attempting suicide.”
