2011 was a watershed year in the fight to end homophobia and transphobia in sports. We have finally reached a tipping point when anti-gay slurs, silence and discrimination are no longer the accepted norms in sports. Increasing numbers of LGBT athletes are coming out, and many more straight allies are speaking up to support them. Joining established athletics-focused groups like NCLR sports project and Outsports.com, LGBT advocacy groups like GLSEN, It Gets Better and GLAAD are widening their focus to include sports. It seems as though more new organizations are also coming forward to fight discrimination in sports every few weeks. Each organization is doing something pivotal in this fight. Many work with high school sports, college althetics or professional sports; Furthermore focus is put on legal advocacy, outreach, and media.

However, homophobia and transphobia are persistent problems in sports that have silenced gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender athletes and coaches for much of the last century. Thanks to pioneers like former NFL player Dave Kopay, tennis great Martina Navartilova, and transgender professional tennis player Renee Richards, the climate for LGBT athletes and coaches began to shift three decades ago, unfortunately only marginally.

The current changes are riveting and reflect a shift in the culture of sports. Once dominated by discrimination and silence, a new climate of support and openness for LGBT athletes is emerging. The increasing numbers of groups focused on making sports a positive environment for everyone who wants to play or coach are catalysts in the pace of this ever-changing problem. However, our effectiveness in ending homophobia in sports has been limited because we are not working together efficiently. Despite being led by athletes and coaches whose success is built on communication and teamwork, most of these advocacy groups are not talking to one another. We all share the same goal, but we have not been playing like a team.

On June 14 in Braverton, Oregon, that will change. Thirty leaders who are actively advocating for LGBT equality in sports will come together at Nike LGBT Sports Summit. The goal of this ground-breaking event is to create a team game plan for ending homophobia and transphobia in sport that takes advantage of the strengths in each organization. The aim is to increase our ability to collaborate on bringing about the change we all are committed to.

To maximize the outcome of our collaborative efforts, we envision this summit as the first of an annual event. Our intention is to include other organizations and individuals who share our goals as we extend our network over the coming year. The 2013 summit will be open to everyone who is dedicated to the end of homophobia and transphobia in sports.

For the better part of three days, summit participants will identify and commit to completing specific action plans toward ending anti-LGBT discrimmination in sports. They will also forge inter-group relationships to carry out these action plans. The organizations involved with this inaugural summit include the American Alliance for Health Physical Education Recreation and Dance, Athlete Ally, Br{ach the Silence, Campus Pride, ESPN, Fearless campaign, Federation of Gay Games, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), It Gets Better campaign, National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Nike, Our Group, Outsports, Standup Foundation, and You Can Play project.

Thanks to Nike's commitment to making sports a respectful and inclusive experience for LGBT athletes, we have an opportunity to make the next 12 months an even more amazing year of progress for LGBT athletes and coaches at all levels of sports. We're also blessed to have the support of online sports leader SB Nation and worldwide tech leader Microsoft. The dedication of these companies, along with the organizations involved, opens an opportunity like never before to lake equality in sports a reality for all.

We hope that pioneers of our movement will be proud to see the progress we are forging in the foundation of their courage and determination. Together, we will end homophobia and transphobia in sports. We hope you will join us in the coming year.

Compiled from release

Last week the Human Rights Campaign released a report titled “Growing Up LGBT in America” based on survey responses from over 10,000 youth ages 13 to 17. This is the largest survey of its kind to date and serves as a useful reference for individuals and organizations working with LGBT youth.

Some notable statistics from the report include the following: 75% of LGBT youth respondents say that most of their peers do not have a problem with their identity as LGBT; 9 out of 10 are out to their close friends and 64% are out to their classmates; 56% are out to their immediate family and 25% are out to their extended family. Still, 47% say they do not "fit in" in their community, whereas only 16% of the non-LGBT youth sampled feel that way. Additionally, LGBT respondents were twice as likely as non-LGBT respondents to have been physically assaulted, kicked, or shoved at school.

HRC intends to release further reports on subtopics within the survey, including the experiences of youth of color and transgender youth, as well as issues such as home and family, school and peers, community and culture, and religion and faith. HRC plans to partner with local and national organizations in order to increase awareness of these issues and address the problems and concerns described by youth.

Campus Pride looks forward to these collaborations and encourages HRC to work with organizations that have a long-standing commitment to LGBT youth, including The Trevor Project (with whom HRC collaborated to promote the report), Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Network, Family Acceptance Project, Family Equality Council, and Campus Pride, as well as the many local LGBT youth organizations across the country. In addition, individuals and organizations interested in prior research on the experiences of LGBT youth should look to these organizations for additional studies and reports.

GSA Day from BARK BARK on Vimeo.

It is, perhaps, somewhat fitting that today's first-ever National Gay-Straight Alliance Day (www.gsaday.org or www.facebook.com/gsaday) should fall in the middle of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN)-sponsored No Name Calling Week. For years, LGBT young people have been at the forefront of anti-bullying efforts in their middle schools, high schools and colleges. The work these young people are doing is breathtaking. From working with teachers or administrators to collaborating with their peers, student leaders are helping to shape the future.

There even seems to be a breath of fresh air in some of the most ardently anti-gay organizations. Eagle Scout Bryan Wendell, the senior editor of the official Boy Scouts of America Scouting magazine blogged on Monday about No Name Calling Week. That the Boy Scouts, who still hold virulently anti-gay policies that prohibit openly gay or bisexual youth and young men from membership and leadership roles, would openly discuss and promote an anti-bullying event sponsored by an LGBT organization is a sure sign of progress. Young people -- no doubt influenced by their many peers organizing in high school or college LGBT student organizations -- are making strides to make their communities, organizations and, ultimately, our nation a better place.

Campus Pride's executive director, Shane Windmeyer, hit the issue right on the head in a press release today about National Gay-Straight Alliance Day.

“In many ways, Campus Pride has seen how high school GSA leaders continue activism into college and then on into the workplace and their communities,” Shane said (you can read the full release after the jump). “It is immeasurable the positive impact that our LGBT and ally youth leaders have had over the years. We're excited to finally have a national event to acknowledge these students and campus LGBT and ally groups."

Many of my friends and I serve today as examples of the kind of leadership students can start to learn and develop while in early, secondary and higher education. Like Scouting magazine's Bryan Wendell, I was a Boy Scout -- and a proud one, to boot. The organization taught me lessons and principles that are invaluable. And, like many of the student leaders shepherding change in secondary and higher education-level LGBT student organizations, I, too, was a leader of my high school's and college's gay-straight alliances. Looking back over more than 10 years of my life since, it's hard to imagine that my career in LGBT advocacy really did get a start in as simple of places as a high school gay-straight alliance and the Boy Scouts.

I hope you'll join with Campus Pride, Iowa Pride Network, GSA Network, GLSEN and the many, many others in taking time today to celebrate all of the young student leaders making a difference on their campuses and in their communities. Send out a special thank you and keep them in your thoughts. The youth of today are the leaders of tomorrow.

Read the full press release about today's National Gay-Straight Alliance Day after the jump...

"Pride," to me, is not just about my LGBTQ identity. While the word 'pride' has been powerfully rendered a symbol of our community by the decades of struggles - which are nothing short of heroic - on the parts of our LGBTQ brothers and sisters, I believe that it means more.