Looking for help on something that’s related to LGBT+ inclusion in sports? You’re in the right place! We’re an industry network group, digital publisher, content creator, and media and comms consultancy that’s been working across the sports sector since 2017 – and we’re waiting to assist you…

By Jon Holmes

Jump to… Connect | Calendar | Your news – get published! | Recent achievements

What is Sports Media LGBT+?

In August 2017, a group of sports journalists, PR / comms professionals and community activists sat around a pub table in London, UK, to discuss the idea of a sports media industry network group for LGBT+ people and allies.

Sports Media LGBT+ formally launched three months later, with support from organisations such as the Sports Journalists’ Association (SJA) and BCOMS.

Eight years later, we’ve become much more than just a network group. We create and publish content for our digital platforms as well as for our partners and clients; we offer consultancy services related to media, PR and comms; we’re involved in campaigning and advocacy work; and we have experience in events management.

Furthermore, we produce resources; deliver workshops and webinars; and provide scenario planning and strategy advice. We’re here to help anyone in media and/or sports on all things related to LGBTQ+ inclusion.

We’re passionate about meaningful and responsible representation for our community in journalism, something that’s put into practice by many of our network members.

We champion content that accurately reflects the lived experiences of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people, from athletes to administrators, coaches to commentators, match officials to media influencers, from the grassroots to the elite.

We believe in storytelling in sports that has the potential to empower LGBTQ+ people around the world.

We are a trusted media organisation that prides itself on respect and guarantees confidentiality.

See our About section for more information.

Who’s involved?

Jon Holmes is the founder and lead of Sports Media LGBT+. He is a freelance journalist, editor and media consultant.

My current roles include being an editor with Outsports, the world’s leading website for sports news and commentary related to being LGBTQ+; a part-time journalist and sub-editor for Sky Sports and TNT Sports; the media and comms officer for the Football v Homophobia campaign; and I look after content and comms as part of my committee role with the Sports Journalists’ Association (SJA).

I also sit on the national committee of the Football Writers’ Association (FWA) and the steering committee of InterMedia UK, and I’m a director of Racing Pride, the LGBTQ+ inclusion in motorsport CIC.

I have over 20 years of experience in producing digital sports content, specialising in ED&I. I previously led on business support for Rainbow Laces at Sky Sports during my full-time employment with the company.

I was part of the team that delivered the Pride House Birmingham project at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and I was shortlisted in the ‘Outstanding Contribution to LGBT+ Life’ category at the 2022 British LGBT Awards.

As part of my work on Football v Homophobia, I help to deliver the annual Month of Action, events such as the FvH Awards and Football Pride, plus educational projects.

I am supported at Sports Media LGBT+ by colleagues from across my industry and by ED&I professionals in the wider sports space. You can read about some of our network members in Our Stories in Sport.

Follow me on Bluesky or X (Twitter) and check out my portfolio of work.

How do I connect?

Beyond this website, you can find Sports Media LGBT+ on several social media platforms where we provide relevant news and info, such as recommended content, job opportunities, and event promotion…

Public: Follow us on Bluesky | Follow us on X / Twitter | Like us on Facebook | Follow us on Instagram | And we’re on Threads | and LinkedIn

You can establish closer ties with us via the following platforms…

Private: Be a part of our network by joining over 600 people from around the world in our Community Group on Facebook | Or connect further with us by asking to join our Group on LinkedIn

Do you have a role in sports media or content creation? Are you LGBTQ+ yourself or a strong, active ally?

We have over 80 core members in our network WhatsApp chat, from all over the world – get in touch if you’re interested in being part of this group (industry colleagues only).

The WhatsApp chat is a welcoming space where sports media professionals who are LGBTQ+ can share, promote, discuss and find help / support on a variety of topics.

We also help to operate the LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective, which is an industry network for those working in the game in pro or semi-pro roles.

The Collective provides safe access to advice and connections with fellow players in the men’s and women’s games, coaches and managers, match officials, and people working for FAs and governing bodies, all of whom are LGBTQ+ or active allies.

It’s supported by The FA, PGMOL, Football v Homophobia, Kick It Out and other organisations.

For enquiries on all of the above, our DMs are open on social media, you can email our main inbox, or email myself (Jon) here. Naturally, confidentiality is guaranteed.

Find out more about connecting on our Contact page where you can also sign up to our mailing list for occasional newsletters.

Who do you work with?

Sports Media LGBT+ prides itself on being a collaborative group that promotes the inclusion work of others.

We continue to be backed by the SJA – our industry’s biggest membership group – and we have an important partnership with the FWA. Our network is strongly represented on the steering committees of both organisations.

In 2025, we are continuing to work more closely with our friends at BCOMS, Women in Football, The Ability Group in Sport (TAGS) and Brown Girl Sport as part of an intersectional diversity in sports media alliance project.

These groups are also members of the Sport Media Identity Network, an academic research initiative funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

We are hugely grateful for the mutually supportive relationships we enjoy with Pride Sports UK / Football v Homophobia; Kick It Out; the Football Supporters’ Association (FSA); LEAP Sports Scotland; Pride in Football; Racing Pride; and Out for Sport, to name but a few.

In addition, we offer support to a host of other sports clubs, societies, and organisations by raising awareness of their activities through the media.

See more about our connections on our Links page. If you’re interested in working with us, please get in touch.

Resources and learning

In 2022, we produced an LGBT+-specific Media Guide for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as part of our work on Pride House Birmingham.

This was an updated and bespoke version of ‘Rainbow Ready’, a resources pack created to assist anyone in a media or comms role looking for accessible, practical information about LGBT+ inclusion in sport.

These guides assist with the production of content about athletes, coaches, administrators and those in associated roles who are lesbian, gay, bi, and trans, outlining the types of messages an individual or group might want to convey and how to best deliver these to different audiences.

For Pride Month in June, we offer a dedicated resource and additional material.

Looking for guidance on workplace culture and LGBTQ+ inclusion in the sports media? Learnings from our most recent survey offer valuable insights that can help you create newsroom environments in which all employees can thrive.

Building on this, we also contributed to BCOMS’ D Word 4 Guide, released in November 2022, which is essential reading for all working in our industry. The Guide highlights best practice on embedding ED&I, with summaries of the panel discussions at the D Word 4 event held earlier that year at News UK.

Our learning provision on all the above and other topics extends to workshops, presentations and webinars, which can be tailored to fit your requirements.

We have successfully delivered these to organisations including the EFL, the Football Association of Wales, Sky Sports, the Premier League Charitable Fund, and the Sport and Recreation Alliance.

We have the capacity to meet your requirements – enquire to discuss.

Calendar of events / dates for your diary – coming up in 2025…

Interested in attending/participating in any of these and would like more info? Want your event listed here? Contact us!

• Sat 18 to Sun 26 January – England Ice Hockey Pride Week
• Fri 24 Jan – Australian Open Pride Day and Glam Slam tournament
• Wed 29 Jan (evening) – Football v Homophobia Month of Action launch event (Bolton Wanderers FC)
• February – Football v Homophobia Month of Action
• Feb – LGBT+ History Month (UK) – theme for 2025: ‘Activism and Social Change’
• Thu 6 Feb – Time to Talk Day
• Feb – EFL’s Rainbow Ball activation (dates tbc)
• Mon 10 Feb (6.30pm) – LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Football event in support of FvH (London City Hall)
• Sat 15 Feb (from 11.30am) – West London Queer Project Festival of Football (Grasshoppers RFC, Isleworth)
• Wed 19 Feb – International Day Against Homophobia in Sports
• Wed 26 Feb – Metro Pride Awards (London)
• Sat 1 March – Zero Discrimination Day (UNAIDS)
• Fri 7 Mar (evening) – Football v Homophobia Awards (Glasgow) – get tickets here!
• Sat 8 Mar – International Women’s Day
• Thu 20 Mar (evening) – proposed event in London, save the date!
• Tue 25 to Mon 31 Mar – Football v Transphobia Week of Action
• Wed 26 Mar – Women in Football ‘Be Inspired’ Conference (Wembley, London)
• Mon 31 Mar – International Transgender Day of Visibility
• Mon 21 to Sun 27 April – Lesbian Visibility Week
• Thu 24 Apr – Football Black List (London)
• Sat 26 Apr – Lesbian Visibility Day
• Mon 5 to Sun 11 May – Trans+ History Week
• Thu 8 May (7pm) – Rainbow Blades 5th Birthday Ball (Sheffield)
• Sat 17 May – International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia – theme for 2025: ‘The power of communities’
• Sat 24 May – Birmingham Pride
• June – Pride Month
• Sat 7 June – World Pride 2025 (Washington D.C.)
• Sun 15 June to Sun 13 July – FIFA Club World Cup (USA)
• Sat 21 June – Pride Cymru (Cardiff)
• Wed 2 to Sun 27 July – UEFA Women’s Euros (Switzerland)
• Sat 5 July – Pride in London
• Wed 23 to Sat 26 July – EuroGames (Lyon, France)
• Sat 2 August – Brighton Pride
• Fri 22 Aug to Sat 27 September – Women’s Rugby World Cup (England)

Got news to share? We can help!

Our website welcomed tens of thousands of visitors in 2024. It’s registered with Google News and when coupled with our ever-growing social media reach, which provides access to an engaged audience, we’re a go-to digital destination for a range of content related to being LGBTQ+ in sports.

We encourage you to reach out to us for guidance through the media maze – perhaps you’ve put together a press release, or you’ve written a personal blog post that deserves to be read more widely? We can help you get your content published, drive traffic, and achieve your goals.

We’re also proficient in podcasting, having devised and delivered episodes and spin-off material for Football v Homophobia and Pride House International.

Having good quality imagery to accompany your content makes a huge difference. But whatever your pitch, please send it our way – and if you’re keen to reach a really big audience, our network members who work for major platforms and publishers are on hand to discuss further.

Meanwhile, if you’re already creating content, shout about it! Our Recommended page lists a variety of websites, podcasts and other outlets that cover the LGBTQ+ experience in sports, as well as a list of editors and journalists who regularly cover this topic and related themes.

To ask to be added, get in touch.

Our recent achievements

Here are some of our major highlights from 2024…

December: Covered the annual Rainbow Laces campaign activation with an opinion column published in The Times newspaper, website articles, and an FvH Podcast episode, one of eight original conversations we produced for the campaign throughout the year

November: Julia Belas represented SMLGBT+ at BCOMS‘ D Word 5 Conference; delivered session at PGMOL ED&I Conference

July, August and September: Produced dedicated and extensive ‘Team LGBTQ’ coverage for Outsports at the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris (see our Review of the Year for details)

June: Organised and delivered the Football Pride event at Chelsea FC; bespoke Pride Month sessions for Two Circles and Wasserman UK

March: Staged a sports media event for the Diversity Sport Alliance / Sports Journalists’ Association; co-ordinating media opportunities for the Football v Transphobia Week of Action

January / February: Helped to deliver the annual Football v Homophobia Month of Action, organising two major events – the MoA launch at Westminster and the FvH Awards in Manchester

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The Sports Media LGBT+ website is a digital publishing hub for news, stories and opinion from across our global community of LGBT+ people and allies in sport – and it’s open to all.

We’re interested in your content. Share with us and tap into a worldwide audience through our Google News affiliate website and our popular social channels with over 20,000 followers. Contact us to discuss how we can help you.