Are you LGBTQ+ or an active ally with a role in sports? We work to bring the community together through networking, advocacy, digital publishing, and more; read our FAQs and find out why we’re so passionate about sharing stories, and the help that we provide; see our calendar of upcoming events – February is LGBT+ History Month and the Football v Homophobia Month of Action…
Jump to… Connect | Calendar | Your news – get published! | Recent achievements
What is Sports Media LGBT+?

Back in the summer of 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.
With enthusiasm for such a group confirmed, Sports Media LGBT+ formally launched that November, with strong support from the Sports Journalists’ Association (SJA), BCOMS and other inclusion organisations.
Six years later, networking remains a fundamental function of the group – but our remit has widened into advocacy, campaigning, consultancy, digital publishing and events management. We create resources, deliver workshops and webinars, and offer scenario planning. We seek to help all those who want to play their part in making sports culture more LGBTQ+-inclusive and welcoming.

We believe in responsible representation in journalism, something that’s put into practice by many of our members through their work. We champion content that accurately reflects the experiences of lesbian, gay, bi and trans people, from athletes to administrators, coaches to commentators, match officials to media influencers, all the way from the elite to the grassroots.
Every story shared has the potential to empower and could help to change someone’s life for the better. We know too that being more visible can often be daunting so it’s important to focus on what you want to achieve and to have a support network in place. For those reaching out, whatever your situation, confidentiality is guaranteed.
Find out more in our About section.
How do I connect?
Beyond this website, you can find us 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 Twitter (11,400+) | Like us on Facebook (1,300+) | Follow us on Instagram (4,800+)
Private: Join over 600 people from around the world in our Community Group on Facebook | Or our Group on LinkedIn | Talk to us about our core members’ WhatsApp group

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, referees, and people working for FAs and governing bodies, all of whom are LGBTQ+ or active allies.
For enquiries on all the above, our DMs are open on social media and you can also email our main inbox or myself (Jon) here.
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 Football Writers’ Association. We are represented on the steering committees of both organisations.

In 2023, we will also be working more closely with our friends at BCOMS, Women in Football and The Ability Group in Sport (TAGS) 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 InterMediaUK, Pride Sports UK / Football v Homophobia, Kick It Out, LEAP Sports Scotland, Pride in Football, Racing Pride, and Out for Sport, to name 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 of 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 for anyone in a media or comms role looking for accessible, practical information about LGBT+ inclusion in sport.
These guides assist with the creation and 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.
We also contributed to BCOMS’ D Word 4 Guide, released in November 2022, which is essential reading for all working in sports media. The Guide highlights best practice on embedding ED&I into our industry, with summaries of the panel discussions at the D Word 4 event held earlier in the year.
Our learning provision extends to workshops, presentations and webinars, which can be tailored to fit your requirements.
We also have capacity to issue guidance on other associated topics – enquire to discuss.
Calendar of events / dates for your diary – coming up in 2023…
If you’re interested in attending / participating in any of the below and would like more info, contact us

- February – LGBT+ History Month – theme for 2023: ‘Behind the Lens’
- Feb – Football v Homophobia Month of Action
- Thu 9 Feb (7pm) – Stonewall ‘LGBTQ+ Sporting History’ live event on TikTok
- Thu 9 Feb (7.30pm) – Quiztorical! – Sports Media LGBT+ and West London Queer Project quiz night for LGBT+ History Month, raising money for akt (The Duchess, Hammersmith, West London)
- Fri 10 to Sun 12 Feb – National Student Pride (University of Westminster)
- Fri 10 to Sun 26 Feb – ICC Women’s T20 World Cup (South Africa)
- Fri 10 Feb (1.30pm to 4.30pm) – West London Queer Project event for LGBT+ History Month with Hounslow Council (Hounslow House)
- Sat 11 Feb (9.30am) – Touch Rugby Saturday Social from West London Queer Project / Pride in Touch (Grasshoppers RFC, Isleworth)
- Sun 12 Feb – Super Bowl LVII (Glendale, Arizona)
- Mon 13 Feb (1pm) – DMU Pride online event: ‘Football reflection – The beautiful game and LGBTQ+ rights and experiences’ (Zoom)
- Thu 16 Feb (6.30pm to 8pm) – Football 101 Skills Session – Brentford FC / West London Queer Project event (Gunnersbury Park Sports Hub, West London)
- Thu 16 Feb (7pm) – FvH Youth Panel event: ‘Reflecting on Qatar ’22 & LGBTQ+ Human Rights’ (Zoom)
- Thu 16 Feb (7.45pm) – Arnold Clark Cup: England vs South Korea (Milton Keynes)
- Fri 17 to Sun 26 Feb – Premiership Rugby supporting Rainbow Laces
- Fri 17 Feb to Sun 5 Mar – Sydney World Pride
- Sat 18 to Wed 22 Feb – World Gay Boxing Championships (Sydney, Australia)
- Sat 18 Feb (7pm) – Rainbow Rexes 5th Year Anniversary Dinner Dance – “a celebration of LGBT+ sports” (Angel, London)
- Sun 19 Feb – ParaPride 2023: Making LGBTQ+ History (Hackney, London)
- Sun 19 to Thu 23 Feb – IGLFA World Championship XXIV: 11-a-side Competition (Sydney, Australia)
- Sun 19 Feb (3.15pm) – Arnold Clark Cup: England vs Italy (Coventry)
- Wed 22 Feb (6pm) – FvH Cymru & Stonewall Cymru event: ‘Football: Everybody’s Game’ (Cardiff City FC)
- Wed 22 Feb (7.45pm) – Arnold Clark Cup: England vs Belgium (Bristol)
- Fri 24 Feb (from 6.30pm) – Football v Homophobia Awards Night (National Football Museum, Manchester) – buy tickets here!
- Sun 26 Feb (1pm) – FvH Scotland Tournament (Glasgow)
- Wed 1 March – Zero Discrimination Day
- Mon 6 Mar – SJA British Sports Journalism Awards (London)
- Wed 8 Mar – International Women’s Day – theme for 2023: ‘#EmbraceEquity’
- Wed 15 and Thu 16 Mar – Women in Football Be Inspired Conference (Wembley Stadium)
- Sat 18 Mar (KO 6.15pm) – Friendly football match vs Manchester Laces, raising money for Mermaids (West London)
- Fri 24 to Fri 31 Mar – Football v Transphobia Week of Action
- Fri 31 Mar – Trans Day of Visibility
- Fri 31 Mar – TRUK United FC matches (London)
- Sat 2 April (11am to 3pm) – London Royals Hockey Club presents Trans Sports Day (Wapping, London)
- Thu 6 Apr (7.45pm) – Women’s Finalissima: England vs Brazil (Wembley)
- Mon 24 to Sun 30 Apr – Lesbian Visibility Week
- Wed 26 Apr – Lesbian Visibility Day
- Thu 27 Apr – Kick It Out Raise Your Game conference (Emirates Stadium, London)
- Thu 27 to Sun 30 Apr – IGR Union Cup (Birmingham)
- Wed 3 to Thu 4 May – Include Summit (Manchester)
- Wed 17 May – International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia
- Wed 17 May – Rainbow Honours (National History Museum, London)
- Wed 24 May – Pansexual Visibility Day
- June – Pride Month
- Wed 21 June to Sat 8 July – UEFA European Under-21 Championship (Romania and Georgia)
- Thu 22 to Sun 25 June – European Football Fans Congress, hosted by the FSA (NW England)
- Sun 25 to Fri 30 June – IGLA LGBTQ+ Aquatics Championships (London)
- Wed 28 June – Anniversary of Stonewall Riots
- Sat 1 July – Pride in London
- Fri 14 July – International Non-Binary People’s Day
- Thu 20 July to Sun 20 August – FIFA Women’s World Cup (Australia and New Zealand)
- Wed 26 to Sat 29 July – EuroGames (Bern, Switzerland)
- Fri 28 July to Sun 6 August – Netball World Cup (Cape Town, South Africa)
- Sat 29 July – Pride in Touch Tournament (Glasgow)
- Fri 4 to Fri 11 Aug – Commonwealth Youth Games (Trinidad & Tobago)
- Fri 25 to Sun 27 Aug – Qeltic Games (Perth, Scotland)
- Sat 2 September – Bi Pride UK (People’s Palace, Mile End, London)
- Fri 8 Sep to Sat 28 October – Rugby World Cup (France)
- Tue 10 Oct – World Mental Health Day
- Wed 11 Oct – Coming Out Day
- Wed 18 Oct – International Pronouns Day
- Thu 19 Oct – Spirit Day
- Fri 3 to Sat 11 November – Gay Games XI (Hong Kong and Guadalajara)
- Mon 13 to Sun 19 Nov – Trans Awareness Week
- Mon 20 Nov – Trans Day of Remembrance
- Fri 1 December – World AIDS Day
Got news to share? Get published!
Our website welcomed over 50,000 visitors in 2022. It’s registered with Google News and when coupled with our ever-growing social media reach, which provides access to an attentive audience in the tens of thousands, we’re a go-to digital destination for a range of content related to being LGBT+ 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’ve also done a lot of podcasting in recent years, such as for Football v Homophobia and Pride House International.
Having good quality imagery to accompany your content makes a huge difference. 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 LGBT+ 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 2022 highlights…
Nov: Helped to collate and produce BCOMS’ D Word 4 Diversity Guide
Sep to Dec: Consultancy with Kick It Out on Qatar 2022 Working Group, to explore issues relating to LGBTQ+ inclusion in and around the FIFA World Cup
Sep / Oct: Published results of our second industry survey and presented findings at the first event held by the Sport Media Identity Network
Oct: Helped to organise an #AuthenticMe event at Strathclyde Students’ Union in Glasgow alongside Pride of the Terraces and LEAP Sports Scotland, supported by the SJA
Oct: Put on network group social night at Sixes Fitzrovia in London
July and Aug: Led on media and comms for the successful delivery of the Pride House Birmingham venues and project at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games
June: Put on an event in London to launch the LGBTQ+ Professionals in Football Collective
May: Provided consultancy and support to Sky Sports on Jake Daniels’ coming out story – for more on this, read an in-depth feature on PinkNews
Apr: Collaborated with Football v Homophobia campaign on new episodes of the FvH Podcast to mark Lesbian Visibility Week
Apr: Launched The Pride House Podcast, a series in support of Pride House Birmingham ahead of the Commonwealth Games
Sports Media LGBT+ is a network, advocacy, and consultancy group that is helping to build a community of LGBTQ+ people and allies in sport. We’re also a digital publisher.
We’re interested in your news and stories. Share with us and tap into a worldwide audience through our Google News affiliate website and our popular social channels with over 15,000 followers. Contact us to discuss how we can help you.