Parenting Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Transgender Athletes

In the last few weeks, three events have brought sex and sport to the forefront of public and media attention again, but, this time, two of the three stories have been positive, one even prompting President Obama to issue a statement of support.

The NBA's Jason Collins made history today by coming out as gay - the first time an NBA player has done so while still actively playing.

Nike's latest edgy ad in which Tiger Woods claims that, "Winning takes care of everything," has evoked a wide range of responses in the media, and, one might hope, around the family dinner table. After all, why miss a teachable moment when you're a parent of a young athlete? But what exactly is Nike's message, wonders one commentator on sports and society.

Despite progress in women's and LGBT rights, the way the mainstream media portrays non-conforming or sexually ambiguous athletes has not changed much in three decades, argues a leading expert on gender in sport, citing the treatment of Olympic athletes Caster Semenya (left) and Johnnie Weir.

The public television series In the Life goes inside the aggressive, homophobic world of sports to show how LGBT youth and allies are "Changing the Game."

For the first time, researchers have established a clear link between accepting family attitudes and behaviors towards their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) children and significantly decreased risk and better overall health in adulthood. The study shows that specific parental and caregiver behaviors -- such as advocating for their children when they are mistreated because of their LGBT identity or supporting their gender expression -- protect against depression, substance abuse, suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts in early adulthood. In addition, LGBT youth with highly accepting families have significantly higher levels of self-esteem and social support in young adulthood.

As a parent of a lesbian tween or teen, one of the things you will have naturally have to worry about is how your tween or teen daughter is going to do socially, not just at school and in general, but in extracurricular activities in particular, such as team sports.

A groundbreaking report sponsored by the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR) and It Takes A Team!, an Initiative of the Women's Sports Foundation, is urging high school and college athletic associations across the country to adopt standard policies to provide transgender student athletes fair and equal opportunity to participate on athletic teams.