Despite no longer playing in the National Football League, Michael Sam, the first openly gay player drafted into the NFL, continues to pursue his love of football, taking on a job as a coach for a team in Spain.
Hired by the Barcelona Dragons, Sam, a former defensive end, will be an assistant defensive line coach, will be working with defensive linemen and edge rushers.
“I am extremely grateful for the opportunity joining the Barcelona Dragons organization,” Sam said in a statement published on the team’s Instagram page. “I want to thank GM Bart Iaccarino, HC Andrew Weidinger, and the Barcelona team. I hope to contribute however I can to help the defensive line to be the best pass rushers in the European League.”
Now 32 years old, Sam made history as the first openly gay player in the NFL when he was drafted by the St. Louis Rams in 2014. Although he was part of the team’s official 90-man preseason roster, and played a few preseason games, he failed to make the final 53-man roster and never played in a regular season game. He was later picked up by the Dallas Cowboys and added to their practice squad, but was released before ever seeing the field.
In May 2015, Sam made history again, signing with a Canadian Football League team (the Montreal Alouettes) and becoming the first openly gay player in the CFL. His time in the CFL would be rocky; at one point, Sam returned to his home in Texas due to unstated personal reasons. However, Sam did get the opportunity to play in an actual game for the Alouettes.
Sam’s football playing career would come to an end just a couple months later with him announcing retirement in August 2015 for mental health reasons.
Though Sam’s time playing professional football was brief, he made history twice — becoming the first openly gay player in two separate leagues. Now, he will have a chance to carve an even more impactful legacy as a coach.
Electronics retail giant Best Buy offered to screen donations from its employee resource groups going to LGBTQ organizations or causes after being pressured by a conservative think tank that holds shares in the company.
According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing recently made public, Best Buy engaged in a months-long email exchange with the National Center for Public Policy Research, a self-described "nonpartisan, free-market conservative think tank."
In those emails, which began on December 11, 2023, NCPPR sent the company a shareholder proposal asking the retailer to produce -- and distribute at its annual shareholder meeting in June -- a report analyzing how its partnerships with LGBTQ organizations benefit the company's business, according to NBC News.
On April 2, Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers vetoed a bill seeking to ban transgender student-athletes from competing on sports teams that align with their gender identity.
"I am vetoing this bill in its entirety because I object to codifying discrimination into state statute," Evers wrote in a lengthy veto message explaining his rationale for blocking the bill.
The bill had been overwhelmingly approved by the Republican-controlled Legislature last month.
Under the bill, Wisconsin public and private schools would be required to classify students based on their assigned sex at birth, which would be the only factor determining eligibility for participation in interscholastic, intramural, or club sports.
The construction of the highly anticipated LGBTQ nightclub "Town 2.0," which was slated to open in the former St. Phillip's Church building on North Capitol St. NE, has indefinitely stalled, raising questions about whether -- and when -- the promised nightlife venue will ever open.
On April 2, Town 2.0 LLC filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court against Jemal's Sanctuary LLC, an affiliate of Douglas Development Corporation and the owner of the former St. Phillip's Church building. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment.
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