In an effort to support and advance gender equality in all sports, the Seattle Seahawks have teamed up with Athlete Ally. The announcement was made on the team’s official website.
Athlete Ally is a non-profit organization which the Seahawks and four other Seattle professional sports teams have partnered with.
We've teamed up with pro sports franchises in Seattle to champion LGBTQ equality. #EqualityIsATeamSport
📰 | https://t.co/kw5yTTToDP pic.twitter.com/QvCe3ulqxS
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) June 22, 2017
The teams joining the Seahawks in this endeavor include the Mariners, Sounders FC, the Storm and Reign FC.
The founder of Athlete Ally had this to say about the focus of the joint venture.
“This marks an unprecedented effort where a city’s entire professional sports roster stands together to champion LGBTQ inclusion and equality,” Hudson Taylor, the founder and executive director of Athlete Ally, said in a joint press conference featuring representatives of all five teams.”
Since the Seahawks are out of season, they will be lighting up the arches at CenturyLink Field with rainbow colors in lieu of hosting Pride Nights this week.
The Seahawks general counsel and vice president of government affairs, Ed Goines, shared a message from wide receiver and representative, Doug Baldwin. Baldwin was unable to attend Tuesday’s press conference.
“He would like for you and for us to focus on watching on how our players embrace tough issues and on watching how we encourage that,” Goines said. “It’s the same with any issue that’s presented to us, any diversity issue, including LGBTQ issues, those will be embraced by us, so we ask you to watch us and to hold us accountable to that.”
Baldwin is also involved in another task force trying to better unite law enforcement and the communities they serve per the report.
As for the Seahawks as a whole, head coach Pete Carroll has always welcomed his team to openly support causes they believe deeply in.
“We’ve really openly encouraged our guys find their calling and to act on it and then follow through with it.”
This latest partnership to help promote equality in sports within the LGBTQ community provides for a big step in the right direction.