Jason Collins. Michael Sam. Robbie Rogers. It's been an eventful couple of years for athletes coming out publicly in professional sports. And now, YouTube, a longtime supporter of gay rights, is celebrating diversity in sports with a campaign themed #ProudToPlay, set to run all through June, which is LGBT Pride Month and also will include the first two weeks of the World Cup in Brazil.
A star-studded anthem spot from 72andSunny features clips of everyone from Nelson Mandela to President Obama to Kobe Bryant talking about both the transcendent power of sports and the courage of gay athletes to be open in a sometimes hostile environment.
"We applaud the courage and openness of athletes at all levels who have come out and admire their teammates, friends, families, and supporters who are all proving that it doesn't matter who you are or who you love—what matters is that you put forward your best effort," YouTube says in a blog post.
"We stand with our community in the belief that youth everywhere should all have the same opportunities to grow up and pursue their dreams and passions, on or off the field."
