“As a Black woman, a member of the LGBTQ sports community, and someone who has spent much of my life walking into spaces where people didn’t expect me to be, I understand the importance of visibility,” said rugby Hall of Famer Phaidra Knight on being inducted into the LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame at Sony Hall in Manhattan on June 25. “Your dreams do not have to become less to belong. Your greatest chapter has yet to be written.”
Knight hopes her legacy is that she helped hold the door open wider so people like and unlike her can fill the room. That sentiment permeated the event as sports veterans shared their sense of peace and fulfillment in living authentic lives. It was also a poignant evening, as the life and legacy of Jason Collins, who died on May 12, was celebrated, his loss resonating with those in attendance, many of whom wore lapel pins with his jersey number, 98, selected in memory of Matthew Shepard.
It was a night of deep appreciation by all in attendance. “Anytime we can be uplifting and supporting each other, especially in the sports community … is really powerful,” said Kirk Walker, longtime collegiate softball coach now general manager of the Athletes Unlimited Softball League Oklahoma City Spark, a 2025 HOF inductee, and board member of the Sports Equality Foundation.
Kalana Greene, former New York Liberty player, was award presenter at LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame. (Credit: Lois Elfman)
“Kids need spaces to be themselves,” said Anthony Nicodemo, a high school basketball coach and athletic director in Westchester County and one of the evening’s inductees. “What I’ve found and preached in all my years coaching as an openly gay coach is that kids do better and they perform better when they can be authentic.”
In 2002, Sue Wicks, one of the evening’s HOF inductees, became the first WNBA player to publicly come out. This year’s event was “a moment in time when we need this again,” she said. “I’m happy to be celebrating with my people, my community, for things that have been done and things that will be done. We keep coming together, keep having conversations, and keep moving forward.”
“The queer community is so expansive in sports,” said master of ceremonies Nick McCarvel, a reporter, producer, and TV host. “Every door opened is another opportunity for someone new to walk through.”
