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Cerissa Cafasso
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GLAAD President Neil Giuliano participated in a panel discussion titled “Time Out! A Conversation about Including LGBT Students” at the Jan. 2007 NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tenn. To download image, click here.

John Amaechi and Others Discuss Visibility of Gay Athletes

New York, Tuesday, January 15, 2008 – On Saturday, January 12, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) President Neil G. Giuliano participated in a panel discussion titled “Time Out! A Conversation about Including Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Students” at the NCAA Convention in Nashville, Tenn.  Giuliano joined openly gay, former NBA player John Amaechi and Mount Holyoke College’s Director of Athletics Laurie Priest on the panel, which was moderated by Jill Pilgrim, general counsel of the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA).

The Convention’s official program described the discussion saying “The focus of this panel is to provide awareness of how homophobia adversely affects student-athletes’ well-being and the climate within athletics; disseminate effective strategies that responsibly address homophobia in collegiate sports; and share best practices currently used by NCAA member institutions.”

“For the NCAA to take such proactive strides and begin a discussion around the issues affecting LGBT students, one that isn’t happening in other arenas, is a great first step forward,” said Giuliano.  “Part of what we want to do with the Sports Media program at GLAAD is give greater voice and visibility to LGBT athletes, coaches and fans, so that we can begin to make real inroads into the world of sports through changing hearts and minds.”

Over 200 people attended the panel, the brain child of Pat Griffin, Professor Emerita in the Social Justice Education Program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.  Griffin originally planned a panel to take place during the 2007 NCAA Final Four.  Though it was not possible to host the panel then, the NCAA’s Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Charlotte Westerhaus worked with Griffin to ensure the panel was a part of the Convention.

About GLAAD
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. For more information, visit www.glaad.org.