Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I am proud to be here as a GLSEN Student Ambassador. You’ll meet four more of us tonight.
With GLSEN’s support, we carry the message of respect to the studios of CNN and the halls of Congress,
telling our stories in ways that move public opinion and policymakers in the fight to end anti-LGBT bullying and harassment.
And I’m proud to be here as an All-Star supporter of GLSEN’s “Changing the Game” program.
I'm using notes because the telestrator is too small.
Changing the Game helps K-through-12 schools create and maintain athletic and physical education climates based
on the core principles of respect, safety and equal access for all, regardless of *** orientation, or gender identity or expression.
I’m a longtime admirer of GLSEN and young people like Tempest here.
I'm also a fan of GLSEN’s first Respect Award honoree of the night: the NBA.
When it comes to addressing homophobia in sports, the NBA is setting an example that other leagues should follow.
What impresses me most, though, is that the NBA is not simply reacting to what a player or some fan has said
but instead are doing it because it's the right thing to do.
Reaching teens is not easy – just ask any parent here how quickly we’ll tune you out if you start to sound preachy.
It takes role models like Grant Hill and Jared Dudley to make people my age listen.
It also helps when a sports league is willing to work with its broadcast partners to make sure an influential PSA airs over and over again.
Thanks to the NBA, the PSA has aired thousands of times on ABC, ESPN, NBATV, TNT and MSG and other stations.
I had the honor of playing with Grant Hill more than a decade ago.
Back then, Grant told me that he thought that all players of his stature had a responsibility to make sure that young people were safe in school
Sports leagues have that same responsibility, too. With its support of GLSEN and the Think Before You Speak campaign,
the NBA has raised the bar for other leagues. The sports world and society are better for it.
That’s why Tempest and I are pleased to present GLSEN’s 2012 Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion Award to the NBA.
Here to accept is the NBA’s Executive Vice President of Social Responsibility and Player Programs, Kathy Behrens;
Denver Nuggets forward Kenneth Faried; and one of the Top Fifteen players in the history of the WNBA,
New York Liberty point guard Cappie Pondexter.