NFL Player Carl Nassib has come out as gay and is donating $100,000 to The Trevor Project to support LGBTQ+ youth at risk of suicide.
Statement from Amit Paley, CEO & Executive Director of The Trevor Project:
“The Trevor Project is grateful to Carl Nassib for living his truth and supporting LGBTQ youth. This generous donation will help us scale our life-saving crisis services to reach the more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth who seriously consider suicide each year in the U.S.
“Coming out is an intensely personal decision, and it can be an incredibly scary and difficult one to make. We hope that Carl’s historic representation in the NFL will inspire young LGBTQ athletes across the country to live their truth and pursue their dreams.
“At a time when state lawmakers are actively trying to restrict transgender and nonbinary youth’s participation in school sports, this news should serve as a clarion call for greater LGBTQ inclusion in the locker room and on the field.”
The Trevor Project estimates that more than 1.8 million LGBTQ youth (13-24) seriously consider suicide each year in the U.S. — and at least one attempts suicide every 45 seconds. Trevor’s 2021 National Survey on LGBTQ Youth Mental Health found that 42% of LGBTQ youth seriously considered attempting suicide in the past year, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth.
Trevor’s research also emphasizes why LGBTQ representation matters. According to data from Trevor’s 2020 National Survey, over 80% of youth said that celebrities who are LGBTQ positively impact how they feel about being LGBTQ. And LGBTQ youth who participated in sports reported nearly 20% lower rates of depressive symptoms compared to those who did not. However, when examined within groups, sports participation was only related to lower rates of depressive symptoms among cisgender LGBQ youth, with no significant relationship found between sports participation and depressive symptoms for transgender and nonbinary youth.
Further, sports participation was more common among LGBTQ youth who were less “out” about their LGBTQ identity. One in three LGBTQ youth who were not “out” to anyone about their sexual orientation participated in sports compared to one in five who were “out” to all or most of those they knew. Similarly, transgender and nonbinary youth who were more “out” about their gender identity were less involved in sports than those who were not “out” about their gender identity.
The Trevor Project’s Coming Out Handbook covers a wide range of topics to support LGBTQ young people in exploring what coming out safely can mean for them.
Related:
How the NFL’s $10 Million Investment in Ending Gender-Based Violence is Activating Youth
Sports 4 Life Grants Aim to Increase Sports for Girls of Color
NFL-Supported Raliance Grants to Ten Orgs Fighting Sexual Violence
