Cyd Zeigler Jr

CYD ZEIGLER JR, co-founder of the online gay sports news outlet and social network Outsports.com and co-author of ‘The Outsports Revolution,’ knew he loved sports before he knew that he loved men. In fact, his love of sports was the only thing that could get him to venture out of his childhood home in Cape Cod to neighboring Provincetown, home to some particularly terrifying gay guys, at least in young Zeigler's eyes.
“I was so scared to death of the gays that I would never go there,” he says. “The only times I ever did go to Provincetown as a kid was to watch our basketball team play their basketball team. Of course, there were chants of, ‘Faggot, faggot, faggot!’ against the Provincetown team, so it didn’t exactly help matters.”
Zeigler eventually overcame his fear and made his way to the mecca as an out gay man by the age of 24. In the meantime, he managed to hold on to his love of sports, something that was never difficult for him to reconcile with his sexuality.
“The two are so separate,” he says. “I ran in high school, I played Ultimate Frisbee in college, and being a sports fan, I just never felt uncomfortable. I never felt diminished on any of the teams or as a sports fan.”
In fact, he says it was his sexual orientation that led him to discover to true joy of team sports.
“When I came out, gay sports groups really introduced me to team sports in a way that I hadn’t [taken part in] before.”
DESPITE THE CAMARADERIE he discovered through gay team sports, he still felt something was missing, which led him and business partner Jim Buzinski to found Outsports.com in 1999.
He says the site grew out of a simple desire to talk about pro football with other gay guys.
“There was nothing out there like it,” he says. “There were really no gay sports publications, … and the internet offered great opportunity to interact in the late 90s.”
Outsports.com quickly took on a life of its own.
“It really took off because people asked us to keep adding things,” Zeigler says, noting that the website now offers features like message boards, memberships, member profiles, original sports content, and more.
“The website’s changed because people have wanted it to. It’s grown.”
According to Zeigler, the website grew right alongside the relationship between gay men and sports. It’s a phenomenon he and Buzinski dubbed ‘The Outsports Revolution,’ also the name of their new book, which Zeigler signs.
“It’s a revolution in sports that’s happened over the last seven years,” Zeigler says. “How sports and gays interact has transformed. More athletes are coming out of the closet, particularly at the high school and collegiate level, and more gay people are paying attention to sports.”
He also notices a change in people’s reactions when he reveals his love of sports.
“When I started and I told people I was a gay sports fan or I played football, the reaction was either confusion or negativity,” he says. “All that has changed because the sports world has become more comfortable with gay people, and gay people have become more comfortable with the sports world. It’s become a lot easier to be both.”
Zeigler says he’s no worse for the wear of the homophobic chants echoing from the years at those Provincetown basketball games. And he maintains that there’s no reason gay pro athletes can’t come out publicly, despite some assertions that it’s impossible.
“There’s just no evidence that they can’t,” he says matter-of-factly. “One or two people trying to make it difficult for a gay person to come out, I don’t think any longer outweighs the positive support we’ve seen over and over again. I just don’t buy it anymore.”



Cyd Zeigler Jr brings the 'Outsports Revolution' to Atlanta on Friday, Aug. 24, at 8 p.m. 991 Piedmont Ave. 404-607-0082, www.outwritebooks.com. Also visit www.outsports.com.