WE FOSTER ALLYSHIP IN ATHLETICS
Why We Exist
Athlete Ally is the longest-standing nonprofit in the United States dedicated to fostering allyship in athletics. We are working to protect athletes’ civil liberties and human dignity. We do this by addressing the root causes of harm, challenging the beliefs, behaviors, and systems that enable exclusion and injustice in sports. Our guiding approach is rooted in the belief that allyship is not an identity, it’s a practice. We help athletes reduce bias, bullying, and discrimination in sports so that no one feels the need to hide, alter, or erase who they are in order to belong.
Our Founding Story
Hudson Taylor was a rare breed of division one wrestler and thespian. As a three-time All-American wrestler at the University of Maryland, he was ranked 2nd in the country heading into his senior season. He was, in addition, a theatre major, and the two worlds couldn’t have been more different on the topic of LGBTQ respect and inclusion. In theatre, Hudson had friends and classmates coming out and being accepted and welcomed. But on the wrestling mat, homophobic and sexist rhetoric and actions were rampant.
To stand in solidarity with the LGBTQ community and confront the marginalization of LGBTQ people in sport, he decided to wear an LGBTQ equality sticker on his headgear. Though he encountered criticism from his teammates, he received national media attention and thousands of emails from parents and closeted athletes encouraged by his advocacy. That got Hudson thinking… if he could achieve that impact as a wrestler, in a sport that isn’t the most popular, what if he had been a football player, a team, or an entire league.
This experience inspired Hudson to launch Athlete Ally.
