If a team avoids drafting Michael Sam because he’s gay, can he sue for discrimination?

This is a question posed by Ian Gordon and Matt Connolly for Mother Jones. As everyone heard by now Missouri All-American defensive end Michael Sam came out on Sunday as gay. Almost immediately after Sam came out people started noting that some football teams might not want THE GAY on THE TEAM, team cohesion and all that.

So what do we know? Well, 27 of the 32 NFL teams are in jurisdictions that have some kind of state or local laws prohibiting discrimination against gay employees. We also know that in 2011, the league and the NFL Players Association added an anti-discrimination policy in their collective bargaining agreement. Additionally, the New York attorney general’s office reminded the NFL that questions about intimate partner relationships constitute as discrimination under state law (the NFL is based in Manhattan).

If a player thought that a team was breaking the league’s policy (or state/local laws), the union could file a grievance on behalf of the player. That could lead to arbitration and some kind of penalty for individuals or teams involved. Then if a player wanted he could pursue the case in the courts.

That said, what about drafting? If not being drafted a form of discrimination? Like any kind of job, skills and a variety of other things go into being picked or not. However, if someone who is consistently qualified keeps getting passed because of gender, sexuality, etc. then it is discrimination. But like every kind of discrimination, that is hella hard to prove. As far as anonymous discriminatory comments would have to be traced back to the source and could then be used to prove a gay player wasn’t picked up.

Sam is one of the best players around right now, and I can’t imagine some progressive team wouldn’t pick him up. Anyway, in Cleveland beggars can’t be choosers.

Epic Fail: Ohio School Suspended over a T-Shirt

A 16-year-old gay high school student, Maverick Couch, in southwest Ohio, is suing his school district after being prohibited from wearing a T-shirt, which states "Jesus is Not a Homophobe." While observing Gay, Lesbian, & Straight Education Network's National Day of Silence, Couch was told to turn his shirt inside out by his principal. The shirt was deemed "sexual in nature and therefore indecent and inappropriate in a school setting.

Lambda Legal, an organization advocating for LGBTQ people, filed the lawsuit on Tuesday against Gebhardt and Waynesville school district on Couch's behalf. So far the school isn't fielding questions.

On April 20, 2011, Couch participated in the National Day of Silence, and he was called to the Principal's office. Couch was pleased to receive so much support from his peers; of course he had to endure bigots as well. The principal, Gebhardt, told Couch to remove the shirt because it had to do with religion, but later told Couch's mother that it was "disrupting the education process." [Classy.] According to Couch, only a few students responded negatively to the shirt, and it was not a disruption. The lawsuit cites Supreme Court cases that have ruled in favor of students' freedom of expression.

The Wayne Local School District has agreed to permit Couch to wear his t-shirt on the National Day of Silence. Lambda Legal is going to continue working on Couch's behalf because his freedom is not restricted to one day a year.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/04/maverick-couch-homophobia-jesus-t-shirt-_n_1402546.html?ref=mostpopular