Sports
Adidas Stands By Gay Athletes Who Want to Come Out

By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Adidas, the world's second-largest sportswear company, has committed to athletes they sponsor should they come out publicly as LGBT with a new clause in their contracts that stipulates their deal will not be canceled or changed as a result.
The clause reads (via BuzzFeed):
Adidas acknowledges and adheres to the principles of diversity, as this is a central part of the Adidas group philosophy. Therefore Adidas warrants that this agreement will neither be terminated nor modified in case the athlete comes out to the public as a member of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community.
Chief financial officer Robin Stalker announced the clause on Thursday at a conference in London dedicated to improving the visibility of LGBT people in sports, Team Pride: Levelling the LGBT Playing Field, of which Adidas is also a sponsor.
Perhaps not-so-coincidentally, Adidas's announcement came on the two-year anniversary of the company signing Tom Daley as the face of their NEO label, shortly after he came out in a YouTube video.
On Valentine's Day, Adidas continued to practice what it preached when it posted this photo of a same-sex couple to their Instagram account:
The love you take is equal to the love you make.
Trending stories
A photo posted by adidas (@adidas) on
And when some people took offense to the photo, Adidas responded with a good old "Bye, haters":
Spilling some tea on 'White Lotus' season 3 bros Saxon and Lochlan