Sports can provide forums that bring people together, creating dynamic communities that transcend generations, backgrounds, and geographies. Yet for all the power of sports environments, they have also been historically antagonistic toward LGBTQ people and continue to be a breeding ground for discrimination. In the past year, there's been increased visibility of LGBTQ athletes, but we’ve also seen a record couple of years of state legislation intended to restrict transgender and nonbinary youth from playing school sports. The juxtaposition of these phenomena proves there's a long way to go to achieve ubiquitous LGBTQ acceptance in athletics. This session will explore the state of athletics and fight for a future where people don’t need to choose between being themselves and playing sports.