Cyd Zeigler
Cyd Zeigler Jr (born in Harwich, Massachusetts) is a commentator and author in the field of sexuality and sports. Zeigler co-founded Outsports and the National Gay Flag Football League. He had a featured part in the documentary F(l)ag Football (2015).
Cyd Zeigler | |
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Zeigler in 2015 | |
Born | |
Education | Stanford University |
Occupation | Commentator, author |
Spouse(s) | Dan Pinar |
Early life and education
Zeigler was born in Harwich, Massachusetts, and lived there through high school. He was a track and field athlete and led his high school track team in scoring three consecutive years.[1] Zeigler graduated from Stanford University (B.A., Communication), where he founded Theta Delta Chi fraternity, was on the Stanford Men's Ultimate (Frisbee) Team, and was a contributor to the Stanford Review newspaper.
Career
He is a former sports editor for Genre Magazine, former associate editor for the New York Blade, and has written for Playboy, MSNBC, CNN, New York Press and Out Magazine. He has appeared on ESPN, Fox Sports Radio, CNN, and MSNBC as well as contributing to Sports Illustrated, Logo and The New York Times.
In 1999, Zeigler and Jim Buzinski founded Outsports. They co-authored The Outsports Revolution: Truth & Myth in the World of Gay Sports.
In 2002, Buzinski and Zeigler founded the National Gay Flag Football League.[2][3]
Zeigler is credited with breaking the story of John Amaechi coming out of the closet in February 2007. Amaechi had contacted Zeigler months before, and Zeigler connected Amaechi with the publicist Howard Bragman, who had assisted other gay athletes in coming out. Zeigler has also broken national stories including the coming out of then-NFL prospect Michael Sam, the late gay brother of NFL Hall of Famer Michael Irvin, transgender Div. 1 NCAA athlete Kye Allums, openly gay football players Wade Davis and Alan Gendreau, and a racial headline by ESPN in reference to Jeremy Lin.[4] Zeigler is featured in the 2015 documentary, F(l)ag Football.[3][5]
Personal life
Zeigler presently lives in Los Angeles with his husband, Dan Pinar, a dentist. He previously lived in New York City where he was a research editor for a global financial services firm. He was previously a development executive for Disney Channel, focusing on their movie and music franchises before leaving in 2001.
Works
- Zeigler, Cyd; Buzinski, Jim (2007), The Outsports Revolution: Truth and Myth in the World of Gay Sports, Alyson, ISBN 1-59350-005-X
- Zeigler, Cyd (2016), Fair Play: How LGBT Athletes Are Claiming Their Rightful Place in Sports, Edge Of Sports, ISBN 1617754471
Awards and nominations
Year | Award | Nominated Work | Category | Result |
---|---|---|---|---|
2003 | NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Awards | Outsports | Excellence in New Media | Won |
2010 | GLAAD Media Awards | Former College Football Captain was Openly Gay | Digital Journalism | Nominated |
2011 | NLGJA Excellence in Journalism Awards | Kye Allums: First transgender man playing women's basketball | Online Journalism | 3rd place |
2012 | All Sports Film Festival | Thanksgiving Game | Original Feature Screenplay | Won |
2014 | GLAAD Media Awards | Coming Out Kicking | Digital Journalism | Nominated |
2015 | GLAAD Media Awards | Conner Mertens came out to his college football team | Digital Journalism | Nominated |
2015 | National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association | Cyd Zeigler | Lisa Ben Award for Excellence in Features Coverage[6] | Won |
2017 | GLAAD Media Awards | Former Patriots and Chiefs tackle Ryan O’Callaghan comes out as gay | Digital Journalism - Multimedia | Nominated |
2019 | GLAAD Media Awards | Finding the truth about transgender athletes in women’s sports | Digital Journalism - Article | Nominated |
References
- "About OutSports", Outsports.com, archived from the original on 2012-01-04, retrieved 2008-10-29
- Sastre, Sole (2016-06-28). "South Africa's rugby team Jozi Cats defy gay stereotypes". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- de la Cretaz, Britni (2017-07-06). "Inside the National Gay Flag Football League With 'F(l)ag Football'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- Cyd Zeigler. TypePad.com. Accessed March 7th, 2012.
- Jaworowski, Ken (2017-06-15). "Review: 'F(l)ag Football' Finds Gay Athletes Upending Stereotypes". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2018-06-05.
- http://www.nlgja.org/blog/2015/06/cyd-zeigler/