The Project to Eliminate Homophobia in Sport, a collaborative effort to create an educated public that respects all athletes and sports-affiliated personnel regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity/expression, has announced that IBM will be a sponsor of its educational publication, It Takes a Team! Making Sports Safe for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Athletes and Coaches. This educational kit was developed for athletes, their parents, guardians, coaches, administrators and the general public as a turnkey 40-minute program that includes a curriculum guide, posters, stickers and a video hosted by tennis champion Zina Garrison and former professional football player Don McPherson.

IBM will help fund project outreach, provide all videos for inclusion in each educational kit and offer its employees the opportunity to volunteer for the project.

“IBM is excited to sponsor the Project to Eliminate Homophobia in Sport,” said Sarah Siegel, Program Director, GLBT Sales and Talent for IBM. “We want to help ensure that our future customers and employees, including today’s high school and college athletes, are educated on the value of inclusion while still in school, because that will certainly be their experience in doing business with IBM, where we respect our customers and colleagues in all their humanity.”

The Project to Eliminate Homophobia in Sport is a collaborative effort involving seven leading national organizations, including Astraea, the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN), Ms. Foundation, the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), Uncommon Legacy Foundation and the Women’s Sports Foundation.

The Project aims to educate athletes on the effects of homophobia in sport by developing diversified resources, promoting fair policy guidelines on teams and publicly recognizing the athletic achievements and professional successes of openly GLBT sports participants, thereby providing healthy role models.

“By stepping up to the plate to fund the elimination of homophobia in sport, IBM is setting the standard for corporate social responsibility,” said Dawn Riley, president of the Women’s Sports Foundation.

The project was started by tennis legend Martina Navratilova and the Women’s Sports Foundation in 1996 after the issue of female athletes being labeled as lesbians became controversial in the sports world.

It Takes a Team! educational materials and kits are available for $50 (individual) or $100 (institutional) via the Homophobia In Sports website or by calling the Women’s Sports Foundation at (800) 227-3988.