Paul Tagliabue, Friend To The Gays

We'll confess something: We had no idea that NFL commissioner Paul Tagliabue's son Drew was openly gay. Only of the only references we can find about it on the Web is on the Parents, Friends and Families of Lesbians and Gays' Web site; we didn't expect the NFL to put out a press release or anything, obviously, but, we dunno, we guess we just hadn't heard.

Anyway, Tagliabue was honored Monday night by PFLAG (for the record, we're glad "lesbians" are included, if just for acronym purposes) for his support to the cause. Tagliabue has given "sizable" donations to PFLAG and has been a driving force behind the Stay Close campaign — his son Drew is a co-founder of the campaign — which features celebrities and their gay relatives. Tagliabue has not yet been featured in one of the ads, but PFLAG says they're trying to recruit athletes to be in the ads with their relatives.

OutSports cautions people to read too much into Tagliabue's support of the cause; the NFL is hardly the most progressive league on earth in these matters. But the commissioner of the biggest, most powerful professional sports league in the country being honored at a gay event and even speaking at the event ... don't remember seeing that before.

Tagliabue Honored For Work With Gay Group [OutSports] Stay Close [PFLAG]