Billie Jean King, Jason Collins among those honored by LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame in 2026

CHICAGO - The LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame announced its 2026 class this week, adding 10 new inductees whose careers span professional leagues, the Olympics, high school sports and sports media.

The Hall will hold its induction ceremony June 25, 2026, in New York City during NYC Pride. Organizers said the group will then be honored again in Chicago in 2027, bringing the celebration back to the city where the Hall was founded.

The 2026 class joins 61 people already enshrined. Organizers say they want to keep these stories visible as sports move fast and memories fade.

Who is in the 2026 class:

Maybelle Blair: She played in the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in the 1940s, stepping onto the field at a time when Major League Baseball was disrupted by World War II. She came out publicly decades later, in her 90s, and became a powerful reminder of how long LGBTQ athletes have been part of sports history.

Nikki Hiltz: They are an Olympic distance runner who identifies as trans and nonbinary. Competing for Team USA, Hiltz has earned a World Championships silver medal and several national titles while also pushing conversations about inclusion in track and field.

Bill Kennedy: He has officiated NBA games for more than 30 seasons. He came out publicly as gay after confronting a player for using a slur during a game, becoming the first male NBA referee to do so.

Phaidra Knight: She is one of the most accomplished American women’s rugby players. She represented the U.S. internationally for nearly 20 years, was named USA Rugby Player of the Decade in 2010, and was inducted into the World Rugby Hall of Fame in 2017.

Anthony Nicodemo: He is a high school basketball coach and athletic director who came out publicly more than a decade ago. Since then, he has been outspoken about LGBTQ inclusion in school sports and education.

Ryan O’Callaghan: He played six seasons in the NFL with the New England Patriots and Kansas City Chiefs. He later came out publicly in a 2017 interview with Outsports, sharing his experiences after retiring from football.

Robin Roberts: She built her national profile at ESPN from 1990 to 2005. Her work helped expand the role of women in sports broadcasting, and she was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame for her contributions to the game.

Rick Welts: He has worked in the NBA for more than 50 years and is currently CEO of the Dallas Mavericks. He previously held leadership roles with the Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and the NBA league office and was named the most powerful out LGBTQ person in American sports on the Outsports Power 100.

Sue Wicks: She was one of the first active WNBA players to come out publicly, doing so in 2002. She played six seasons with the New York Liberty and was a WNBA All-Star in 2000.

Dan Woog: He was among the first high school coaches to come out publicly. He later became a writer, authoring "Jocks: True Stories of America’s Gay Male Athletes," one of the earliest books to document LGBTQ experiences in sports.

Glenn Burke Award honorees:

Billie Jean King and Jason Collins will receive the Glenn Burke Award, which honors individuals whose courage and authenticity have shifted sports culture.

The award is named for Glenn Burke, a former Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder widely credited with popularizing the high five in Major League Baseball. Burke was one of the first openly gay professional athletes in men’s team sports, though he faced discrimination and was effectively pushed out of MLB in the late 1970s. His legacy has since become a symbol of both visibility and the cost of coming out in professional sports.

King’s influence stretches beyond her 39 Grand Slam titles to decades of advocacy for gender equity and LGBTQ inclusion. Collins made history in 2013 when he came out as gay, becoming the first openly gay active player in a major U.S. men’s professional sports league.

What's next:

The LGBTQ Sports Hall of Fame said more details about the June induction ceremony will be released online as the date approaches. 

Information about the Chicago celebration in 2027, including timing and locations, is expected to follow.