Athlete Ally Action Awards to Honor NBA’s Reggie Bullock
September 15, 2022 – Today, Athlete Ally announced that National Basketball Association (NBA) Dallas Mavericks player and Athlete Ally Ambassador Reggie Bullock will be honored at the Eighth Annual Athlete Ally Action Awards. Athlete Ally is a nonprofit organization focused on fostering inclusive athletic environments and mobilizing the athletic community to champion LGBTQI+ equality. The awards ceremony will take place on Tuesday, October 25th at 7:00pm EST at the Edison Ballroom in New York City. Additional honorees include NWSL Gotham FC player and Athlete Ally Ambassador Imani Dorsey, athlete, advocate and model CeCé Telfer and the Columbia-Barnard Athlete Ally Campus Chapter.
After his sister Mia’s tragic death, Reggie Bullock dedicated himself to becoming an ally to the transgender community. He met with Athlete Ally’s Founder and Executive Director Hudson Taylor to learn about LGBTQI+ respect and inclusion, hosted a Pride night for the Pistons, and became an Athlete Ally Ambassador in 2018. Upon joining as an Ambassador, Reggie wrote: “I want to express the urgency needed for people to come together and stand up for LGBTQ equality. I’m proud to join Athlete Ally as an Ambassador to continue bringing attention to the much needed fight for the LGBTQ community.” Since then, Reggie has participated in numerous Athlete Ally campaigns in support of transgender youth, including speaking out against South Dakota’s discriminatory trans athlete ban, signing onto an open letter calling on the NCAA to move championships out of Idaho in response to the state’s anti-transgender bill, and more.
In 2019, Reggie was a finalist for the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award in recognition of his advocacy for the LGBTQ community. In 2022, he was named the 2022 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Social Justice Champion for his dedication to pursuing social justice and advancing Abdul-Jabbar’s life mission to engage, empower and drive equality for individuals and groups who have been historically marginalized or systemically disadvantaged, specifically within the LGBTQ+ community.
“Reggie has consistently walked the walk as an ally to the LGBTQI+ community, and uses his global platform to honor his sister Mia’s legacy with heart and with impact,” said Hudson Taylor, Founder and Executive Director of Athlete Ally. “Education is a fundamental aspect of allyship. Reggie has been an invaluable partner to Athlete Ally in helping NBA players, leadership and fans learn about the impact of anti-transgender legislation, and the role each person can play in building a more inclusive athletic community. He is a true leader and champion for social justice, and we’re honored to present him with an an Athlete Ally Action Award.”
“I’m honored to accept an Athlete Ally Action Award. It’s incredibly important to me to honor my sister Mia’s life and legacy. The best way I can do that is by learning to be the best ally I can be to the transgender community, and speaking out about the experiences of Black trans women in particular. I’m proud to be an Athlete Ally Ambassador and to work together with Athlete Ally to help make our athletic spaces safe, welcome and inclusive for everyone — especially and including transgender athletes.”
To learn more or purchase tickets to the Awards, click here.
About Athlete Ally and the Action Awards
Athlete Ally believes sport will change the world when it welcomes and empowers all people. As a leading national nonprofit working at the intersection of sport and LGBTQI+ equality, Athlete Ally works to end the structural and systemic oppression that isolates, excludes and endangers LGBTQI+ people in sport. We educate individuals and institutions to understand obstacles to inclusion for LGBTQI+ people and how they can build an inclusive culture within their athletic communities. We work to ensure sport governing bodies, teams and leagues adopt policies that reflect the diversity of their constituents. We incubate athlete activism to advance LGBTQI+ equality in and through sport.
The Eighth Annual Athlete Ally Action awards are made possible due to generous support from this year’s Award Sponsor, Gillette, in addition to other corporate supporters including Adidas, Nike, Gatorade, Constellation Brands, the NBA/WNBA, TransPerfect, and Major League Soccer. The generous philanthropy of our dedicated Host Committees and Board of Directors also make this event possible.