Noah Syndergaard, a new acquisition for the New York Mets, is getting his MLB career in the lower 48 started on the wrong foot after tweeting an anti-gay slur. Details follow. 

With all the Chris Kluwes and Hudson Taylors of the world, it's sometimes easy to forget that homophobia is still the default hallmark of poor sportsmanship in the sports world.

Take Monday night's National League Championship Series ending for instance.The San Francisco Giants took out the Saint Louis Cardinals for the win, an ending that then saw a league of barely literate bigoted Cardinal fans swing their bigot bats at low hanging fruit (no pun intended) with outrageously homophobic swipes at San Francisco, gay men and the HIV positive. 

Wow. This is pretty huge!

GLAAD announced today that the six most prominent major sports leagues will all "go purple" for Spirit Day on Friday, Oct.19.

Spirit Day takes a stand against bullying and shows support for LGBT Youth.

More after the jump. 

With gay rights, homophobia, and coming out seemingly becoming a topic of conversation in every professional sport, ESPN magazine took the opportunity to gauge where the four major pro sports in the US individually stand on the issue of marriage equality.

The results may surprise you. Find out what they uncovered after the jump!

The Rangers are "looking into" an anti-gay slur tweet issued by the account of the baseball team's starting pitcher Derek Holland over the weekend. Holland denies writing "ur a fag" in response to an angry fan on the social network, but the team's general manager is taking the unwelcome distraction "very seriously."

Kevin McClatchy, the former general managing partner and chief executive officer of the Pittsburgh Pirates, waited until five years after leaving his post in 2007 to come out as gay. With the timing coinciding with an ideal and historic moment in the MLB's transformation of acceptance, could his story be the spark the sports wolrd needs?

Ozzie Guillen, the controversy-prone manager of the Miami Marlins, has rushed to defend Blue Jay Yunel Escobar's blatant use of a Spanish anti-gay slur on the MLB field and chalked it up to a difference of culture.

The Toronto Blue Jays have released a statement announcing an investigation into the "Tu ere maricon" eye black shortstop Yunel Escobar donned during a game against the Red Sox on Saturday. Details follow. 

GLAAD today announced a partnership with Hudson Taylor's Athlete Ally that will see the two organizations educating all 141 major league sports teams about LGBT tolerance and inclusion. Details follow.

We might not be able to catch a ball from more than three-yards, but our hand/eye jazz-hand/threaded-eye coordination is skilled enough to capture the pop-culture zeitgeist of the past year. We may have endured more blackouts than homes affected by Hurricane Irene in 2011, but our love for pop-culture allows its brightest gems to shine through our sober senses. Once again, Instinct has assigned two of its sassiest editors—Jeff Katz, Senior Editor, and Jonathan Higbee, Associate Web Editor—the task of assessing the year in pop-culture, and 2011's bountiful list might include the most eclectic selections to date.

To continue the series, Jeff and Jonathan tackle the year's top friends and foes of the gay community. So, who...

In the foot cleat steps of the NFL and MLB, the NBA has announced that it will officially protect gay players from discrimination based on their sexual orientation. Details follow.

Setting up the field for future American athletes to come-out, the MLB will reportedly follow the NFL by adding "sexual orientation" to its collective bargaining agreement's non-discrimination policy.