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!

Big news from the sports world today as boxing gets its first openly gay male professional athlete in the intimidating form of 33-year old Orlando Cruz.

With the incredibly outspoken marriage equality support of Minnesota Viking Chris Kluwe and Baltimore Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo tackling headlines and sports-culture commentary for the past month, fellow Raven Matt Birk has rushed some yards to try to become the face of same-sex marriage opposition in the NFL. 

The sexy jocks over at Outsports are being honored by The Federation of Gay Games with one of the organization's Legacy Awards in October.

Details after the jump!

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?

We're a big fan of contact sports, especially when they're played in the nude.

Our friends at Outsports have provided us with some photos of New Zealand's Nude Blacks rugby team competing against South Africa's Springbox. (We don't know what any of that means.)

They've generously edited the photos so that they're moderately suitable for work, but the video that we're providing a link to most certainly isn't. 

Enjoy the athletic prowess after the jump!

Football player Chris Kluwe—who may have emerged as the real winner of the push to sanction Brendon Ayanbadejo for LGBT tolerance earlier this month—continues to leave us swooning for his allegiance in an articulate and heartfelt column for TwinCities.com

So, how does parenthood increase his passion in the fight for LGBT equality?

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.

Updated Wednesday at 11:15 p.m. PST

Full video of the press conference held by the Toronto Blue Jays and Yunel Escobar regarding the shortstop's "You are a faggot" eye black has been released. Watch Yunel try to explain his decision to don the gay Spanish slur after the jump.

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. 

Facing reports of an unidentified professional soccer player who wants to come out of the closet but fears his safety, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke out on Thursday to let them know they "must not be afraid."