A.M. Arrick June 1, 2026
HAPPY PRIDE!
I could not pick a better day to put my first official post on Sports are Queer than the first day of Pride Month.
First off, my name is Alinia (Allie for short) and I live in Southeast Michigan. I’m not universally out but apparently, I’m not as closeted as I had thought because when I tell people the typical reaction is “I wondered when you were going to tell me.”
I work full-time as an engineer, part-time as a freelance photographer and I have a second website where I showcase my high school sports photography.
The question then begs itself, why am I starting another project. The answer is, I want to give a little back to the LGBTQ+ community that has accepted me so fully even though I am still working my way out.
I want to do two things that may seem diametrically opposed. I want to cover some happy stories that may not get seen in the gloom and doom news cycles and at the same time, I want to cover articles that are a bit too edgy for the high school sports website. Talking about mental health of sports and of athletes and how things can get better. Stories about what weighs down on athletes physically and mentally.
In general, I want a platform where I can help.
Don’t get me wrong, I will still cover straight sports stories (double entendre intended) but I am hoping I can do so much more.
Will I piss people off from time to time? I certainly hope so because if I’m not doing that then I’m not challenging a certain segment of our population and then this is a waste of zeros and ones.
Like I have said, I have a LOT of irons in the fire again so getting content started isn’t going to be quick and easy, but we will do it.
I am open to ideas that you may want to email me and if you have criticisms, I’ll take those too.
Thank you all and bear with me while I get things rolling!
Allie