Roger Brigham is someone I greatly admire in the world of sports journalism.  He's been kind enough to provide a guest editorial on his views regarding discrimination in the Gay Softball World Series. Roger is a longtime sports journalist, coach, athlete and activist as well as the founder of Equality Coaching Alliance. He was the first to formally interview Magic Johnson when the NBA legend came out as HIV positive.  I was impressed by his recent observations on how many changes have taken place over the past 50 years, particularly for the LGBT community.  Here are some are some of his comments from San Francisco's Bay Area Reporter:

The new year, 2012, is a bit of a milestone for my sporting life as well. It was 30 years ago that I became the only out sports editor at a major daily newspaper, so I've had a good first-hand seat from which to witness so much of the change going on in the locker rooms around us.

I've seen the golf clubs, one by one, drop their policies of reserving prime tee times for male white collar workers. I've blasted professional and college teams when they have barred women reporters from team dressing rooms. I've seen the money rush that Title IX triggered lead to male athletic directors and coaches taking over so many of the jobs that once belonged to women. I've seen a gay community staggered by the sudden onslaught of the AIDS epidemic fight to right itself, reexamine its behavior, and rally to come together as never before in its history, with much of that unified spirit playing out on basketball courts and on softball fields.

I've seen the trickle of gay professional athletes following David Kopay's venture out of the closet and onto the pages of the sporting press to let us know who they are and what they play. I've seen transgender athletes shed their own limiting perceptions about the athletic constraints their identities put upon them to achieve glory and fulfillment in sports competition.

We enter the new year with fairer protections and laws in place for athletes at every level of competition than we have ever had in our history. If 2011 was the year we stopped lurking in the closet; 2012 should be the year we start celebrating and performing in force on the field.

So make your New Year's resolution one to draft a couple of your best buddies to join you in sports, especially if they have never played softball or basketball or tennis in their lives. Get them to jump in the pool with you or hit the weights at the gym. Jog with them on mountain trails or bike with them through Golden Gate Park.

There is no better physical activity to teach you solitude and self-motivation than recreational sports. But don't go it alone. Next year, recruit a second baseman or a power forward.

Play ball.