Commanders Among Top 10 Most LGBTQIA+ Inclusive NFL Teams

There’s no denying that the current cultural climate is far from friendly for members of the LGBTQIA+ community. Hate crimes are prevalent and states across America are passing bills that curtail gay, lesbian and transgender rights.

Luckily for fans of the Washington Commanders, Maryland and Virginia tend to be more LGBTQIA+ inclusive. The former ranks 12th nationally in terms of LGBTQIA+ safety, while the Commonwealth was seventh according to SafeHome.org.

BetVirginia.com wanted to celebrate Pride Month by finding out which NFL teams are the most LGBTQIA+ inclusive. We created a scoring system based on the number of pride posts on Instagram and Twitter, whether the team has a pride logo set, along with the LGBTQIA+ safety of each state and city where the teams play.

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Top 10 LGBTQIA+ Ally NFL Teams

Rank	Team	Total Points
1	Los Angeles Chargers	152
2	Washington Commanders	146
3	Minnesota Vikings	145
4	Los Angeles Rams	142
5	Baltimore Ravens	139
6	Chicago Bears	136
7	San Francisco 49ers	126
8	New England Patriots	124
9	Buffalo Bills	123
10	New York Giants	120

Richmond, Virginia, not far from where the Commanders play, ranked No. 12 at the ListWithClever.com site, which in late 2023 ranked 50 of the largest American cities based on a variety of metrics measuring LGBTQIA+ inclusion. Washington D.C. itself ranked No. 24 on the list.

The Burgundy and Gold started June, designated as the annual Pride Month, on its official Washington Commanders X account with a post promoting the Capital Pride DC Parade and Festival on June 8-9.

Where Commanders Rank Leaguewide

We took a break from Virginia sports betting analysis to compute these scores for NFL teams that promote LGBTQIA+ inclusive issues. Across the 32-team NFL, Washington’s score of 146 ranked second overall as one of the friendliest NFL franchises to non-cisgender fans. That was behind only the Los Angeles Chargers’ total of 152 points.

The Minnesota Vikings (145 points), Los Angeles Rams (142) and Baltimore Ravens (139) round out the top five on our list. The rest of the top 10 teams are the Chicago Bears (136), San Francisco 49ers (126), New England Patriots (124), Buffalo Bills (123) and New York Giants (120).

As many Americans struggle to gain sexual orientation acceptance, it’s nice to know that certain fanbases open their arms to LGBTQIA+ fans. That is something that the NFL team calling the DMV home can hang its hat on in 2024.

Author

Christopher Boan

@cgboan

Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.