Oh, the irony.

When I had first learned of a new LGBT Sports Summit, I was thrilled because it meant we would be bringing about a much-needed discussion about LGBT and human rights issues in sport.

But then I learned that it was going to be sponsored by Nike.

Nike is using the issue of LGBT rights to cover up the fact that it has long neglected human rights.  Instead of being able to stamp a “made in the USA” sticker on its products, Nike has long had a tradition of taking advantage of other countries where minimum wage is shockingly lower than in the United States. A 2001 BBC documentary highlighted cases of child labor in Nike factories and showed six girls who worked seven days a week and worked two shifts per day. Furthermore, Nike has even pulled contracts with colleges after student protests exposed the company’s abusive conditions abroad. The supervisors in these factories abroad are so brutal that one worker even said he had his mouth taped shut.

Despite Nike’s claims that the company has since cleaned up it’s act in recent years, it is just yet another attempt by the company to mask it’s abuse and unfair conditions. Just a few months ago, there was a report that workers in an Indonesian Nike factory were intimidated by the military and forced to sign a petition exempting that factory from having to increase wages. According to ABC, there is footage of a supervisor telling the workers that they “have to” sign the petition.

“We got summoned by military personnel that the company hired to interrogate us and they intimidated us,” said one of the employees.

Nike made up some kind of story about how there would be an investigation, but released a statement which said that “Nike expects contract factory workers to be paid at least the minimum wage required by country law.” The problem with this is the whole reason Nike has factories abroad, which is to take advantage of lower minimum wages in that respective country.

So as we hear endless reports about how Nike completely disregards human rights, how can we take anything seriously from them about LGBT rights? The very reason an LGBT sports summit even exists is to bring about discussion and to obviously improve human rights for gay people. The company is only contradicting itself.

Until we start seeing Nike making sincere changes, I don’t see how we can take the company seriously with an LGBT Sports Summit.

I vividly remember a moment during my semester abroad in South Africa when I was sitting on the Jammie Steps at The University of Cape Town. I was discussing issues of race with a student who is black and South African and he asked a question I will never forget.

“Why do Americans always call black people ‘African-American’ when many are not African at all?” he asked.

I really didn’t have anything to say except, “Great question.”

From that point forward, I’ve paid special attention to the linguistic choices made by the American media when referring to race. Perhaps one of the most profound examples arrived last week with Jason Collins’ article for Sports Illustrated, which was co-authored by Franz Lidz.

Collins set a great example for the LGBT community with his coming out story last week, but what many people don’t realize is that he also helped correct the countless number of Americans who use the offensive term African-American.

“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center, I’m black, and I’m gay” was about as powerful of an opening line to an article as you’ll find.

And he did it right.

I learned many things while studying abroad in South Africa last year, but perhaps nothing was as important as realizing how wrong Americans can be with the linguistic choices about race. The term African-American is overused and offensive to many black people in America, yet nobody even thinks about it. This term assumes that black people are automatically from Africa when the reality is that many black Americans are not African at all. Calling a black person “African-American” without knowing whether he or she actually is from from Africa only serves to “other” black people even more by failing to recognize them as a regular Americans. It is almost like an asterisk except it replaces the asterisk with “African.”

And while we sit and realize that this term has evolved into one about race, it is difficult not to think about the Americans today who are African-American and how they feel when others call themselves African even when they are not. Or how about the African-Americans who are not black – how do they feel when this country tries to frame a term about nationality into a term about race?

Taking it one more step further, the other issue is that people cannot even argue that the term African-American can be used to classify a nationality because Africa is an entire continent making up over 50 countries. We often hear of people who are Italian-American or Canadian-American, but rarely do we ever hear of someone who is a white Zimbabwean-American. Who knew?

The impact of Jason Collins’ SI article was felt nationwide and worldwide, and his decision to describe himself as black in the opening line instead of African-American was wise and smart. The SI website had some of its highest traffic ever last week and that article helped plant some seeds in the minds of many Americans who need to rethink the words they use in describing people of other races.

“I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

-Jason Collins

Think back to February of 2010 when Tim Tebow was featured in a Super Bowl commercial for Focus on the Family, a homophobic organization that campaigns and fundraises against same-sex marriage and even once opened an ex-gay ministry.

If it were discouraging enough to see bigotry distributed through millions of televisions and computer screens across America, Tebow’s unique rise to fame as a late-season replacement and later as a backup quarterback allowed conservative hate groups to raise him up on a pedestal to serve as an example of someone who practices “traditional family values,” the offensive term used to intentionally exclude LGBT people by saying that there is only one kind of family: One with a mother and a father.

But since that Sunday evening in the winter of 2010, there has been a remarkable shift in acceptance for LGBT people in sport. While we often speak of the 1969 Stonewall Protests as a major turning point in progress for equality, we can even look at the last few years as a major turning point for sports.

People around the playing field such as members of the media, team executives, and former players came forward with positive coming out stories. Straight allies spoke out in support of gay players and professional sport organizations began recognizing equality on more levels. Even the president voiced his support for marriage equality, saying, “It’s the right thing to do.”

As people around the playing field paved the road for someone on the playing field, it became inevitable. The country worked its way from the outside in and somehow arrived one of the most ironic conclusions ever. As I mentioned before, think back to that evening in February 2010 — the same evening that homophobic group was sending its homophobic message across the nation. Now, think about the headlines on April 29, 2013.

On the same day we saw Jason Collins become the first modern day openly gay male athlete in a major American professional sport, the New York Jets cut Tim Tebow.

Of course, the timing of this news was coincidental but serves as a powerful way to reflect on the atmosphere in this country. The people who worked hard to bring about equality are sleeping peacefully tonight; the people who used and exploited Tim Tebow to dump millions of dollars into the wrong hands are not. Now that we have an openly gay player, would that commercial even be able to run on a national level anymore? Would enough people accept it or would it be considered a slap in the face to Collins and the rest of the LGBT people and allies in the world?

The timing of Collins’ coming out story is also a reflection of the contemporary hegemonic structure permeating our male-dominated society and a reminder that we have a long way to go. Homophobia has always been a problem in sport because our society has placed such rigid, gendered expectations on men to be as masculine as possible. We have been falsely led to believe that all men should be masculine and therefore male athletes must produce a better show to watch than female athletes.

If our society wasn’t so male-dominated, we would actually respect women’s sports enough to give people such as Brittney Griner more than 15 minutes of fame when they come out. I also doubt many people knew about the Nigerian soccer team’s recent ban on lesbians because that was also swept under the rug shortly after being announced.

But for as long as female athletes have been coming out, it took us much longer to come around to accepting a gay male athlete. In the coming days, weeks, and months, it will be interesting to see the way Collins is framed by the media. By coming out, he already disproved many of the ideas and scenarios put forth by the mainstream media. At 34 years old, he has already helped dismiss the idea that a player, out of fear of getting cut or rejected because of his sexual orientation, has to have a stable career and superstar status in order to come out. That was the case in the past, but not anymore.

Collins finally succeeded in setting the example we were all waiting for, and he did so on his own. I had always said that we needed to allow an athlete to open his closet door himself rather than get pushed out. Now that he is out, we will have a chance to see for the first time that there is no need for an irrational fear of gay males on a professional sports team.

Here’s to hoping more players will follow behind him.

Osi Umenyiora’s time in the Big Apple will be remembered by times of success, disappointment, injuries, ups, downs, but most of all — two Super Bowls.

As the soon-to-be free agent defensive end prepares for what is likely his final game in a Giants uniform at the Meadowlands, it will be rather interesting to see how the fans react to his departure. Umenyiora is seeking more money next season and a starting job, which would be difficult to find with the Giants already set with defensive ends Justin Tuck and Jason Pierre-Paul.

The Giants (8-7) still have an outside shot at making the playoffs if they can beat Philadelphia and find some help elsewhere this weekend, but missing the playoffs would almost certainly mean there will be changes. Last year’s Super Bowl win has been the lone bright spot in the team’s recent history — if the team misses the playoffs this season, it would be the third time in four years.

Umenyiora has been unhappy with his contract for a number of years, and his mediocre numbers this season (six sacks, two forced fumbles) will only help push him out the door. But through all of the controversy surrounding his contract and his relationship with the front office, Osi has been a fan favorite in New York since he arrived as a young defensive end.

His emergence onto the scene as a fan favorite stems from his exciting style of play. Perhaps his most memorable game in a Giants uniform was in 2007 against the Philadelphia Eagles when he broke the franchise record with six sacks in a game. His two Pro Bowl appearances, coupled with his performance as a member of the fierce defensive line in Super Bowl XLII will forever solidify his resume and legacy in a Big Blue uniform.

At age 31, Umenyiora still has some gas left in the tank, but the question is how much? His days as a dominant force in this league have seemed to pass us by. A change in scenery could very well make a difference as he could find some more playing time, but I am skeptical about his chances of returning to his glory days as he continues to get older.

Umenyiora admits that things did not have to end this way. Last week he told members of the media that he does, in fact, have regrets about the way he handled his recent years in New York. He wanted to remain a Giant forever, but he believes he burned that bridge when he refused to shut up about his contract.

Fan favorite or not, those days are in the past. As he continued to talk, he digressed on the field and ended up losing the edge he thought he had in the contract talks. We all enjoyed watching Osi in New York and we will always remember his role in helping this team win two Super Bowls. But in this situation, I don’t blame Big Blue. Osi Umenyiora’s ship in New York has sailed.