John and James, a married couple, resided in Virginia in the early 2010s, and James was a successful volleyball coach at a local university, a job that he loved. Despite his winning reputation and superior performance, he was fired from his position when the new Athletic Director started at the college. The Athletic Director didn’t like that James is gay. James’ students were as upset as he was, and the couple were forced to relocate for James to find new work.

“My students asked, ‘Coach, did they fire you because you’re gay?’ My players recognized what was going on,” James said. “I was devastated.”