The success of a team relies as much on the relationship between coaches and players as it does on athletic skill. Coaches, at times, become surrogate parental figures in the lives of their athletes and teammates become siblings who all work together towards a common goal. Athletes at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level, also experience an absorbent amount of stress throughout their careers while balancing their academic and athletic demands. In addition, an athlete that is also a sexual minority carries around additional stress from fear of discrimination and mistreatment by coaches and their teammates. In focusing on the attitudes male coaches and teammates have toward sexual minorities, this study was intended to provide information that may lead to strategies that will improve performance of all student-athletes. This qualitative multiple case study included a qualitative questionnaire and in depth interviews of coaches and student-athletes from one NCAA Division I institution in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. Data analysis and interpretation is inductive and sought themes from the data to make sense of the descriptions. The sample was purposive sampling of male head and assistant coaches of male and female teams and male student-athletes of an NCAA Division I athletic program in the State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations. The results indicated a shift to a more accepting attitude towards homosexual and bisexual team members when it comes to coaches and their perspective with six out of six head coaches and five out of six assistant coaches accepting of those student athletes. Of the student-athletes surveyed, two of out three were accepting of a homosexual or bisexual teammate. The study revealed a gap in knowledge and acceptance of transgendered student-athletes. This gap was expressed in a lack experience regarding NCAA rules pertaining to participation of transgendered student-athletes and in a lack of general understanding of people within that community. Eight of the twelve coaches assessed stated they would have an issue with a transgendered student-athlete in their program. Three out of three student-athletes also expressed an issue with a transgendered teammate. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]