Texas School Denies Freedom of Speech

Yesterday the television was on at work, and, while it was on mute—“President” _____ was speaking so it’s best to have it on mute—I read the chiron where _____ was saying that NFL owners “must not allow” their players to take a knee during the national anthem. And I thought, if we start doing things that way, how many more of our freedoms and rights will the higher ups “not allow.”

Then I came across this story ...

At a recent student assembly at Midland High School in ... where else ... Texas, students were led to believe, or were told, that choosing to sit during the Pledge of Allegiance is against the law; it’s a crime, y’all.

Now, news reports aren’t clarifying what the presentation was all about, but there is no mistake that this slide ...

... was shown to students during the assembly. And officials from Midland High School claimed the slide was taken out of context, even though the message is quite clear.

Stand. Or else.

Now, even though school officials are saying the message was taken out of context, Woodrow Baily, a district official, said if students don’t want to stand for the pledge, they’re free to provide a note from their parents excusing them.

And that’s a lie, too. In 1943, when America was supposedly ‘great,’ the Supreme Court ruled that the First Amendment protects students from being forced to stand during the Pledge. It isn’t a crime to stay seated; it isn’t a crime to not place your hand over your heart; it isn’t a crime to kneel during the national anthem.

But some of those folks in positions of authority are trying to decide what they will “allow” people to do, from professional athletes to students in a school. And, if you’re okay with that, if you’re okay with losing your Freedom of Speech, how many more of your freedoms are you willing to lose because I guarantee if we keep on this way, one day none of us will be free to do or say anything.

And won’t America be great then?

DeadState

Look! Up in the sky! It's a plane: A Gay Night At The Ball Park

When I was a kid in California, we often went to Candlestick to watch the Giants play. And sometimes we went to the Oakland Coliseum to see the A’s play ball. And back then they had Hat Day, Shirt Day, Mitt Day, whatever day, but they never had an LGBT Pride Night.

Well, they do now, and apparently that has upset some fans who don’t wanna go to anything with the word ‘gay’ in it lest their secrets be revealed … they like the idea of pitchers and catchers, and men in tight uniforms smacking one another on the ass.

So, cue Oakland A's star pitcher Sean Doolittle and his girlfriend, Eireann — who has two moms — who have offered to buy the tickets from fans that object to attending LGBT Pride Night …

“If attending a baseball game on LGBT Pride Night makes you at all uncomfortable, it is probably a good idea to sell your tickets. And I have the perfect buyer. ME!

If you'd like to sell your tickets to June 17th's LGBT Pride Night game, I will buy them from you at face value. As many as I can. No judgments. No questions asked.

From there, I will donate any tickets I purchase to the Bay Area Youth Center's Our Space community for LGBTQ youth. That way you don't have to feel uncomfortable, and the seats don't go to waste. It's win-win.

Please tweet at me (@EireannDolan) if you'd like to sell me your tickets. I'll purchase as many unwanted tickets as I can out of my own pocket. I also encourage other A's fans to do the same. Let's fill the stands that night!

Love, Eireann and my hella gay moms."

The couple has also launched a GoFundMe account to fill the stadium and so far have raised over $16,000, causing the team to add three more sections of seating to LGBT Pride Night.

It’ll be a gay old time at the ball park. And money will go to a good cause.

Win-Win.

Why Michael Sam Will Make A Difference ...

I am an advocate for all LGBT folks coming out. I truly believe it would change the world in one fell swoop if everyone who was gay and closeted suddenly came out; intolerance of gay folks is fed by ignorance, and ignorance is fed by fear of the unknown. We all come out, no more fear; no ignorance, no intolerance, because our numbers would be greater, and people would see that we are like the Visa card; we’re everywhere they want to be. Living next door, working down the hall, eating dinner at the counter next to you; paying our taxes, mowing our lawns, raising our children living our lives. We are no different except in who we love, and when we are all out, if love is the only difference, but all love is equal, and then intolerance goes away.

Now, I am not wearing my rose-colored glasses and thinking this could happen overnight; it doesn’t work that way. My own coming out is proof of that. Most of my friends were accepting and understanding and welcoming; the ones who weren’t, well, they really weren’t friends if the two words — I’m gay — sends them running. And my family was especially understanding and welcoming, because I was raised by parents who wanted their children to be happy, and being closeted is not a happy place.

 I think that a person who remains closeted, for whatever reason, is living a lie, a lie of mission, as Ellen Page said when she came out last week. And, in living a lie, how can you be your true self? You always qualify yourself, being careful not to slip and say something that might make folks suspect you’re LGBT. And if you can’t be open, how can you be happy?

Yesterday I read something Ian McKellen said about coming out, and happiness:

“I feel sorry for anyone who feels the need to lie about themselves. That’s not good for you. It doesn’t lead to a happy life. And I’ve never met a gay person who came out and who regretted it. Never. So, my advice to anyone in the closet — it doesn’t matter whether they’re a teacher, or a politician, or a priest, or an actor — come out. Join the human race.”

The human race. I remember once hearing Whoopi Goldberg say she didn’t like being defined as a Black actress, comedian, performer. She said something to the effect that she was, first and foremost, a human being, and then she was a female human being, and then, then, she was a black female human being. I can do that: I am a human being, a male human being, a white male human being, a gay white male human being.

See, in calling ourselves humans first, we are inclusive and accepting and understanding that we are all very much more alike that we are different. We are all human beings. Realizing that, then we can qualify ourselves down into subsets of human beings, the last one for me, being gay.

Years back Carlos played in a concert band in Ft Lauderdale; the band was comprised of musicians who were LGBT, and some in the band called themselves “gay trumpet players.” I remember Carlos finding that odd, and saying he wasn’t a gay trumpet player, he was a trumpet player who is gay. It’s a subtle difference, but it’s a more inclusive way to think of yourself.

Which is why I think Michael Sam, the newly out, gay football player — and maybe, soon to be, the first openly gay professional football player — will make a difference in lot of people’s minds.

First, he smashes that stereotype that gay men are effeminate, swishing, lisping, limp-wristed queers, because, look at him, listen to him. He isn’t that kind of gay man, though there is nothing wrong with that kind of gay man. We are all unique in our personalities and the way we move through this world and show ourselves to the world, but Sam shows us that, that difference in what it means to be gay, by his own coming out.

Stereotype smashed; in your face smashed.

But it isn’t just the way he looks and acts, or the fact that he plays football. It’s more about what he says, and how he says it. Late last week Sam held his first press conference since coming out and it’s very clear that he knows who he is, what he wants, and how he’ll get it. Sam was not timid, hesitant, when he spoke; he never qualified his answers. He spoke for himself, about himself and what he wanted for himself.

When asked about the Miami Dolphins' bullying scandal from last year, he made it clear he wouldn’t be afraid to deal with that type of situation:

"If the Miami Dolphins drafted me, I would be excited to be a part of that organization. I'm not afraid about going into that environment. I know how to handle myself, I know how to communicate with my teammates, I know how to communicate with coaches ... and whoever I need to communicate with."

But, what if that teammate or coach or manager hurls a gay slur in his direction?

“I’ve been in locker rooms where all kinds of slurs have been said. I don’t think anyone means it. It might be a little naïve and uneducated but as time goes on, everyone will adapt. If someone wants to call me a name, I'll have a conversation with him. And hopefully that will be the end of that."

And that’s that. Have the conversation; remind people that gay slurs are unacceptable and you aren’t going to sit idly by while it happens. He’s making it clear, to himself, his future teammates, and to those young gay kids who are coming up, that the times of sitting back while someone calls us names is over. The time of sitting still while people discriminate against us — and I’m looking at you Arizona, and Uganda, and all the rest — is done.

Michael Sam wants to be more than the face, the new gay face, of football, even though he knows, for now, all anyone wants to hear is about what it might be like to be the first openly gay player in the game. But he does look forward to the day when the questions are less about his sexual orientation and more about his abilities on the field:

"I wish you guys would just say, 'Michael Sam, how's the football going? How's training going?' But it is what it is. And I just wish you guys would see me as Michael Sam the football player instead of Michael Sam the gay football player."

And, like I said, that day will come. But first Sam has to deal with being the first, and that means questions and speculation about anything he says and does, at first, will be questioned because he’s being called a gay football player. One day, however, he’ll simply be thought of as a football player who is gay; a trailblazer in the movement towards equality. And when asked if he felt like a trailblazer, he quietly said:

"I feel like I'm Michael Sam."

And that makes a world of difference. It's not about being gay, because that's just a small part of who Michael Sam is, though it is a very definite part of him. But once we move from "gay football player," to "football player who is gay", to simply "football player," we've come a long way.

quote source

My Take On The Anonymous Folks Who Think Michael Sam's Coming Out Will Hurt His Draft Chances

I’m one of those people that believes Michael Sam, the University of Missouri linebacker who came out as gay over the weekend, did a great thing. Sure, I think it’s great that he came out because I think every coming out strengthens us, helps fight back against the ignorance and bigotry and intolerance.

But I also think Sam did a great thing in coming out before he was drafted by an NFL team because he’s basically saying, Look, you’re gonna get a hardworking player, a good player, but a gay player, and you oughta know that up front because you have to be prepared for what comes next.

It was brave of him because his announcement might hurt his chances at being drafted early on with some coaches, managers and owners fearful of what it might mean to have the first openly gay professional football player.

What isn’t so brave, though, are some of the responses from those coaches and managers and owners,. Many of whom spoke to Sports Illustrated [the source for this post] but asked to remain anonymously or, as I like to think of it, closeted in their own ignorance.

According to the SI article, those coaches, managers and owners “project a significant drop in Sam's draft stock, a publicity circus and an NFL locker room culture not prepared to deal with an openly gay player. Sam, the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, was projected as a mid- to late-round draft pick prior to his announcement.”

Now, not one of these anonymous 'closeted homophobes' condemned Sam for coming out — that would seem homophobic, you know — but they all questioned the notion of what it might mean for the team to have an openly gay player. Even one who might be very good at the game.

An NFL player personnel assistant:

"I don't think football is ready for [an openly gay player] just yet. In the coming decade or two, it's going to be acceptable, but at this point in time it's still a man's-man game. To call somebody a [gay slur] is still so commonplace. It'd chemically imbalance an NFL locker room and meeting room."

First off, a gay man is still a man and gay men have been playing professional football for decades already, albeit closeted because of people like this ‘man’ who hides his homophobia behind a game. And, to reiterate, calling someone a gay slur might be commonplace in the NFL but it shouldn’t be.

A veteran NFL scout:

"I just know with this going on this is going to drop him down. There's no question about it. It's human nature. Do you want to be the team to quote-unquote 'break that barrier?'"

I would think a team would want the best player for the job, case closed.

A former NFL general manager told SI that, during the draft, when a team is nine slots away from making a pick, there is typically a declaration in the draft room that six players are being considered. When a team is five spots away, that consideration set is whittled to three. If Sam is among that group of players, the potential distraction of his presence, his gay presence — both in the media and the locker room — could prevent him from being selected:

"That will break a tie against that player. Every time. Unless he's Superman. Why? Not that they're against gay people. It's more that some players are going to look at you upside down. Every Tom, Dick and Harry in the media is going to show up, from Good Housekeeping to the Today show. A general manager is going to ask, 'Why are we going to do that to ourselves?'"

Maybe, and again, this, and my general lack of being a billionaire, may be why I don’t own a professional football team, maybe it’s time we let players play and keep their personal lives out of the game, huh?

That former general manager did say, however, that an NFL franchise — such as  Pittsburgh, Green Bay, San Francisco, Baltimore and Indianapolis — with strong owners, savvy general managers and veteran coaches might take a chance on drafting Sam.

An assistant personnel director:

"You're going to have to have one confident general manager or head coach that is certainly entrenched in his position and established to draft a player like that. It's one thing to have Chris Kluwe or Brendon Ayanbadejo, advocates for gay rights, on your team. It's another to have a current confirmed player."

Again, why? Michael Sam is not a gay football player, he’s a football player who is gay. It’s a subtle, but distinct difference that we in the gay community understand; we, and now Sam, are not our sexual orientation any more that a straight person, or professional athlete is his or her sexual orientation.

An NFL assistant coach called Sam's decision "not a smart move":

"You shouldn't have to live your life in secrecy, but do you really want to be the top of the conversation for everything without ever having played a down in this league?"

Funny, he doesn’t get the irony is stating that Michael Sam shouldn’t have to live his life in secrecy while saying it might be best if her did just that.

That assistant coach said the decision to draft Sam will rest on a franchise's level of comfort in possibly disrupting the dynamic of the locker room:

"There are guys in locker rooms that maturity-wise cannot handle it or deal with the thought of that. There’s nothing more sensitive than the heartbeat of the locker room. If you knowingly bring someone in there with that sexual orientation, how are the other guys going to deal with it? It's going to be a big distraction. That's the reality. It shouldn't be, but it will be." 

I’ve got a suggestion for those immature fools in the locker-room who might not be able to “handle” a gay player: Get over it. Michael Sam will be doing the same thing in the locker-room that every other player is doing: showering and changing. And for anyone to think otherwise is the height of ignorance; it suggests that all gay men want is to f**k straight guys, anywhere and everywhere; that, somehow, gay men cannot be trusted to do a job, any job, around other men, because all we’ll be doing is day-dreaming about how to get that other guy in the sack.

Well, guess what, you players who think you’re so hot that gay guys will play football their entire lives, practice all day, every day, give up any semblance of a personal life to practice and train to get into a good college with a great  football program, then work harder and harder to become the best player they can so they get picked early on in the draft to go to a really great professional team  just so he can watch you shower....

Yes, it’s as ridiculous as it sounds, but is you still don’t think it’s a joke,. Listen to what Thomas Roberts, the openly gay news anchor on MSNBC, and another gay man who doesn't hide behind anonymity, had to say about Michael Sam being gay and a football player:

"If the [National Football League] can overlook alleged murderers, wife beaters, and people who don’t pay child support, I don’t think letting in a nice clean-cut gay guy is going to hurt anybody."

Um … snap.

Michael Sam Comes Out ... And May Well Become The First Openly Gay Professional Football Player

Last year as the University of Missouri football team arrived for a preseason practice, the players were divided into groups for a team-building exercise and then asked, one-by-one, to talk about themselves.

Michael Sam, a defensive lineman, stood up and said: “I’m gay.”

Two little words and a world of difference, because he isn’t just declaring who he is, he is setting himself up to be the first openly gay player in the National Football League.

Now, I don’t know football, so this is all gibberish to me, but they say Michael Sam, a senior at Missouri, had an amazing season; he was a first-team all-American and was also named the Associated Press defensive player of the year in the Southeastern Conference. In addition, his teammates voted him Missouri’s most valuable player.

The gay guy.

Still, and this comes as no surprise, there are some who say maybe Michael Sam shouldn’t have come out before he is drafted by a pro team — he is projected to be chosen in the early rounds — because it might hurt his chances. But I say he’s taking a stand and saying, Look how well I play. Look what I can bring to a team. Oh, by the way, I’m gay.

“I just want to make sure I could tell my story the way I want to tell it. I just want to own my truth.”

Still, this is kind of a tough time in the NFL. I’ve posted quite a bit about some of the anti-gay things players have said about having a gay teammate; there are some who think gay men play professional football so they can ogle naked guys in the showers, believe it or not. In fact, just last week, Jonathan Vilma, a New Orleans Saints linebacker, said that very thing.

But, maybe, for every Vilma, there’s a Chris Kluwe or a Brendon Ayanbadejo who stand up for the gay community, and, in the case of Kluwe, stand up against the NFL about the alleged homophobic language from coaches and being pushed out of a job with the Minnesota Vikings because he vocally supported same-sex marriage laws.

So, maybe it’s time for a gay player; maybe it’s well past time. The NFL, in a statement regarding Michael Sam, said:

“We admire Michael Sam’s honesty and courage. Michael is a football player. Any player with ability and determination can succeed in the N.F.L. We look forward to welcoming and supporting Michael Sam in 2014.”

And while Michael Sam’s chances at becoming a professional football player aren’t set in stone — nothing really is — several draft forecasters believe he could be chosen in the third round and become a starting player for an NFL team.  But, between now and the draft, Mr. Sam plans to attend the scouting combine, where players are put through physical and mental tests to judge their readiness for professional football.

“I’m not naïve, I know this is a huge deal and I know how important this is. But my role as of right now is to train for the combine and play in the N.F.L.”

Michael Sam, like nearly all of The Gays, wondered about his orientation from the time he was a young boy. He’d had girlfriends in high school, but it wasn’t until he came to the University of Missouri in 2009 that he knew he was gay. And his teammates began to see it, too; some knew he was dating another man on campus, but it never stopped him from being one of the better, more well-liked, players on the team.

It’s just another thing; another thing he had to tell his parents about.

"I told my mom and dad last week, and they just pretty much said, 'We knew and we love you and support you.' I'm their baby boy. I'm the first to go to college. I'm the first to graduate college. Something like this is just another milestone...And I love my hometown. I think when this story breaks, I think they're just going to love me even more for who I am."

Sam came out to two of his friends on the team, L’Damian Washington and Marvin Foster, about a year ago. Washington said he wasn’t surprised; he’d been with Michael Sam when Sam said he needed to go pick up a friend. He told Washington the friend was gay and asked if that would bother him and when Washington said no, Sam came out to him.

And that was that.

Sam downplays any notion of dissent or trouble on the team following his announcement; in fact, he says he has the full support of teammates, coaches and administrators. One teammate even accompanied him to a gay pride event in St. Louis and others gone with him to gay bars.

But there was one last thing Michael Sam wanted to address that day; the language in the locker-room. He says he’s trying to get players to stop with the homophobic jabs, because they do have a certain sting to them.

 “Once I became official to my teammates, I knew who I was. I knew that I was gay. And I knew that I was Michael Sam, who’s a Mizzou football player who happens to be gay. I was so proud of myself and I just didn’t care who knew. If someone on the street would have asked me, ‘Hey, Mike, I heard you were gay; is that true?’ I would have said yes, [but] I guess they don’t want to ask a 6-3, 260-pound defensive lineman if he was gay or not.”

But, he might be, and it might make no difference at all in whether or not he can play professional football, but it makes a huge difference in his own life, and in the lives of other gay athletes who wonder is they should come out; who wonder how difficult it would be to play and to be gay.

"I knew from a young age that I was attracted to guys. I didn't know if it was a phase ... I didn't want to say, 'Hey, I might be gay. I might be bi.' I just didn't know ... I wanted to find who I was and make sure I knew what was comfortable. So I didn't tell anyone growing up. I endured so much in my past: seeing my older brother killed from a gunshot wound, not knowing that my oldest sister died when she was a baby and I never got the chance to meet her. My second oldest brother went missing in 1998, and me and my little sister were the last ones to see him ... my other two brothers have been in and out of jail since 8th grade, currently both in jail...Telling the world I'm gay is nothing compared to that."

Welcome out, Michael, and good luck with the draft.

And please accept, as our gift to you from HOMO HQ, the Obligatory Coming Out Toaster Oven and a copy of The Gay Agenda.

Welcome Out.

NY Times

ESPN

Jason Collins Comes Out: He's America's First Openly Gay, and Still Playing, Professional Athlete

Well, we all thought it was going to be a football player, but NBA star, and free agent, Jason Collins has come out as America’s first openly gay and still-playing male professional sports athlete.

Jason Collins:

I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay.

I didn't set out to be the first openly gay athlete playing in a major American team sport. But since I am, I'm happy to start the conversation. I wish I wasn't the kid in the classroom raising his hand and saying, "I'm different." If I had my way, someone else would have already done this. Nobody has, which is why I'm raising my hand.

My journey of self-discovery and self-acknowledgement began in my hometown of Los Angeles and has taken me through two state high school championships, the NCAA Final Four and the Elite Eight, and nine playoffs in 12 NBA seasons. I’ve played for six pro teams and have appeared in two NBA Finals. Ever heard of a parlor game called Three Degrees of Jason Collins? If you're in the league, and I haven't been your teammate, I surely have been one of your teammates' teammates. Or one of your teammates' teammates' teammates.

Now I'm a free agent, literally and figuratively. I've reached that enviable state in life in which I can do pretty much what I want. And what I want is to continue to play basketball. I still love the game, and I still have something to offer. My coaches and teammates recognize that. At the same time, I want to be genuine and authentic and truthful.

Welcome out Jason, and congratulations on being the first. You’re going to blaze a trail for other gay athletes to follow, and you’ve done so with eloquence and a positive outlook.

Naturally, as we like to do here at HOMO HQ, we’ll be sending you a copy of The Gay Agenda, and the obligatory Coming Out Toaster Oven.

Welcome out, Jason, welcome out!

via Sports Illustrated

Mark Knudson Wouldn't Know Discrimination If It Hit Him In The Head With A Baseball

As more and more folks come out as LGBT, we’re still waiting for that big gay shoe to drop in professional sports. And while we have some LGBT allies in the professional sports arena—Brendan Ayanbadejo, Chris Kluwe and Scott Fujita come to mind right off the bat—there are some who don’t like the idea of an openly gay teammate, on the field, or in the locker room.

One such person is Mark Knudson, a former Major League Baseball player for the Houston Astros, the Milwaukee Brewers and the Colorado Rockies, His career ended almost twenty years ago, but he’s decided to pen an op-ed piece about The Gays and Professional Sports. He doesn’t seem like he’s particularly anti-gay, I guess, but he doesn’t want The Gays in sports because, you know, that would make homophobes uncomfortable.

And, well, he says that isn't discrimination. Seriously, he believes telling gay folks that since their orientation may make some folks uncomfortable, we should just stay in the closet. Makes one think Knudson may have been hit in the head with a baseball a time or two, no?

At any rate, in his piece--written for Mile High Sports [read the entire piece HERE] he talks Manti Te'o, who may, or may not, be gay, and he talks Esera Tuaolo, a professional football player who came out publicly after restring and told about the difficulties of being gay in professional sports. But he still sees no discrimination, so let's review a bit of Knudson, in his own words:

No one has said that gays should not be allowed to play in the NFL. What has been said is that having a gay teammate would make some players uncomfortable. That's about their feelings. Feelings aren't right or wrong; they're just feelings. It’s telling someone their feelings are wrong that’s the real wrong.

So what's being debated here is not actual discrimination, but rather hurt feelings. Just because [retired out football player Esera Tuaolo] felt uncomfortable about his homosexuality inside a machismo-filled, heterosexual-dominated locker room does not mean he was denied any opportunities. In fact, he endured emotionally and has profited handsomely by taking full advantage of his talents and opportunities.

It's also important to consider that the heterosexual players involved have feelings, too, and they’re no more or less valid than the feelings of those in the gay community. It's amazing how many people feel free to criticize and tell athletes how they are supposed to feel, as if that’s anyone else's right.

Wow.

I mean what if I was a white man living in 1960s Alabama and I felt uncomfortable having a Black man sit beside me on the bus? Does that give me the right to ask that all Black people sit at the back?

What is seeing an obese person chowing down in a restaurant bothers me? Can I ask management to remove them so I no longer feel that discomfort?

It seems to me that Mark Knudson thinks that if something, or someone, or something about someone, makes you uncomfortable, well, they should just hide that fact, if they can, or get out of the way.

But that's not discrimination, not in Mark Knudson's playbook.

Robbie Rogers Comes Out

Robbie Rogers, professional soccer player, in a post on his blog, Robbie H. Rogers:

The Next Chapter…

Things are never what they seem… My whole life I have felt different, different from my peers, even different from my family. In today’s society being different makes you brave.  To overcome your fears you must be strong and have faith in your purpose.

For the past 25 year I have been afraid, afraid to show whom I really was because of fear. Fear that judgment and rejection would hold me back from my dreams and aspirations.   Fear that my loved ones would be farthest from me if they knew my secret.  Fear that my secret would get in the way of my dreams. 

Dreams of going to a World Cup, dreams of The Olympics, dreams of making my family proud.  What would life be without these dreams? Could I live a life without them?

Life is only complete when your loved ones know you.  When they know your true feelings, when they know who and how you love. Life is simple when your secret is gone.  Gone is the pain that lurks in the stomach at work, the pain from avoiding questions, and at last the pain from hiding such a deep secret. 

Secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple.   Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay. Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently. 

I always thought I could hide this secret. Football was my escape, my purpose, my identity. Football hid my secret, gave me more joy than I could have ever imagined… I will always be thankful for my career. I will remember Beijing, The MLS Cup, and most of all my teammates.  I will never forget the friends I have made a long the way and the friends that supported me once they knew my secret.  

Now is my time to step away. It’s time to discover myself away from football.  It’s 1 A.M. in London as I write this and I could not be happier with my decision. Life is so full of amazing things. I realized I could only truly enjoy my life once I was honest.  Honesty is a bitch but makes life so simple and clear.  My secret is gone, I am a free man, I can move on and live my life as my creator intended.  

Welcome Out Robbie, as, by doing so, you will receive our Coming Out Toaster Oven as well as a copy of The Gay Agenda.
Have an English Muffin and read about the future of The Gays.
Welcome out.

Kenneth Faried Is The First NBA Player To Join LGBTQ+ Rights Group

Kenneth Faried, of the Denver Nuggets, is the first NBA player to join Athlete Ally, which is devoted to fighting homophobia in sports, and perhaps paving way for the first professional basketball, football, baseball star to publicly come out.

So, is it Faried, nicknamed ‘Manimal,’ who is coming out? No; he’s joined the group because he has two moms. In fact, Faried recently appeared with his mothers in a video for the advocacy group OneColorado, to encourage Colorado to legalize civil unions.

"Becoming an Athlete Ally gives me the opportunity to spread a message of inclusiveness throughout the NBA and our country. I have two moms and I love them both very much. I respect, honor and support them in every way. The bond I have with them has made me realize that I want all members of the LGBT community—whether they are parents, players, coaches or fans—to feel welcome in the NBA and in all of our communities."—Kenneth  Faried

Kenneth joins an ever-growing list of professional athletes as members of Athlete Ally: Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens, Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings, Scott Fujita of the Cleveland Browns, and Connor Barwin of the Houston Texans.

"In the last month, we have seen seven professional athletes around the world align with Athlete Ally. Kenneth is standing out not only as an incredible talent, but as an incredible ally. We are thrilled to have him on board and grateful to the NBA for its continued leadership."—Hudson Taylor, executive director of Athlete Ally.

Thanks for coming out, so to speak, Kenneth. We need all the allied we can get as we move forward toward equality.

Also—and I never thought I’d say this—but ‘Thank you’ to Kobe Bryant, LA Lakers star, who admonished a fan who Tweeted, "You're gay" as an insult to another fan:

"Just letting you know @PacSmoove @pookeo9 that using 'your gay' as a way to put someone down ain't ok! #notcool delete that out ur vocab."—Kobe Bryant.

Bryant, as you might recall, was fined $100,000 last April for using a gay slur during a game, so this is a huge step. Now, if we could get Kobe onboard with Athlete Ally ….?

via The Huffington Post

I Ain't No Homophobe .... Faggot

Well, it's happened again. Faggot.

Tank Carder, who plays for the Cleveland Browns, has kind of apologized after using the word "faggot" in a TwitFight.

And, so, naturally, he had to come out and clarify why he thinks it's acceptable to use that word to denigrate someone who may, or may not, be gay. Carder said, digging himself in deeper, “I don’t agree with being gay or lesbian at all, but saying faggot doesn’t make me a homophobe, it’s just a word.”

Oh Tank, I don't agree with being dimwitted, thick-necked, steroid using, brainless fucks but I'll let you keep doing it. And for the record, you moron, saying the word 'faggot' to put someone down because they hurt your big boy feelings or maybe said you weren't a good player or didn't like your haircut or the fact that you're named after a piece of Army equipment, is being a homophobe.

It makes you sound stupid. It makes people think you are stupid when, in the midst of a Twitter War, all you can think of to say is 'faggot.' But, not content to rest on his ignorance, and apparently proving he has access to a computer and Wiki-pedia, and opposable thumbs, Carder later Tweeted, “faggot is actually a bundle of twigs….there’s your research.”

My oh my, look what he can find out just by reading. Perhaps he also read that 'faggot' is a derogatory, often times hateful word used toward gay folks, or as a slur morons use because their tiny brains that fire only on one cylinder cannot use their words to come up with something intelligent to say.

But then he Tweeted again--and again proved that People Shouldn’t Tweet Their Every Single Inane Ridiculous Thought--saying: “I was not bashing the gay community in any way…if you knew me you would know I wouldn’t do that. Again I’m sorry if you were offended.”

First off, Tank, your not-apology is not accepted. Using that word does bash the gay community, just like using the n-word bashes the African American community and makes one a racist. Using 'faggot' makes you a homophobe, and then saying "I'm sorry of you were offended" just makes you a dick.

Here's how this works, Tank:

Stop saying that word every time you get pissy. It just shows your ignorance. And, close your Twitter account after releasing one last Tweet that should read--and you can copy this directly or have someone else write it out for you--"I'm sorry for being an insensitive jerk. I’m sorry I couldn't take an additional nanosecond to think before I Twatted. I'm sorry I offended anyone. I'm going to shut up now until I better learn how to express myself."

Better? No? Actually, don’t respond, you should still be in a time out. In a brief statement, the Cleveland Browns said: “These comments are certainly not reflective of the Cleveland Browns organisation, nor do we condone them in any fashion....We have spoken with Tank and have made this very clear to him.”

Now, why don’t you do as Outsports, sports site, is saying, and suspend Carder for using that slur? Maybe when he gets hit in the wallet he’ll understand.

Maybe.

source

Open Mouth, Insert Foot, Get Canned

Lee Steele

Over in England, the Oxford City Football Club has released Lee Steele from his obligations to the club after the footballer posted a comment on Twitter about openly gay rugby star Gareth Thomas--who will be appearing on the UK version of Celebrity Big Brother--that said: 

“I wouldn’t fancy the bed next to Gareth Thomas #padlockedarsehole”.

The comment was subsequently removed and Lee Steele’s Twitter account has not been updated since.

Club officials met to discuss the comment and later posted a short statement on the club website: 

“The Oxford City board have decided to release Lee Steele in view of his recent comment via social media which is considered seriously contrary to the ethos of the club.”

Mike Ford, the club’s manager said that firing Steele was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his career, but that Steele had to “pay for his error of judgement”. And then, oddly enough, he said that he feels that Lee's comment, while homophobic, “doesn’t necessarily mean [Lee's] homophobic”.

Um, yeah, it kinda does, when he Tweets that sharing a bed next to a gay man could result in being sexually assaulted. That's more than a wee bit homophobic.

This is the kind of action that needs to be taken when homophobic rants are released, or, perhaps, when homophobic slurs are uttered during competitions.

Eh, Kobe, et al?

I'm tired of the "It was said in the heat of the game" excuse for these kinds of taunts. I'm tired of the "I was just kidding, I have lots of gay friends" excuses. We wouldn't accept racist remarks uttered during a game, or Tweeted about a player, and it's time we reacted likewise to homophobic slurs.

source

Post Apocalyptic Bohemian.........Go There........................NOW

Stephen, over at Post Apocalyptic Bohemian, does the most remarkable posts on gay history, gay historians, music, Broadway, movies, TV, his dogs, his partner, their fabulous home. It's always a joy to read, and, good for me, you can always learn something.

Win.Win.

But today I read Stephen's remarkable post on Glenn Burke.

Don't know who Glenn Burke is, go HERE now.
Know who Glenn Burke is, go HERE now anyway.

This is where we've been, as LGBT people, and this is where a lot of us still are. But, thanks to the struggles of people like Glenn Burke, we are finding out way out of that kind of darkness.

Go HERE now.
What are you waiting for.
Don't make me say it again.