I Didn't Say It ...

Robbie Rogers, LA Galaxy soccer player, on his "first time" ... with a girl, and then with a guy:

"First time with a girl was in high school. I think it was my junior year of high school. Still friends. It was actually alright, you know I'm a gay guy. I don't know how she enjoyed it or if she enjoyed it as much as me...First time with a guy was actually not until I was 25, after I came out. Super awkward. I mean, can you imagine dating and hooking up with a guy after your coming out, after 25 years? I'm sure he was like, 'What is going on?' I think I've gotten a little better at doing all that stuff so hopefully those embarrassing moments are over."

He is so adorable and all I could think was, ‘Lucky bitch’ and ‘Lucky dude.’

Tuc Watkins, openly gay actor known for his roles on Desperate Housewives and One Life To Live, on his displeasure with Cam and Mitchell on Modern Family:

"Hmm. I think “Modern Family” is clever, hilarious, even terrifically subtle at times. But, for the most part, I have a hard time laughing at the gay guys. In fact, I kinda cringe. It feels a little bit like the gay equivalent of “blackface.” It doesn’t feel “modern” at all. Sure, people come in all shapes, sizes, etc. So why are we fed such 80s stereotypes every week?"

I see it differently, though; first up, Cam is the diva-acting, show-tune-singing, openly gay football coach while Mitchell is the legal fussbudget.

Hardly stereotypes, really. And when Carlos and I watch it, we actually see ourselves in each of those two characters at different times.

Methinks Tuc had nothing better to do that day.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, to Tuc Watkins’s opinion of Cam and Mitch:

"Sorry you feel that way Tuc. I know lots of guys who are just like Cam and lots of guys who are just like Mitch. We can't be expected to represent every gay person. We can only represent these two people. Also, Mitch is basically a version of me … so I never know how to take it when people say that he is stereotypical. And in defense of Cam, I still can't figure out how a clown and a football coach who also happens to be gay is a stereotype. When all is said and done, it's a family sitcom. I feel our writers do a fantastic job of servicing 11 characters each week in just 22 minutes. I am incredibly proud to play Mitch and I have a lot of pride in our show. As a closeted kid of the 80's I would have loved to have had a show like Modern Family to watch with my parents. It would have meant a lot to me to see who I secretly was reflected on television. TV has come a long way and it continues to forge new ground. I am thrilled with the work that you did on Desperate Housewives. It opened the door for shows like ours and hopefully we can hold that door open for many more shows to follow us. At the end of the day we can't please everyone ... and we shouldn't try to. Kinda just like life, right?"

JTF said it best.

Shonda Rhimes, on the racist Sony emails between Amy Pascal and Scott Rudin, speculating about which movies President Obama might like:

"Calling Sony comments 'racially insensitive remarks' instead of 'racist'? [You] can put a cherry on a pile of sh*t but it don't make it a sundae."

Why is it that the rich and powerful are ‘racially insensitive’ while common folk are racists? Racism is racism no matter the size of your bank account or position in life.

Robbie Rogers, LA Galaxy star, on the decision by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association [FIFA] to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in Russia and Qatar—two countries with very poor records on LGBT rights:

“I would never pressure anyone into speaking about the issue but it is absolutely insane. If you look at the next few World Cups, they are in places where, if I were to go, I could possibly be imprisoned or beat up or stoned to death. It is pretty ridiculous. There is going to be number of gay fans that will go to watch the sport. Of course there is going to be another gay footballer there. So I think it is an issue that needs to be spoken about and discussed with FIFA because every player should feel safe when they go to a World Cup.”

If a player is not safe in the host country, then that country should not be the host. Plain and simple.

Sidenote: Robbie is dreamy.

I Didn't Say It ...

Michael Sam, in GQ Magazine, on coming out:

“If I had it my way, I never would have [come out] the way I did, never would have told it the way I did. I would have done the same thing I did at Mizzou. Which was to tell my team and my coaches and leave it at that. But since I did tell my team, word got out.  ... But the recruiters knew, and reporters knew, and they talked to each other, and it got out. If I didn't have the year I did, nobody would have cared. But I did have that year. And a lot of people knew. Someone was gonna ask me, 'I heard you told your team a secret.…' Well, I was comfortable with who I was, and I wouldn't have denied it. And then I wouldn't have been able to control the story. But I have no regrets. Some people can argue that I had the potential to go higher in the draft. But I think everything happens for a reason. It looks good to see me in the position I'm in now, because I can show the world how good I am and rise up the ranks. I'm at the bottom now. I can rise up, show I'm a football player. Not anything else. Just a football player."

As I like to say, he isn't a gay football player, he's a football player who is gay.

Amy Schumer, on Joan Rivers:

"I only met Joan Rivers once, but I carried her with me for as long as I can remember. The first time I heard Joan was in the move Spaceballs. She was brash and hilarious and just hearing the voice coming from that gold robot put this crazy idea in my head: that I could use my voice, too. When I filmed my first standup special in 2007 I had to fight to get a joke past the censors. The joke was, 'I'm at the age where my friends are having kids and the way they tell me that they’re pregnant is by taking us all out to brunch and saying, 'You guys? I'm keeping this one.' And I thought I was pretty edgy for doing such a dark joke in what is still an unforgiving time for women who exercise their right to choose. It wasn't until a year later that I watched a clip of Joan on The Tonight Show and she was doing a joke of a similar nature. She spoke of a friend of hers who'd gotten fourteen appendectomies in Puerto Rico ... I laughed out loud. The truth and the pain and the way she said it cut like a knife. When she performed that joke on television it was the early 70s. Think about that. She stuck her neck out at a dangerous time; she couldn't even say the word abortion on television. Now, I’m not going to say how big of balls she had to say that joke on the air, because she has taught us time and time again that having balls has nothing to do with it ...Joan was the bravest of all.  Joan always got blasted for being mean, but she had the guts to make fun of herself more than anybody. ... I loved a lot of funny women ... Gilda, Carol Burnett, and Lucy, too, but I spoke up in class ... because of that first voice I heard coming from that golden robot. She wasn't just a woman or a person. She was a comic, and wanted to be treated as such. I'm sure this speech would annoy her. She didn't want to be given credit for aspiring women. She wanted to be known as a great comedian. And, she was." 

Yes, she was. I like to consider myself a little like Joan because I say what’s on my mind, and I will make that joke that some might think inappropriate. But it’s my mind, my mouth, my joke.

Thank Joan for that.

LeAnn Rimes comparing herself to her stepson:

“I was super-driven as a kid. Even though I was on the road a lot, the teachers would give me homework and I would get it all done. I look at my 11-year-old stepson Mason, and I’m like, ‘I signed a record deal when I was your age. You’re still fumbling with tying your shoelaces.’”

And y’all thought Cinderella have a Wicked Stepmother.

By the way, there are no known photos of LeAnn tying her own shoes because they don't make lace-ups for cloven hooves.

Linda Harvey, “ex-gay” wingnut, on a Christmas gift for your favorite teen or college student struggling with their sexuality:

“If you were wondering what to get your teen or college student for Christmas, how about giving them the gift of common sense and morality? This is the way many people have described my book, Maybe He’s Not Gay: Another View On Homosexuality. Same-sex relationships are not what anyone was born for yet there are reasons why people get there and even more reasons why they can leave those feelings behind.”

Linda? Honey? Nutjob? By the time your youngsters get to be teens or college students they know they’re gay, they’ve probably had some gay experiences, and your little Hate Book won’t change that.

Maybe you should take a seat now.

Robbie Rogers, openly gay soccer star, on being a role model:

"I realized that just by playing and being on the soccer field, that's a symbol right there, and that can encourage and give people hope. It was really those kids inspiring me that was kind of like my final decision — I need to sack up, I need to go back into soccer.'" 

The very kids for whom he is a role model, were role models to him for returning to soccer after coming out.

That’s progress.

I Didn't Say It ....

Robbie Rogers, LA Galaxy openly gay soccer player, says no gay players have reached out to him:

"I've received phone calls and I've spoken with all my friends here in the UK and around the world that have supported me, but I haven't had one message from a [gay] footballer. It reminds me of the fear that I had - you remember that atmosphere and how it made you feel. It just shows there's a huge problem. What do you do to change that, do you try to support them to create an environment that would support them to come out and they would feel comfortable in? It's really tough."

Juts shows that we still have much more work to do towards acceptance and tolerance and understanding.

Rachel Maddow, on the  federal court ruling striking down Utah's same-sex marriage ban.

"And so the ruling came down surprising everyone by 2:00 in Utah. And by 3:00 people were marrying in that state!...Does this Utah decision today just feel like it's a different decision than all the others because - forgive me - it's freaking Utah! Or is the fact that this is a federal court ruling - does that mean that this is just more than the next step - that this could be a harbinger that anti-gay laws around the country are more done than we thought they were?"

I think she’s right.

My first thought, too, was U-freaking-tah!

Gary Herbert, Utah governor, expressing his dismay and vowing to continue the fight to protect traditional marriage:

"I am very disappointed an activist federal judge is attempting to override the will of the people of Utah. I am working with my legal counsel and the acting Attorney General to determine the best course to defend traditional marriage within the borders of Utah."

Um, Gary, we don’t let the majority rules on the Civil Rights of the minority in this country where all men, gay and straight, are created equal.

Annise Parker, openly gay Houston mayor, on  Robertson and the controversy surrounding his anti-gay comments and suspension from Duck Dynasty.

"I have never watched 'Duck Dynasty,' so I don't think about it much at all. I've been a gay community activist since the mid-70s. It was a very different time. We were fighting to keep people out of jails and mental hospitals. What some redneck wingnut has to say about the GLBT community is completely irrelevant."

And, like Robertson, who has the right to his opinion, Parker has the right to hers.

And I agree with her.

Seth Anderson [right] who was legally married to Michael Ferguson last week in Utah:

"Today, December 23, Republican Governor Gary Herbert has declared the State of Utah will go before a judge to 'defend traditional marriage within the borders of Utah.' I don’t know how he can say that as a Utahan and as a Mormon. Traditional marriage in Utah is non-traditional. How delightfully ironic that today, December 23, Mormons will remember the birthday of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Mormon Church, a man who had 34 wives, 1/3 of whom married Joseph while simultaneously married to other men and 1/3 of whom were under the age of 20. The founder of Salt Lake City and colonizer of Utah, Brigham Young, had 55 wives and 34 children. 21 of his wives had never been married, 16 were widows, 6 were divorced, and 6 had living husbands."

Doesn’t sound like Utah really has a stake in so-called one-man-one-woman marriage.

Mama Grizzly Bore™, supporting Duck Dynasty's Phil Robertson and trotting out the “unnamed” gay friend stance:

"In fact, a friend of mine who happens to be gay, she emailed me to say she is outraged at A&E for the hypocrisy here, for the things that they air on their program that she finds offensive, yet A&E doesn't fire a star or somebody involved in their programming based on what they said but they would  when it comes to Phil on Duck Dynasty and this friend, she said that she would boycott A&E and that network, and uh, um, she's not the only one."

First off, if you’re gonna be a spokesman, learn to speak. This rambling, incoherent, cracked out mess of a statement makes no sense.

And for the love of the goddess, quit saying “my gay friend” because if you really had a gay friend who really supported Robertson you’d be sayin’ her name and winkin’ and smilin’ and aw shuckin’ yer ass all over town.

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.