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Top Ranked Djokovic Wouldn’t Have A Problem With An Out Pro Tennis Player

Novak Djokovic (image via WikiMedia)

The top ranked male tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic, says he would support the coming out of a male pro tennis player.

Outsports reports that after his round-robin win at the the ATP World Tour Finals in London earlier this month, Djokovic told reporters he would see a fellow player coming out as a “courageous move.”

Although there are several female professional tennis player both past and present, no professional male player has come out publicly at this time.

When asked what his reaction would be to a player coming out, the 14-time grand slam champion said, “I wouldn’t have anything against that, absolutely.”

“It’s everybody’s right to have sexual orientation as they desire, any kind of direction in life they desire,” he replied. “I respect it.”

The Serbian did acknowledge that while he doesn’t “see people differently if they come out like that,” he was quick to add that “certain parts of the world are not ready to accept that.”

He would know. His native country of Serbia has a troubled past when it comes to LGBTQ rights and protections.

Although Serbia has an openly gay Prime Minister, Ana Brnabić, the country offers no legal recognition for same-sex relationships and adoption by gay couples isn’t allowed.

In fact, it wasn’t until 1994 that the country reversed its laws making homosexuality illegal.

Djokovic, however, has a much more LGBTQ-friendly history.

Gay Star News points up an episode at the 2012 US Open when, during a practice session, a young boy asked the superstar to marry him.

With a warm smile, Djokovic laughed, shook the boy’s hand and actually invited him onto the court for a little practice.

Watch the ‘proposal’ and Djokovic’s reaction below.

And thanks, ND, for being a true champion.

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Jake Borelli Assumed His ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Character Was Straight

Jake Borelli for Gay Times Magazine (all photos – Gray Hamner)

Actor Jake Borelli, who recently came out as gay on social media moments after his character on Grey’s Anatomy, Dr. Levi “Glasses” Schmitt, experienced his first same-sex kiss, graces the cover the newest issue of Gay Times Magazine.

The totally adorable actor shares with Gay Times that since the airing of the now-famous ‘elevator kiss’ between Schmitt and hunky Dr. Nico Kim (played by Alex Landi), he’s “received so many messages” he can barely keep up.

“I sat there for like four hours and some of them were heartbreaking, and some of them were filled with joy and excitement,” Borelli shares with Gay Times. “It was beautiful to see how brave all of the fans were being with sharing their story. It truly felt like we were doing this together.”

The TV relationship is the latest in a long run of LGBT diverse representation on Grey’s Anatomy, now in its 15th season.

Borelli shares that he, like the rest of the audience, assumed Schmitt was straight during his first season with the show last year. With this new development in Schmitt’s storyline, Borelli thinks there’s an important lesson to be learned.

“You probably shouldn’t assume anything about anybody’s sexuality because I assumed he was straight,” says Borelli. “I would say he doesn’t even know yet at this point. He’s still learning, he’s still grappling with his own sexuality.”

In fact, Borelli admits he’s had to step back and adjust the backstory he’d created for the character now that this new dynamic has come into play.

“I think we came up with something really beautiful and really exciting, and it’s a story I would’ve loved to have seen when I was younger,” says the 27-year-old actor. “It’s a story that fits right into my own history, and it’s very close to me in some ways.”

And while he acknowledges the role and storyline may be “way bigger than me and my own coming out,” he hopes the Hollywood ‘powers that be’ take note of how the TV audience is embracing the Schmitt/Kim romance.

“I can’t imagine other tastemakers in the industry aren’t seeing this and aren’t getting super excited about it,” clearly enjoying the positive reactions he’s seeing. “We’re craving diversity and representation and different stories – stories that weren’t at the forefront of the narrative.”

Grey’s Anatomy airs on ABC at 8/7c on Thursdays.

Click here to order Borelli’s issue of Gay Times Magazine.

(Photo credit: Gray Hamner/courtesy Gay Times Magazine, styling by Tyler Cunningham)

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Taron Egerton Says Upcoming Elton John Biopic ‘Rocketman’ Will Have A Sex Scene

Taron Egerton (image via WikiMedia)

Taron Egerton, star of the Kingsman movie franchise, shares that he’s filmed a sex scene for the upcoming Elton John biopic, Rocketman.

The 29-year-old plays the legendary pop superstar and Richard Madden, of the hit UK TV series The Bodyguard, plays his longtime manager, John Reid, with whom he also dated for five years.

“I probably shouldn’t be telling you this but we have a sex scene,” Egerton shared with The List. “We went to some places together and got quite physical.”

Richard Madden and Taron Egerton (via Instagram)

“I’ve watched it back and I think it looks great,” he shared. “The grown-up nature of the film, combined with it being a musical, makes it feel quite zeitgeisty.”

Earlier reports alluded to the film being designed as a ‘musical fantasy’ and Egerton seemed to elaborate on that saying, “It’s basically about Elton in rehab, so we’re not watering anything down.”

And while the recent Bohemian Rhapsody seemed to shy away from rocker Freddie Mercury’s sex life, Rocketman promises to be explicit in its portrayal of Elton John’s love affairs.

“It’s very consciously a proud, gay film and it’s also open to showing Elton’s darker moments,” he added.

“The movie we shot is absolutely a celebration of everything that Elton John is and part of that is his sexuality,” he recently told MTV International. “I actually think the gay community will be quite surprised by quite how gay it feels.”

The Robin Hood star also notes that he’s not “remotely perturbed by male intimacy” adding that he’s “quite proud of what we’ve done with it.”

Rocketman hits theaters May 17, 2019.

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Trump’s Epic Meltdown Over Mueller/Manafort/Wikileaks News

Donald Trump began his Tuesday ‘executive time’ by tweeting an epic rant over the latest news that Special Counsel Robert Mueller has announced former Trump campaign chair Paul Manafort repeatedly lied to his investigators after receiving a plea deal.

Mueller now says any request for leniency for Manafort is off the table.

I’m telling you now – Manafort is pulling his shenanigans because Trump has promised a pardon.

This may have something to do with the state of the matter: The Guardian is reporting today that Manafort held secret talks with Julian Assange, inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London, in 2013, 2015 and in Spring 2016, around the time Trump named him as his convention manager.

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The First-Ever Selfie From Mars

Mars selfie courtesy of NASA’s InSight

NASA shares the first images of the InSight spacecraft after the probe successfully landed on the surface of Mars.

The robot spacecraft snapped the image of itself making this the first-ever selfie from Mars.

The exploration of Mars continues with this 8th successful landing on the red planet since the Viking probes in 1976.

InSight has company, by the way, NASA’s Curiosity rover is still running around Mars gathering information as it has since landing in 2012.

According to CBS News, InSight will operate from its stationary site for the next two years, which is the length of a Martian year. The InSight mission will study the early evolution of terrestrial planets.

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News Round-Up: November 26, 2018

Some news items you might have missed:

• Talk about Man-Crush Monday – a reader sent me the pic above and woof! How could I not post it? Anyone know who the hottie is?

• An Australian student came out to his Catholic school during an assembly packed full of his classmates and teachers to thunderous applause.

• Daryll Rowe, who intentionally spread HIV to other men through Grindr hookups, has been sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 12 years to be served.

• Model Rain Dove, whose birth certificate is marked female but now identifies at non-binary, was maced in a ladies room by a mother who decided Rain didn’t belong in the bathroom.

• Jury selection has begun in the trial of Neo-Nazi James Alex Fields Jr. who brutally ran down counter-protesters at the Neo-nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, on August 12, 2017, killing Heather Heyer and injuring several more.

• RuPaul and VH1 have teamed up with the New York Gay Men’s Chorus to create a holiday anthem like no other in advance of the upcoming RuPaul’s Drag Race All-Stars 4 premiering December 14 on VH1.

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Report: Mueller Says Paul Manafort Violated Plea Deal, Lied To Investigators

Major media outlets are reporting that former chair of Donald Trump's presidential campaign has lied Special Counsel Robert Mueller thus voiding his plea agreement for leniency in sentencing.
Paul Manafort

Major media outlets are reporting that former chair of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign has lied Special Counsel Robert Mueller thus voiding his plea agreement for leniency in sentencing.

From The New York Times:

Mr. Manafort’s “crimes and lies” during a series of interviews with prosecutors working for the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, and the F.B.I. relieve them of all promises they made to him in the plea agreement reached in mid-September, investigators wrote in the filing.

A jury in Northern Virginia convicted Mr. Manafort, 69, of eight counts of financial fraud in August stemming from his work as a political consultant in Ukraine. Faced with a second trial in the District of Columbia on related charges in September, he pleaded guilty to two conspiracy counts and to an open-ended arrangement requiring him to answer “fully, truthfully, completely and forthrightly” questions about “any and all matters” of interest to the government.

Without a motion from prosecutors asking for leniency, Mr. Manafort is expected to face a prison term of at least 10 years for his crimes. He is scheduled to be sentenced in the Northern Virginia case on Feb. 8.

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Viral Video Of The Day: Hang Gliding Gone Wrong

(screen capture)

Whoaaaaa!

Talk about spine-tingling.

Florida-based Chris Gursky, an auto-parts manager and photographer, shares his near-death experience hang gliding in Switzerland as the pilot took off without ensuring Gurdsky was properly tethered to the glider.

The incident, captured in crystal-clear video, is really something.

In posting the video to YouTube, Gursky writes, “My first time hang gliding turned into a near death experience as my safety harness was never hooked to the glider. For 2 minutes 14 seconds I had to hang on for my life! The landing was a rough one, but I lived to tell the story.”

Watch below.

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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New York Times Profiles Wealthy Gay Trumpers

Bill White and Bryan Eure (via Instagram)

The New York Times has profiled Donald Trump supporters Bill White and his husband Bryan Eure, with the primary interest in the couple being they are that rare breed of openly-gay Trumpers. In fact, they are organizing a $5 million fund-raiser for the Trumpster this winter and boast about having Don Trump Jr. on speed dial. But that wasn’t always the case. For years they enjoyed being a part of Manhattan’s liberal elite. They supported both of Hillary Clinton’s bids for president quite whole-heartedly, paid Aretha Franklin to sing at their 2011 wedding, and even hosted President Obama at a high-end $39,500-a-plate fund-raiser at their townhouse in Manhattan’s uber-gay neighborhood, Chelsea. But, per the New York Times, on election night November 8, 2016, while standing among the Hillary supporters in what everyone expected to be a celebration, White saw the writing on the wall in the election returns. Without missing a beat, he jumped in his car and drove to the New York Hilton, where Trump was celebrating the surprise win. “I didn’t want to be part of that misery pie; I’m not a wallower in self-pity,” White told the New York Times. “I really believe that once that decision is made, you have to get behind your president.” Mr. Eure, a commercial insurance broker and a longtime Republican, was happy for the change of heart by his husband. From that point on, it seems the duo have no problem explaining away any perceived negatives of the president. When it comes to the many ways Trump’s administration has attacked or pared back LGBTQ protections, Eure waves off the accusations saying, “I don’t like identity politics.” This from the the man who is married to his husband only because of the progress made by liberal Democratic politicians and activists. When someone brings up the many lies of Trump, despite actual facts and video tape to prove such falsehoods, Eure dismisses the issue as mere “embellishments.” “Exaggerations,” White adds. “He’s the marketer in chief for the United States. So what?” Their drinking of the Trump kool-aid has earned them the ire of former friends with whom the couple used to hob-nob among. Even Nick Merrill, a spokesman for Hillary Clinton says, “They ran to the other end of the spectrum and then walked off the ledge.” “Our democracy has been set on fire by this president, and they want what, an invite to Mar-a-Lago?” Merrill added. In fact, access seems to be very important to White and Eure. The Times article recounts an episode earlier this year at Ralph Lauren’s Polo Bar in Midtown Manhattan where the two men couldn’t seem to get Chelsea Clinton’s attention across the room. Incensed, White pulled out his phone and called Donald Trump Jr. According to White, Junior immediately offered to come right over. Pleased with the answer, White explained, “Trump picks up on the first ring. If you want to get to Chelsea Clinton, you have to call through five people.” Mr. Eure shares the story of the time he was traveling to Philadelphia to attend the former Secretary of State’s address at the Democratic National Convention. As part of the story, he includes how the day’s inclement weather forced him to ‘borrow’ a friend’s helicopter. But upon arriving, they rushed to greet Clinton only to be blocked by a campaign official. “This was about because we didn’t write a $25,000 check,” Eure explains of the late campaign timing. But the Clinton campaign remembers the story differently. “Some people give their time and resources to causes and candidates for the right reasons, some don’t,” said Merrill. “No better indication of which case this is than to watch a guy decide to embrace Trump and all he stands for because he couldn’t get his picture taken one night.” It’s worth noting that the Times piece almost glosses over the fact that White, a former president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in Manhattan, suddenly resigned from his position in 2008 and was forced to pay $1 million restitution after the state of New York had begun an investigation into whether he might have engaged in unlicensed commercial fund-raising. Along the way, White and Eure show little concern for the damage Donald Trump has done and will continue to do to the LGBTQ community. From removing all mention of LGBTQ people from the official White House website within hours of Trump taking office, to attempting to remove all transgender military service members, to the recent leaked memo that details plans to ‘redefine’ trans people out of existence, these two don’t care as long as they have their access. Just to show how the couple flip-flops from power center to power center, here they are happy to pose with President Obama at the Broadway musical, Hamilton:

Longtime LGBTQ activist and journalist Michelangelo Signorile chimed in on Twitter about the couple:

(h/t New York Times) <

 

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Sean Hayes & Hubby Debut New Holiday Children’s Book

Scott Icenogle and Sean Hayes (image via Simon & Schuster)

Will & Grace star Sean Hayes and his husband, composer Scott Icenogle, are thrilled when they get the call to be substitute teachers – of a kids’ ballet class.

The duo are instructed to put the young dancers through their paces in order to get ready for upcoming performances of the holiday classic, The Nutcracker.

But Sean and Scott soon decide that their mission is to share the true story of how the Sugar Plum Fairy got her wings, which just happens to be the subject of their new picture book, PLUM: How The Sugar Plum Fairy Got Her Wings.

It seems Hayes has loved The Nutcracker since he was just a little kid. He recently told Parade, “When I was a kid, I listened to that record over and over and over again.”

“I memorized every note of every instrument, from every song, in the entire ballet,” he adds. Hayes says the ballet’s story with interesting characters, like The Mouse King, was just too ‘trippy’ for him not to love.

So he and hubby Scott set about to create their vision of the Sugar Plum Fairy’s backstory. In their new book, Plum, a young orphan girl, is sent on an adventure to the Land of Sweets by a mysterious magician.

Overcoming obstacles along the way, young Plum eventually finds herself adopted. Not by a king and queen, but by two Kings, Patrick and Christopher.

Of course, the two funny men can’t just ‘release’ a book. There’s got to be a comedic way to share the news, so here’s the intro video for the new book:

Promoting the new children’s book on Good Morning America today, the couple shares that the book is just the latest collaboration between the married couple.

They also produce a popular YouTube channel titled, The Kitchen Sync, which has garnered over 2.4 million views and been seen by more than 250 million people around the world across social media platforms.

One the most popular is their take on the Barbra Streisand holiday track, “Jingle Bells,” which Hayes describes as “one of the funniest things because she sings it like she’s on cocaine.”

Not to disappoint, Hayes and Icenogle offer their newest Christmas lip-sync, costumes and all, for the Good Morning America audience, “I’m Getting Nothing For Christmas.”

Watch below.

And since it is officially the holiday season, let’s check out the full sugar-rush “Jingle Bells” lip-sync video from Sean and Scott: