Tag: coming out

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Chris Burns Becomes First Out Division 1 Men’s Basketball Coach

Chris Burns, assistant basketball coach for Bryant University, becomes the first openly gay Division 1 men’s basketball coach via a heartfelt first person essay written for Outsports.

Burns shares his journey from closeted New Hampshire high school basketball to successful college player, and now assistant coach. He includes how he felt about his first boyfriend, who was also in basketball, and how being closeted kept him detached from everyone around him.

Ultimately, it was the historic SCOTUS ruling this past June on marriage equality that gave him the courage to reveal his truth to the world.

Just part of Chris’ compelling essay:

That day, when the Supreme Court released its decision, was when I knew beyond anything else: This is all bigger than myself.

There is no greater feeling than being a part of something bigger than just you. That’s what has always made sports so special for me.

Since I started telling people in college basketball over the last few months, I’ve realized my fears were far worse than reality. I’ve realized that people, for the most part, are human beings first. For a guy who’s relatively cynical and can be negative, the reactions of people in my sport and in my life have shut me right up and reenergized my hope in the human spirit, in empathy.

You’ve got to give the majority of people credit for changing attitudes and credit to all the people who have worked to make that possible. Things have gone fairly well for me so far.

Like the people before me, I hope my story empowers someone, even if it’s just one person. But it’s a process for everyone.

My advice: Take your time and be comfortable. Everyone’s personal journey is special and unique, and no one should feel pressure to do anything they aren’t comfortable with.

But always know this: When the time comes to share your true self, you will feel so much love and relief and hope and freedom. It’s a truly special feeling, and I just can’t thank enough every single person who has helped guide and support me to this point.

Chris shared with USA Today how it all went down when he came out to his team:

“There are parts of this business that lead me to believe what I’m about to tell you is not acceptable here,” the assistant coach says. “This is something I struggle with. It’s made me consider giving up coaching. It’s made me think I’m not supposed to be here.”

Players are wide-eyed. Burns takes a deep breath.

“I’m a gay man,” he says, at last.

He goes on to say he hopes none of this will affect the players negatively, that he wants it to unite them. Bryant’s players surround him with hugs. They tell him they love him. He can exhale.

Congratulations Chris! Your coming out will empower many, many more closeted folks to find their own courage in time. And many of them will no doubt be athletes who need a positive role model to look to.

Thanks for stepping up and being that person.

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Norway’s Richest Man Comes Out At The Age Of 59

Even though he is one of Norway’s richest men, Stein Erik Hagen has just come out of the closet at the age of 59.

His career began as a supermarket owner, but now is chairman of Orkla, a Norwegian conglomerate with 30,000 employees in more than 40 countries.

He has four children from two former marriages.

Via Instinct

Coming out to NRK, he said: ‘I realized that I was gay in adulthood. When I was in my 20s we did not know what it was. We had heard about it, but it was not something we associated ourselves with.’

He was born in July 1956 and the law decriminalizing homosexuality in Norway didn’t come in until he was 16-years-old, he said.

But while he has never been open about his sexuality, Hagen has been a gay rights campaigner for years.

He campaigned for acceptance in the church, investing hundreds of thousands of krone into the fight.

Gay Star News speculates that Hagen, said to worth between $2.4-$3.6 billion dollars, could be the richest single gay man in the world.

I’ll admit I’m a bit surprised that a country that I consider fairly “liberal” socially led Hagen to be so uncomfortable with being open about sexuality until his late 50s.

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New Jersey: Radio Producer Joe Votruba Comes Out On The Air

Great feel good story coming out of New Jersey concerning Joe Votruba, the afternoon show producer and writer for New Jersey 101.5, the largest FM talk radio station in America.

Last Friday, Joe came out live on air during the Deminski & Doyle Show, which he produces. The off the cuff announcement barely seemed to throw radio hosts Jeff Deminski and Bill Doyle off guard.

The moment happened as the host’s were discussing the wisdom of being friends with your ex. During the segment, Joe said, “I can give you a story. This story has to come with an announcement first of all. I’m gay. But we’ll talk about that later.”

From the show’s website:

We spent the hour debating whether or not it’s ever okay to remain friends with an ex. Joe chimed in with a story of his own, but he buried the lead. Little did we know that this was going to be the moment when Joe V decided to announce to the audience that he’s gay. We are so happy for him that he did, though!

The über-cool thing is how calm the announcement came and went. His radio hosts, who knew he was gay although Joe had not gone “public” public with the news, completely rocked and rolled with the announcement and kept on chatting with the topic at hand.

Later, Joe expressed his thanks on Facebook to those who offered him support after coming out on the air.

“While a lot of my friends and relatives were already aware of that fact that I’m gay, Friday afternoon was the first time I ever talked about that aspect of my life on the air. Your kind words in response have been so incredible and you are all truly amazing. I just want to say THANK YOU for your outpouring of love, support and acceptance. Stay hungry and stay free!”

I really love how the rhythm of the show and the hosts didn’t skip a beat when Joe shared his news. This was smooth, kids.

It really informs us on how far we’ve come.

Congratulations, Joe!

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News Round-Up: September 19, 2015

Some news stories you may have missed:

• Princeton University’s Mason Darrow becomes first openly gay Division 1 football player.

• File this under “Duh” – a recent study shows a strong correlation between homophobia and mental illness.

• Jeb Bush on Donald Trump’s failure to correct recent anti-Muslim comments made by a Donald Trump supporter: Obama Is ‘American’ And ‘A Christian.’

• Bag pipe player takes down hateful street preacher in “most Scottish way possible.” Hilarious.

• “Hart To Hart” – 70s/80s TV detective series – is getting a gay couple reboot.

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Apple CEO Tim Cook On Coming Out: “I Needed To Do Something”

Last night on The Late Show, Stephen Colbert interviewed Apple CEO about a number of subjects including the newly introduced version of iPhone.

But along the way, Colbert asked Cook about growing up in Alabama as a young gay man, and his reasons for coming out.

Kids were getting basically discriminated against, kids were even being disclaimed by their own parents. And that I needed to do something. And where I valued my privacy significantly, I felt that I was valuing it too far above what I could do for other people. And so I wanted to tell everyone my truth.

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Video: “Gareth Thomas: Never Alone” By Guinness

A new web campaign by Guinness Beer, “Made of More,” features rugby champ Gareth Thomas as he recounts the chapter in his life when he faced coming out, moving from darkness to light.

The theme of the campaign is centered on the idea that “the choices we make reveal the true nature of our character.”

Clip description:

Gareth Thomas: Never Alone tells the story of how the former Wales captain’s greatest fear wasn’t the opposition he faced on the pitch, but the fear of rejection from everything he had known, because of his sexuality.

The film celebrates the courage of Gareth, and most importantly, the empathy shown by his teammates when he came out, showing that even when he felt he was on his own and at his lowest point, he was always part of a team.

There’s also a one minute version of the spot.

In 2013, Guinness famously released a video for the “Made of More” campaign featuring six men playing basketball in wheelchairs. Only at the end of the game does the viewer realize only one man is confined to his chair – his five friends used the wheelchairs to even the playing field, so he could be included. Pretty powerful. You can view that clip here.

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NBA Columnist & ESPN Reporter Israel Gutierrez Comes Out, Announces Engagement

ESPN journalist and NBA columnist comes out (and announces his impending nuptials!) in a touching, personal essay via his blog.

Just a bit:

I’ve been agonizing for months trying to figure out how to do this.

It’s been incredibly difficult, to the point where I usually talk myself in circles and end up making very little sense.

So I decided on this simple blog entry. No formalities, no restrictions, just me letting you into a portion of my life I’ve kept largely separate from my professional career.

I’m gay, which plenty of people, I’m sure, have either deduced or just guessed as much over the years.

But this isn’t me “coming out.” The truth is, I’ve been out to friends and family for more than six years.

The reason I’m tackling this now is, primarily, because I’m getting married on September 12. And besides the fact that it would be annoying to tell my story every time someone sees my wedding ring, it just seemed like a natural time to get this out in the open.

[snip]

I’m confident that now that this is out in the open, I can deliver an even better version of my professional self.

Happiness tends to bring out the best in a person. And I’m so happy right now.

Congratulations on living your truth, Izzy, and on the upcoming nuptials!

Make sure all you kids go read his entire thoughtful, personal essay here.

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Sam Stanley, Professional Union Rugby Player, Comes Out

Sam Stanley, a 23 year old English professional union player from Essex, comes out as gay in an interview with the Sunday Times.

Stanley told the Sunday Times, “You are so worried about what people will think, and I thought I couldn’t be a macho rugby player the way I was, and there was nothing else I wanted to do with my life.”

Stanley follows Batley Bulldogs’ Keegan Hirst, who recently came out as gay. At the time, Stanley publicly praised Hirst via Twitter.

Hirst became the first openly gay rugby league player to take part in a game earlier in August.

Additionally, rugby star Gareth Thomas came out in 2009.

Congrats Sam! Good on you! Visibility is what helps the rest of the world see we’re like everyone else. Only maybe a little more fabulous.

I know we’ll be seeing a lot more of Stanley in the coming weeks.

And speaking of “seeing more” – check out Stanley’s Instagram video playing guitar and singing (naked?) James Bay’s “When We Were On Fire:”

A video posted by Sam Stanley (@samstannerz) on Jul 16, 2015 at 11:11am PDT

A photo posted by Sam Stanley (@samstannerz) on Jul 26, 2015 at 8:00am PDT

Sam Stanley (L) with rugby champion & LGBT ally Ben Cohen (R)
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Trailer: “Tab Hunter Confidential”

From the movie’s official website:

Throughout the 1950s, Tab Hunter reigned as Hollywood’s ultimate male heartthrob. In dozens of films – and in the pages of countless movie magazines – Tab’s astonishing looks and golden-boy sex appeal drove his fans to screaming, delirious frenzy, making him the prototype for all young matinee idols to come.

Bristling against being just another pretty face and wanting to be taken seriously, Tab was one of the few to be able to transcend pin-up boy status. He earned his stripes as an actor to become a major movie star and recording artist.

But throughout his years of stardom, Tab had a secret. Tab Hunter was gay, and spent his Hollywood years in a precarious closet that repeatedly threatened to implode and destroy him. Now, Tab’s dramatic, turbulent and ultimately inspiring life story has become an explosive documentary feature directed by Emmy award winning filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz.

In theaters mid-October 2015.