Tag: coming out

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Parents Of Gay Teen Athlete Won’t Allow Him To Come Out

A young gay high school wrestler, “Hunter,” recently shared his struggle with coming out on the website Outsports.

Apparently his parents didn’t approve of his coming out and were forcing him into harmful reparative or “ex-gay” therapy. They also forbade him from coming out to anyone else.

But once his story hit Outsports, it was shared across several sites on the web and Hunter grew afraid his parents would see it. And so, out of fear, he asked Outsports to remove the coming out story.

We’re sorry to say that we’ve decided to remove this story from the site.

Hunter contacted us this morning with fear that his parents might see it. The story got shared and read far more widely – and with more mainstream media – than we had imagined it could be. When mainstream sites started picking it up, Hunter got concerned and this morning asked us to remove the full story, at least temporarily, from Outsports. Just as the publication of the story is something we don’t usually do, its removal is the same.

As I understand it, Hunter’s parents have banned him from social media. But he did set up a secret email address should other young, LGBT athletes want to reach out to him. He can be reached by emailing here.

You can listen to Cyd Zeigler on Outsports Radio talk on the sad situation. The radio show aired before Hunter asked that the story be removed for now.

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Twin YouTube Vloggers Come Out To Dad In Viral Video

Austin (L) and Aaron Rhodes (R)

YouTube vloggers The Rhodes Brothers have a viral video on their hands as they come out to their dad (both of them) during a phone call.

Best part of the call is the dad’s most perfect response to the news. “It’s the way things are, you know?” he says. “You’re grown people. You grew up in a lot different generation than me. I just don’t really know what to say — you know I love you both and that’ll never change.”

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News Round-Up: December 18, 2014

• Channing Tatum covers Esquire Magazine

• Seth Rogen really doesn’t have ANYTHING to say about Sony Pictures cancelling release of his film “The Interview” due to terrorist threat

• GOP lawmaker introduces bill requiring women to get permission from male partner for abortion unless “legitimate rape”

• Denmark says it owns the North Pole

• The ACLU of Florida to SCOTUS: “Every day that the couples we represent and the thousands of families across Florida who are also denied the protections of marriage go without those protections, they are suffering real harm.”

• Sweet coming out story – High school soccer player comes out by dancing with Homecoming King boyfriend

Michael Martin (L) with his Homecoming King boyfriend, Jem

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Robbie Rogers Shares Both Of His “First Times”

GQ Magazine takes a ride with L.A. Galaxy player Robbie Rogers on his way to the 2014 Men of the Year party.

Rocking Robbie opens up about what it was like to come out as one of the first openly gay professional athletes, and what it was like to have more than one “first time:”

“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”

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Spoiler: Nick Jonas’ KINGDOM Character Is Gay

In the season finale of DirecTV’s new series Kingdom, the character of MMA fighter Nate Kulina (played by the very hunky Nick Jonas) has an epiphany that had been hinted at for months – that “Nate” is gay.

From Buzzfeed:

The reveal may have surprised viewers, but the actor has known about Nate’s sexuality since Day 1. “Byron [Balasco, Kingdom creator] told me before shooting began,” Jonas told BuzzFeed News exclusively during a recent phone interview. “Everyone at Kingdom was really transparent about the character and some of the things the character would go through. And in my prep work, I wanted to be aware so I could properly tell this story.”

“For me, it was important to maintain the stakes for Nate,” the 22-year-old actor and singer continued. “He lives in a world of fear — fear of disappointing his father, both in the cage and outside of the cage — and he carries that pressure with him in so many ways. I think it’s something a lot of people can relate to.”

“I’ve really been trying to make an effort to talk with my gay fan base and find unique opportunities to set up the next chapter of my life and my career with them in it,” said Jonas, who’s recently performed at gay clubs and made headlines with Marky Mark-esque photoshoots. “The attitude I take in the stories I want to share and my personal life and my view is that I think we’re in a time where there’s a new progression. For all people of all walks of life to accept all people … I’d be thrilled if I’m any part of that.”

Kingdom has been picked up for 20 more episodes which will air in two 10-episode seasons beginning again in Spring 2015.

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Out Country Star Ty Herndon Makes First Public Appearance With Beau At TrevorLIVE

Walking the red carpet at the TrevorLIVE benefit in Los Angeles at the Hollywood Palladium, recently out country star Ty Herndon appeared for the first time in public with his beau, Matt Collum.

From Advocate:

The annual event marked 16 years of life-saving work by The Trevor Project, which provides crisis intervention and suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning teens and young adults. It also marked the first time Herndon made a public appearance with the man who has been his partner since 2008.

“So many times in my life and career I’ve had to do these things alone, and leave the person I love at home sitting on the couch because I wasn’t brave enough to bring him and I wasn’t out,” Herndon emotionally tells The Advocate. “So this is monumental for both of us tonight.”

Herndon helped LGBT visibility in country music take a monumental leap forward when he revealed he is a gay man in a November interview with Entertainment Tonight. The 52-year-old singer says he immediately received support from several country music artists, including LeAnn Rimes — who recently spoke to GLAAD about why she’s proud to be an LGBT ally.

“When I watched him come out on TV, I texted him right away and said, ‘I’m the proudest son of a bitch there is,'” says Herndon’s partner, Collum. “I was, and still am. I am so proud of this man.”

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First Active Major League Baseball Umpire Comes Out

Outsports shares one of the best, yet surprisingly casual coming out stories ever.

Major League Baseball umpire Dale Scott – veteran of three World Series, three All-Star games and six league championship series – allowed himself to be profiled in a Referee Magazine interview this past October.

And while he’s always been out in his private life, he’s never made an issue of being gay at work.

However, when the profile was being written about him he thought it would off-key to not include his husband Mike, with whom he’s been with for 28 years, in some small way.

“My thought process was,” Scott told Outsports in his first interview on the subject, “is that there’s a story about my career and how I got started in umpiring and they’re talking to people I have known since junior high and it didn’t seem right to have a whole story and pictures without a picture of Mike and I, someone who’s been with me through this entire process. We met the October after my first year in the big leagues.

“Obviously, when I sent that picture to Jeff, I knew exactly what it meant. In a small way, this was opening that door in a publication that wasn’t going to be circulated nationwide. It could be picked up, but it’s not Time magazine. I made that decision to go ahead and do it because I felt it was the right thing to do.”

Regarding his work with MLB, Scott says, “I am extremely grateful that Major League Baseball has always judged me on my work and nothing else.”

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Pro MLS Player Robbie Rogers Expected More Gay Athletes To Come Out

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Pro soccer player Robbie Rogers recently shared that expected more professional athletes to follow him out of the closet once he came out.

With Jason Collins retiring from the NBA and Michael Sam currently without an NFL team, Rogers is the only out pro athlete at this time:

“To be honest, I thought when I came out and Jason and Michael, I thought there’d be a chain reaction,” Rogers told the AP.

“It’s been a lot slower. I guess that just reminds me how big a problem it is in sports culture with homophobia. They don’t feel comfortable.”

“There are a number of gay men playing professional sports, just not out,” he added. “In the end, it’s really about guys coming out and changing the atmosphere by being in it. You definitely need to create the environment first where guys feel comfortable.”

Rogers is currently promoting the release of his memoir, In Coming Out To Play, released by Penguin Books and co-written by Eric Marcus. Rogers shares his story as a “troubled isolated child” to becoming the first openly gay male professional athlete. You can check it out on Amazon.

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Out Country Star Ty Herndon: “Like The Weight Of The World’s Been Lifted Off My Shoulders”

Just a week after coming out to the world, country music star Ty Herndon says he’s overwhelmed by the reactions and support he’s received – including from celebrities like Ricky Martin, Kristin Chenoweth, Lance Bass and LeAnn Rimes.

“My life feels open,” the artist, 52, tells PEOPLE. “It feels free, like the weight of the world’s been lifted off my shoulders.”

Since he shared the news of his sexuality with the world he’s had two public appearances, both of which were overwhelmingly positive.

Currently touring with friends Jamie O’Neal and Andy Griggs, Herndon says he had no idea what to expect from the audience of his sold-out show in Robinson, Illinois, on Saturday.

“We always circle up and pray before every show, but I think the prayer circle lasted a little longer with this one,” Herndon, 52, says. “They gave me a standing ovation and were just amazing and loving and kind … I got very emotional.”

The second public appearance was at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville for The Charlie Daniels Band’s Christmas 4 Kids benefit concert.

“Walking out on that stage as an open, free, happy, godly gay man is not something I thought I’d see in my lifetime … We knew that history was being made up there, and it was humbling.”

Clearly he has a lot to celebrate this Thanksgiving. “What a Thanksgiving it is,” Herndon reflects. “I’m sure there’s some challenging days to come, but today I’m just gonna sit and take this in and know that I’m a much stronger and better person because of all the support and love.”

(source)