UK Olympic diver Tom Daley comes out
The Guardian is reporting that British Olympic diver Tom Daley has come out. As he says in the video “I’m dating a guy and I couldn’t be happier:”
The Olympic diving star Tom Daley has said he is in a relationship with a man. He made the announcement in a video on YouTube to “put an end to all the rumours and speculation”. Daley, 19, said he “couldn’t be happier” in the five-minute video in which he speaks about his new partner for the first time. He added: “I’ve been dating girls and I’ve never really had a serious relationship to talk about and now I feel ready to talk about my relationships. Come spring this year my life changed massively when I met someone and it made me feel so happy, so safe, and everything just feels great. And, well, that someone is a guy.” Daley, who won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics, said he wanted to reveal the news in a video because he didn’t want his words to be “twisted”.
The video clip has received over 450,000 views and 10,000 comments in less than a day.
Tom has become quite has a huge following on Instagram and shares pics frequently. It’s easy to see why he’s captured the attention of the world.
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| Pic via Inatagram |
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| Pic via Instagram |
Trainer Bob Harper of The Biggest Loser comes out to inspire contestant
On Tuesday’s episode of The Biggest Loser, trainer Bob Harper came out publicly as gay to encourage contestant Bobby Saleem, who comes from a very strict Catholic family, to speak openly about his own sexual orientation to his father.
The 48-year-old personal trainer, who’s never denied his sexual orientation but hadn’t discussed it on the program, was moved by Saleem’s struggle to come out to his dad.
“I haven’t talked about my sexuality on this show ever, and now meeting Bobby, I really do believe this is the right time,” Harper said on camera. “I want to show Bobby that he doesn’t have to live in shame.”
Harper then decided to share his own story with Saleem and viewers.
“I’m gay. I knew I very long time ago that I was gay,” Harper revealed. “When I came out — when I was 17 years old — it was one of those things where I realized that there was going to be so many obstacles, but being gay doesn’t mean being weak. And being gay doesn’t mean that you are less than anybody else. It’s just who you are.”
Saleem said he would come out to his father.
Harper received an outpouring of support from viewers and tweeted a message to fans:
THANK YOU to everyone that supported my decision to talk about being gay w/ Bobby. I felt like it was appropriate & necessary. LOVE Y’ALL!!
— Bob Harper (@MyTrainerBob) November 27, 2013
(source)
Maine Congressman Mike Michaud comes out – “Yes, I am. But why should it matter?”
Rather than let a “smear campaign” that implied he was gay, and that there was something wrong with that, succeed, Rep. Mike Michaud of Maine, who is currently running for governor of the state, decided to come out in editorials running in newspapers across Maine today. That means there are now seven out lawmakers in the House, plus Sen. Tammy Baldwin.
“I wasn’t surprised to learn about the whisper campaigns, insinuations and push-polls some of the people opposed to my candidacy have been using to raise questions about my personal life,” he wrote in a column published by the Bangor Daily News, the Portland Press Herald and the Associated Press. “They want people to question whether I am gay. Allow me to save them the trouble with a simple, honest answer: ‘Yes, I am. But why should it matter?'”
Michaud went on to write in his column that “my personal life has never factored into how I do my job” and “that’s certainly not going to change if I’m elected governor.” He still doesn’t feel the need to provide personal details, despite holding public office, writing:
“Growing up in a large Franco-American Catholic family, it’s never been in my nature to talk about myself. I write this now merely to let my opponents and the outside interests who fund them know that I am not ashamed of who I am. And if seeing someone from my background, in my position, openly acknowledge the fact that he’s gay makes it a little bit easier for future generations to live their lives openly and without fear, all the better.”
(via Out.com)
Sean Hayes – I always felt like I owed the gay community an apology for coming out too late
In a new interview with the LA Times, out actor Sean Hayes addresses some of the personal battles he fought being a closeted actor during his time on the LGBT inclusive TV series Will and Grace:
“I was so young. It made me go back in the closet [with the media] because I was so overwhelmed at 26 or 27. I didn’t want the responsibility, I didn’t know how to handle the responsibility of speaking for the gay community,” Hayes told the Los Angeles times.
“I always felt like I owed them a huge apology for coming out too late. Some people in the gay community were very upset with me for not coming out on their terms. They don’t stop to think about what’s going on in somebody’s personal life, and the struggles that they’re having. It was all very scary. We got death threats. It was a really rough time for me, but I was also having the time of my life.”
Hayes has a new series that’s currently struggling with ratings and the critics. You have to wonder if this is a bit of outreach to the LGBT community coming a bit too late? And perhaps to help his struggling series?
Grandfather’s letter defending his gay grandson goes viral
A letter that a man wrote to his daughter after she kicked her son out for being gay has gone viral. The online world is rallying behind the sentiment of the letter.
Here’s the text of the letter which was posted to the Facebook page of FCKH8:
Dear Christine:
I’m disappointed in you as a daughter. You’re correct that we have a “shame in the family”, but mistaken about what it is.
Kicking Chad out of your home simply because he told you he was gay is the real “abomination” here. A parent disowning her child is what goes “against nature”.
The only intelligent thing I heard you saying in all this was that “you didn’t raise your son to be gay”. Of course you didn’t. He was born this way and didn’t chase it any more than he being left-handed. You however, have made a choice of being hurtful, narrow-minded and backward. So, while we are in the business of disowning our children, I think I’ll take this moment to say goodbye to you. I now have a fabulous (as the gays put it) grandson to raise, and I don’t have time for heart-less B-word of a daughter.
If you find your heart, give us a call
– Dad
FCKH8 says “We were blown away by how this guy stands by his grandson and stands up against his own homophobic daughter. This is real l♥ve!”
(h/t Towleroad)
So You Think You Can Dance contestant Tucker Knox comes out (?) on Instagram
Though he was not out while he was on the show, Tucker Knox, a contestant on Season 10 of So You Think You Can Dance posted the above photo to his Instagram account yesterday:
“I’m gonna start a “fall back Friday” mainly cuz I miss the hubs and that beach!”
Knox was eliminated on August 20.
A week before his elimination he danced in the first same-sex pairing of the season with Robert Roldan. Beautiful choreography by Travis Wall. Watch below:
(via Towleroad)
Broadway’s Bobby Steggert casually comes out in interview
Did Broadway’s Bobby Steggert just come out?
The musical adaptation of the film “Big Fish” opens on Broadway on October 5, and Bobby, one of the leads in the show, seems to have casually come out in a new interview with “OUT” magazine:
The role also marks Steggert’s most mature, complex portrayal to date. Up until his turn as a gay dad in Mothers and Sons—”I think it’s a gay actor’s responsibility to give full-blooded life to gay characters”—the 32-year-old actor spent years starring in coming-of-age stories.
He played a conflicted gay soldier in the Off-Broadway World War II musical Yank! and earned a Tony nom for his performance in the 2009 revival of McNally’s Ragtime. His work in the latter actually inspired the four-time Tony-winning scribe to write a role for him in Mothers. “Now I’m playing men dealing with adult issues,” Steggert says.
“Big Fish” makes its way to Broadway after an out-of-town run in Chicago, with direction by Susan Stroman (“The Producers”), music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa and a book by John August (the screenwriter of the film who, along with Lippa, also happens to be gay).
Currently in previews, the musical is one of Broadway’s most anticipated shows of the season and opens officially October 5. For more information on the show click here.
(source)
A mom responds to her son coming out on Facebook
A mom found out her son came out on Facebook and left this note for him.
Do I really need to add anything to this?
Congrats to “Zach” – who clearly has a fabulous mother.
Forward.
Quote of the day – Ricky Martin “I was an anti-gay bully”
“I was very angry, very rebellious. I used to look at gay men and think, I’m not like that, I don’t want to be like that, that’s not me. I was ashamed.
“When you’re told you’re wrong by everyone, from society, from your faith – my self-esteem was crushed. I took my anger out on those around me. I look back now and realize I would bully people who I knew were gay. I had internalized homophobia.
“To realize that was confronting to me. I wanted to get away from that.” – Ricky Martin, speaking to GQ Australia.