LGBT ally and all around good guy Adam Levine showed some skin at his photo shoot for the Icons issue of 7 Hollywood Magazine.
Check him out on the cover of the magazine – go buy it!
Video: Sexy & shirtless Adam Levine for 7 Hollywood Magazine
Ohio State University Hockey team: You Can Play
The Ohio State University men’s hockey team advocates for LGBT athletes as part of the You Can Play Project.
The Buckeyes promise to play with passion, integrity and equality.
Op-Ed: Brendon Ayanbadejo of Baltimore Ravens for marriage equality & LGBT rights
Brendon Ayanbadejo, of the world champion Baltimore Ravens and LGBT ally, has written a powerful op-ed for USA Today published today, explaining why now is the time for professional athletes to lead when it comes to treating gays and lesbians as equals.
Excerpt:
The NFL, MLB, NHL and NBA should and can be leaders against discrimination. Whether you’re a commissioner, an athlete, a coach or a fan, your voice will let every kid out there know that there is a place for him or her in sports. We all can be ourselves and still compete with dignity and at the highest level.
This is our time and our cause. Everything we know as athletes, teammates, spokesmen and vehicles of American pastimes compels us toward the kind of action and camaraderie we saw from Pee Wee Reese nearly 66 years ago. It’s as simple as putting our arm around the shoulder of another athlete. It’s a gesture; it’s a pledge; it’s solidarity at its most basic. Our Jackie is coming. We need to pave the way.
Click here to read the entire piece at USA Today. Very well-written, and more importantly, perfectly on point.
The world should take note of how a champion handles himself.
It’s Gay-Straight Alliance Day
From GSAday.org: For decades, GSAs have been working to make their campuses safe places for all students regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.
Students who start and take part in these student groups are brave. They dare to create a dialogue to improve lives. We believe that courage deserves to be recognized, to be celebrated!
Check out GSAday.org for more info on how you can make a difference.
Food Network star Duff Goldman offers wedding cake to Oregon lesbian couple after discrimination
Yesterday I posted about Sweet Cakes, an Oregon bakery that refused to sell a cake to a lesbian after finding out it would be used for her wedding.
Today, according to the Huffington Post, Baltimore-based pastry chef and “Ace of Cakes” star Duff Goldman has offered to bake a cake for the lesbian and transport it free of charge:
The executive chef of the Baltimore-based Charm City Cakes told HuffPost Live, “I saw this story and I was like, “Wait — I can do something, there’s injustice involving a cake!”
Noting that Charm City has been making same-sex wedding cakes for some time, Goldman added, “For a cake decorator to really feel like he really needed to take a stand…it just makes absolutely no sense. It’s petty, it’s small… this man has wrapped up his hatred in the cloak of religion.”
Super Bowl Champion Brendon Ayanbadejo talks with CNN’s Don Lemon about gay rights
This. This is the interview people need to see.
Super Bowl Champion Brendon Aueanbadejo talks to CNN’s Don Lemon about his mission to support equal rights for the LGBT community. He is clear, strong and articulate on the subject.
This is how someone speaks when they know what they feel. Go back and watch Chris Culliver speak to the press about his “apology” for his anti-gay comments. He looks dazed, confused and shocked.
Now look at Brendon here. This is a champion.
Just some of Brendon’s statements in this great interview with Don Lemon:
• “I don’t consider it gay rights. I just call it rights. Everyone deserves to be treated equally, said Ayanbadejo, kicking off a discussion about his advocacy for marriage equality, Chris Culliver’s remarks, what he thinks about people that call being gay an abomination, and the other straight athlete allies working to bring acceptance of LGBT people to sports.”
• “Now that I’m a Super Bowl champion now my voice just projects that much further and hopefully it can lead to more change and more positive things for the LGBT community.”
• “Everyone’s been talking to gay people their whole lives whether we know it or not. We really believe that you’re born gay. I’ve had plenty of conversations with people that are gay and they say they are born gay, no different than me being born this beautiful almond coconut color that I am. People are born gay. So why treat them any differently? It’s time that we treat everyone fairly. And not only are we trying to dictate who people should love. We’re also trying to dictate who people should be. If a woman wants to wear a man’s clothes or a man wants to wear a woman’s clothes or you feel like you’re a woman on the inside and you’re really a man. Who cares? Let’s just treat everybody equally. Let’s move on. Let’s evolve as a culture, as a people.”
• When asked about Chris Culliver’s remarks: “I think more than anything it’s going to be a learning experience for him…We have to start talking about this issue. There’s groups like Athlete Ally, and myself, Chris Kluwe, Scott Fujita. We’re all about inclusiveness in sports and treating everyone equally… It’s unfortunate that he made the comments. I know he’s sorry for them, and I know he’s gonna make it right when he gets the opportunity to do so.”
• How do you address people who say being gay is an abomination? “I say that this Constitution gives you the right to believe in whatever you want to believe in… Don’t use those same rights to disenfranchise others.”
• Brendon says he does not know any closeted players but says he’s working with other allies so that when a player does decide to come out he’ll have help: “When our Jackie Robinson does come out he’s going to have a supporting cast around him.”
Baltimore Ravens – Super Bowl Champs
NFL’s Brendon Ayanbadejo & Chris Kluwe respond to Chris Culliver’s anti-gay remarks
Baltimore Raven Brendon Ayanbadejo’s reaction to Chris Culliver’s anti-gay remarks:
“You know, I think that in San Francisco, and being from the Bay Area myself, that’s something that we really try to preach — love and acceptance of everybody. And so I couldn’t really even say anything negative to the young man. It’s just one of those things where you have to live and you have to learn. And I said earlier on (a TV broadcast) — in the words of Martin Luther King, you can’t fight hate with hate. You have to fight hate with love. We’ve all made our mistakes, we’ve all been there and done certain things, and we’ve hurt people regardless if we meant to do it or not. But more than anything it’s an opportunity to have a learning experience.”
And the Minnesota Vikings Chris Kluwe had this to say:
“While he’s certainly entitled to speak his mind, Culliver is a role model whether he likes it or not. There are kids all over the United States who aspire to be right where he is and he has an obligation to consider the effect of his words. Kids are listening.”
Pro-gay Episcopal priest chosen for Inaugural benediction
The Rev. Luis León, an Episcopal priest whose church is near the White House, will deliver the benediction at the inauguration of Barack Obama, CNN reports:
The Rev. Luis León told CNN on Tuesday the White House and the Presidential Inaugural Committee invited him last week to deliver the closing prayer at the 57th Presidential Inauguration.
León pastors Saint John’s Church, an Episcopal parish just across Lafayette Park from the White House, dubbed the “Church of the Presidents.”
“I found out last week,” he told CNN in an interview on Tuesday.
A source close to the inaugural committee confirmed León would be delivering the benediction and said a formal announcement would be coming later in the week.
The Obamas are frequent worshipers at León’s church. Leon also delivered the invocation at George W. Bush’s inauguration in 2005.
The HuffPost adds:
León’s own parish is known for welcoming openly gay members. The church, which has openly gay, non-celibate priests and has had a gay bishop, announced this summer that it would bless same-sex partnerships and ordain transgender priests. This month, the Washington National Cathedral, an Episcopal church, announced that it would also begin same-sex marriage ceremonies.
(source)
Mayor Cory Booker: 1992 Op-Ed chronicles his journey from homophobe to LGBT ally
Mayor Cory Booker of Newark, while attending Stanford University, wrote an op-ed for the student newspaper back in 1992 which chronicled his evolution from casual homophobe to gay rights ally.
The essay shares his “aha” moment about homosexuality & acceptance, and shows why he’s become one of brightest young stars of the Democratic Party.
Click on the pic above to read. The text of the column is also at the link.
(via JMG)