Tag: openly gay

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Openly Gay – 65 Years Apart

Made in collaboration with London Pride and BBC2 with their new documentary ‘Against The Law’ which will be released at the end of July.

This “chat across the ages” features openly gay 13 year-old Louis and openly gay 78 year-old Percy who have a chat about the differences 50 years have made on gay culture and acceptance.

Louis shares that he has a boyfriend and enjoys across the board support from his peers and family. Impressed, Percy tells him, “I think you’re so lucky the world has changed and you can just be yourself.”

As this year marks the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in England and Wales, Percy shares what it was like to be gay at time when it was illegal.

Louis, taken aback, says, “It amazes me how they could even just say for loving someone, you’re being arrested. That completely shocks me.”

At the end of the chat, Louis asks for wisdom for future LGBTs, to which Percy shares, “Stand up for being gay, and for actually trying to make people understand that the most important thing is that you can love somebody and it doesn’t matter who they are. Love is love.”

Watch below.

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Alaska Has It’s First Openly Gay Elected Officials

For the first time, Alaska has elected it’s first openly gay officials.

Yes – officials. Two.

Via Alaska Commons:

Christopher Constant [above], running against a prominent Democrat and three lesser known conservatives for the downtown seat being vacated by Flynn, won Tuesday with 52 percent of the vote. His closest competitor was David Dunsmore, a fellow Democrat, who mustered just 23.35 percent of the vote after the latter pursued a final week of negative campaigning, which evidently backfired.

Felix Rivera, also openly gay, is now too an Assembly member-elect, fending off three challengers while maintaining nearly 47 percent of the vote in midtown Anchorage. Rivera ran for the seat being vacated by Assembly Chair Elvi Gray-Jackson with her full support — as well as the support of current Vice-chair Dick Traini.

In the loser column, you’ll find the conservative gay who was revealed by Dan Savage last week.

The homocon lost to a progressive woman. #FTW!

(h/t JMG)

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Hunky Seth Tyler From “The Amazing Race”

Easily the hottest reason to watch Season 29 of CBS’s The Amazing Race is contestant Seth Tyler.

The openly gay 37 year-old is a public information officer and LGBTQ liaison for the Bellevue Police Department, outside of Seattle. Before that he was apparently a motorcycle cop for 8 years.

Grrrrrr….

Check out his official Amazing Race interview below, plus some woofy pics from his Instagram account.

A post shared by tylset (@tylset) on Feb 6, 2017 at 3:36pm PST
A post shared by tylset (@tylset) on May 29, 2016 at 4:24pm PDT
A post shared by tylset (@tylset) on Feb 17, 2017 at 3:13pm PST
A post shared by tylset (@tylset) on Aug 16, 2013 at 5:54pm PDT
A post shared by tylset (@tylset) on Aug 21, 2016 at 3:17pm PDT
A post shared by tylset (@tylset) on Sep 3, 2016 at 5:32pm PDT

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Billy Gilman Shines In THE VOICE Finale

Out singer Billy Gilman performed his last night on THE VOICE exactly as he had the entire season, his way.

Gilman opened the show with a stirring version of the Frank Sinatra classic “My Way,” doing the first verse a capella.

Adam Levine joined him for a duet of The Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love”, and he closed his run on the talent show with an original track – “Because of Me.”

A child star at 11 years old, Gilman scored a huge country hit with “One Voice,” earning him a Grammy nomination. He came out as gay in 2014.

I’ve become a big fan throughout his run on THE VOICE. Fingers crossed he wins.

You can find more of his music on iTunes here.

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There She Is – Miss America’s First Openly Lesbian Contestant

While gays and lesbians have worked for decades behind the scenes at the Miss America pageant, this weekend the annual beauty/scholarship contest welcomes the first openly lesbian competitor as Miss Missouri, Erin O’ Flaherty, takes the stage in Atlantic City.

While lesbians have been more visible in pageants lately, there hasn’t been an out statewide winner before O’Flaherty. Djuan Trent competed in the Miss America pageant as Miss Kentucky in 2011, when she finished in the top 10. However, it wasn’t until 2014 that she came out.

O’Flaherty is competing on the platform of teen suicide prevention, an issue of critical importance to the LGBT community.

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How The Golden State Warriors President Helped Move The 2017 All-Stars Game From North Carolina

Golden State Warriors President and COO Rick Welts

According to USA Today, one of the major turning points for the NBA’s decision to move the 2017 All-Star game from North Carolina came two weeks ago at a Las Vegas meeting of high-ranking league execs.

USA Today reports:

In a poignant address, Golden State Warriors president and chief operating officer Rick Welts, 63, who is openly gay, explained his meaningful and lifelong affiliation with the NBA and told league owners he didn’t feel comfortable attending the All-Star Game in Charlotte if the law remained as is.

His words weren’t emotional, and they weren’t delivered as a threat. But Welts, who was instrumental in shaping All-Star weekend into the big-time event it is today, didn’t plan on attending if the North Carolina law wasn’t repealed or changed.

Following the meeting, a few owners talked, and a prevailing message emerged: If Rick Welts doesn’t feel comfortable coming to the All-Star Game, the decision to relocate just got easier.

They probably didn’t know it at the time, but this was clearly an “It Gets Better” moment. One more example of how our visibility and honest self-expression lead to positive change.

Here’s a little more about Welts.

(h/t JMG)

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First Openly Gay Person In 16 Years Speaks At RNC

PayPal founder/billionaire Peter Thiel, the first openly gay person to speak at a GOP convention in 16 years.

He’s also proud to have funded lawsuits to bankrupt Gawker.com for exposing that he is gay.

So, I’m not so sure how “proud” he is of being gay. Just saying…

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Eric Fanning: “Incredible Honor” To Serve As First Openly Gay Secretary Of U.S. Army

From the Human Rights Campaign:

In an exclusive interview with The Today Show this morning, Eric Fanning reflected on becoming the first openly-gay leader of a U.S. military service and the highest-ranking, Senate-confirmed openly-LGBT appointed official.

“I’ve gotten used to the fact that this is going to be a part of any time I get a new job or do something,” he told host Matt Lauer. “And when it first happened I was more bothered by it because I didn’t quite have the track record that people know now. And I wanted the focus on qualifications. Now I embrace it. It’s so important to so many people, I realize. And something I didn’t have 25 years ago.”

Fanning was nominated by President Barack Obama in September and was finally confirmed last month.

“I feel a responsibility as secretary of the Army, not just because of the historical nature of the appointment because I’m gay,” Fanning said. “And I take that responsibility very seriously. I grew up in a military family. I have two uncles that went to West Point. And it was absolutely something that I considered, but wasn’t allowed to serve and so chose another route.”

Fanning’s nomination comes just five years after the historic end of the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) law that prohibited qualified LGB Americans from serving in the U.S. armed forces. His confirmation comes as the military is preparing to move forward to lift the ban on transgender service in the military.

“It is the best job that I have ever had — and an incredible honor,” Fanning added.

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First Openly Gay Secretary Of The Army Confirmed By U.S. Senate After Long Delay

Eric Fanning

After being delayed for almost 8 months, Eric Fanning has been confirmed as the first openly gay Army Secretary.

Fanning had previously served as undersecretary of the Air Force and acting secretary of the Air Force.

Via NBC News:

Fanning thus becomes the first openly gay leader of any U.S. military service — a milestone not lost on gay rights groups and coming five years after the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” which had prohibited gay and lesbian service members from being open about their sexuality.

“Eric Fanning’s historic confirmation today as Secretary of the U.S. Army is a demonstration of the continued progress towards fairness and equality in our nation’s armed forces,” Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said in a statement.

Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., had held the nomination on hold over a dispute regarding Obama administration efforts to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and possibly transfer detainees to the United States.

Roberts dropped his opposition after receiving assurances that detainees would not be transferred to Fort Leavenworth in Kansas.

Prior to the vote today, Roberts said, “He will be a tremendous leader as Army secretary and will do great by our soldiers at Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley.”

Politicians and advocacy groups alike celebrated the news:

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News Round-Up: March 18, 2016

Derrick Gordon of Seton Hall is the first ever openly gay basketball player in NCAA tournament history
Derrick Gordon of Seton Hall

Some news stories you might have missed:

• Congrats to Seton Hall’s Derrick Gordon – he will be the first ever openly gay basketball player in the NCAA tournament.

• Former Subway pitchman/convicted kiddie porn collector Jared Fogle got a prison yard beat down.

• St. Louis Cardinals minor league baseball player quit after teammates said gays should be killed.

• The Dominican Republic has launched a petition requesting President Obama recall our openly gay Ambassador, James Brewster, for “promoting in his official duties an LGBT agenda inconsistent with the Christian cultural values and tradition of the Dominican Republic.”

• Teen Wolf star Dylan O’Brien was severely injured in a car accident on the set of the upcoming ‘Mazerunner’ sequel.

• Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders walked off of an interview in Arizona.