Tag: out athletes

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New NFL Ad: ‘Football Is Gay’

A new ad from the NFL boldly declares "football is gay" along with a whole lot of other identifiers

A new ad from the NFL boldly declares "football is gay" along with a whole lot of other identifiers A new ad spot from the NFL boldly declares “Football is gay.” Set to a raucous drum solo, the text of the ad continues: “Football is lesbian. Football is beautiful. Football is queer. Football is life. Football is exciting. Football is culture. Football is transgender. Football is queer. Football is heart. Football is power. Football is tough. Football is bisexual. Football is strong. Football is freedom. Football is American. Football is accepting. Football is everything. Football is for everyone.” The spot closes with a message of support for The Trevor Project, the nation’s leading suicide support group for LGBTQ youth. The text quotes studies which have shown, “LGBTQ+ youth with at least one accepting adult have 40% lower risk of attempting suicide.”

Following the recent coming out announcement from Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib, it would seem the NFL wants to make clear its support. Sam Rapoport, NFL senior director of diversity, equity and inclusion, told Outsports, “I am proud of the clear message this spot sends to the NFL’s LGBTQ+ fans: This game is unquestionably for you. I will be playing its first line over and over in my head all season.”

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Out Olympian Adam Rippon Is Engaged!

Olympic bronze medalist Adam Rippon has announced he and his longtime boyfriend have become engaged
Adam Rippon (right) and Jussi-Pekka Kajaala are engaged (image via Instagram/Adam Rippon)

Out Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon has announced the happy news that he and his longtime boo Jussi-Pekka ‘JP’ Kajaala are now engaged.

“JP and I didn’t get to see each other for almost all of 2020 because of the pandemic,” said in a post on Instagram. “When there was finally a chance for me to go and see him in Finland, I jumped at it. I was there for a little over two months.”

Amid sharing jokes, shoveling snow, binge-watching The Crown, and even booting up for a little skating, “We bought ourselves some rings and said that magic word.. ‘duh!’ We got engaged.”

“I’m excited to marry JP because he’s just the best,” Rippon tells PEOPLE in an statement. “He’s kind, he’s funny, and he’s just as beautiful on the inside as he is on the out (which is a lot). He’s my cheerleader and I’m his. I just love him a lot.”

Leading up to the big moment, Rippon says the couple “did everything together.” They bought the rings together, picked them up together, and even simultaneously dropped down to a knee and popped the question in unison so they could both “be the one who proposed.”

“We went to a nice dinner and we did it at the same time,” the 31-year-old athlete told Good Morning America. “We did three, two, one, and we put the rings on.”

Rippon became a household name during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, where he scored a bronze medal as part of Team USA. As a result, he became the first openly gay U.S. athlete to medal at the Olympics – and playfully declared himself ‘America’s sweetheart.’

It was while competing abroad that Rippon met his future fiancé on Tinder.

Since that time, the couple has been out and proud about their relationship.  Kajaala has appeared with Rippon on red carpets at events and shared moments on each others Instagram accounts.

Rippon, a longtime LGBTQ activist, says the exposure was done with a purpose.

“I think that representation and seeing people in different circumstances can help inspire,” he told GMA. “I think growing up, I never really saw myself getting married because I didn’t see how it would happen.”

“It was with JP, the first time I thought, ‘Oh yeah, I know the feeling I can marry somebody,’” he added.

The couple hasn’t picked a date yet, but Rippon says he’d be happy with a small, non-Olympic sized ceremony.

“I think what we are just going to do is wear some cool clothes, go to the courthouse, get married, come home and maybe go to Houston Steakhouse after and that will be that.”

Congratulations to the happy couple!

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News Round-Up: January 21, 2021

Dozens of Broadway performers took part in 'Seasons of Love' at the Biden Inaugural Concert

No presidential pardon for the Tiger King plus dozens of Broadway performers took part in 'Seasons of Love' at the Biden Inaugural Concert
Broadway at the Biden Inaugural Concert
Some news items you might have missed: • CNN: Out news anchor Shep Smith has broken his silence about his departure from Fox News. Now at CNBC, Smith says he stayed as long as he did in order to try and counterbalance the misinformation coming out of the right-leaning network. • Broadway at the Inaugural: I was thrilled to see this beautiful collaboration debut during last night’s Biden Inaugural Concert (above). I know several folks in this but five I have longtime ties with: Tony Award winners Betty Buckley, Chita Rivera, and Leslie Uggams, as well as Tony Award nominees Vanessa Williams and Charlotte d’Amboise. Charlotte gives you LIFE dancing in the center during the last minute. #LovedIt

• Outsports: 39 current NFL players on 22 teams say they have already had an out gay teammate, including six players with the Arizona Cardinals. • Instinct Magazine: Tiger King star Joe Maldonado-Passage (a.k.a Joe Exotic) truly believed Donald Trump would issue him a presidential pardon on his last day in office. The Tiger King was so sure the pardon was coming he had a limo standing by to pick him up at the prison.

• HuffPost: An 18-year veteran police officer, most recently with the Houston Police Department, stormed the U.S. Capitol and then tried to cover his tracks by deleting photos from inside the rotunda and lying about his conduct. • Twitter: First Lady Dr. Jill Biden shares her first video message thanking service members, first responders, civil servants.

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News Round-Up: December 30, 2020

Pro rugby player Devin Ibañez with his boyfriend Fergus
Some news items you might have missed: • Outsports: Devin Ibañez (above), who played professionally in Major League Rugby, has come out as gay in social media posts, saying he has “decided to embrace what I once felt embarrassed of and be proudly and shamelessly myself.” • PBS: Canada will soon require that air travelers test negative for COVID-19 before arrival, federal ministers said on Wednesday after social media images of maskless tourists prompted a call for stricter measures to curb the virus. • NewNowNext: Marcus D’Amico — who brought the beloved Tales of the City character Michael “Mouse” Tolliver to life in the original 1993 PBS miniseries — died from pneumonia on December 16 at the age of 55.
Marcus D’Amico on the right (image via PBS)
• The Hill: The United States on Tuesday broke its record for the most number of coronavirus-related deaths in a single day with 3,725 reported, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. As of Wednesday evening, the U.S. has now recorded a total of 342,312 deaths due to COVID-19. • Reuters: Donald Trump’s pardon of four American men convicted of killing Iraqi civilians while working as contractors in 2007 may have violated U.S. obligations under international law. The Geneva Conventions oblige states to hold war criminals accountable for their crimes, even when they act as private security contractors, the U.N. experts said. • Twitter: As the death toll from the coronavirus passes 341,000+ dead Americans, Donald Trump is back on the golf course today.

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Out Ex-Football Star Jake Bain Issues Disturbing Allegations

Out former college football player Jake Bain (image via Instagram)
Jake Bain, the Missouri high school football star who made headlines in 2017 after coming out as gay, and later became one of the first openly gay Division I team athletes in history when he matriculated at Indiana State in 2018, issued some disturbing allegations in his Instagram Stories on Thursday. Bain, who retired from football after his freshman year, posted a statement alleging that his father – who has apparently worked as a high school basketball coach for years – had abused Bain and “many others.” Bain’s statement via Instagram:

“I have in my possession over 20 pages of court documents, detailing the abuse that me, and many others endured at the hands of my father. To protect the confidentiality of those who are mentioned in these documents, I won’t release them to the public.”

“However, I believe that [it] should be public knowledge that while working as a high school basketball coach at both Westminster Christian Academy, and MICDS, two well known private schools in Saint Louis, MO, my father was found to be showering with other students, emailing inappropriately with students about things a coach or teacher should never be talking to kids about, and would have students to his house for ‘sleepovers.’”

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that none of this behavior is appropriate for any adult to be displaying. To my knowledge, my father is still coaching basketball at the AAU level in Saint Louis, so I urge anyone who is either employing him to coach, or allowing him to use their facilities, to please stop, so this behavior does not continue.”

(screen capture via Instagram/Jake.Bain)
Last May, Bain shared that he is a survivor of sexual abuse, writing, “To those of you who are victims of sexual abuse, I’m with you. I know how you may be feeling. I want you to know that you are not alone.” “Waking up to a sweat-filled bed, left with the fleeting thoughts and feelings of what we had to endure and carry on with us,” he continued. “These scars of which I fear most, are also a constant reminder that I got through it. I persevered. We are warriors, and just when you think you can’t do it anymore… fight a little longer. Reach out to others for help. Don’t be afraid to feel vulnerable. Know that this was not your fault, and does not define who you are.”

 

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To those of you who are victims of sexual abuse, I’m with you. I know how you may be feeling. I want you to know that you are not alone. I too fear falling asleep, drifting into the unknown depths of my own deepest thoughts and feelings as I toss and turn each night, fighting off the man who scarred me so deeply. Waking up to a sweat-filled bed, left with the fleeting thoughts and feelings of what we had to endure and carry on with us. These scars of which I fear most, are also a constant reminder that I got through it. I persevered. We are warriors, and just when you think you can’t do it anymore… fight a little longer. Reach out to others for help. Don’t be afraid to feel vulnerable. Know that this was not your fault, and does not define who you are. It’s just another hurdle in your path, and no matter how you get over, under, or around that hurdle, once you cross the finish line, you will be so much stronger because of it. Love you all♥️ #metoo

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After coming out in 2018, Bain went on to famously take his boyfriend to the prom and even appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show where the talk show host honored him for his courage in coming out. Bain’s post did not identify his father by name, but a report at Kenneth in the (212) said his father is Eric Bain. “Although the allegations are somewhat fuzzy — where are these court documents filed? are the police involved? is there an ongoing investigation of his father? — they are clearly disturbing,” wrote Kenneth. “According to Eric Bain’s LinkedIn, he currently works in training at the St. Louis Basketball Academy.” Jake Bain recently came out again, this time as pansexual. He’s currently pursuing a degree in sports psychology. Here’s the report from 2018 when Bain came out as gay.

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US Olympic Gymnast Danell Leyva Comes Out

3-time Olympic medalist Danell Leyva (screen capture)
Gymnast Danell Leyva, who represented Team USA at two Olympic Games, came out to his 52,000+ followers on Twitter earlier this month on National Coming Out Day. “For a long time I’ve known that I wasn’t straight,” began the 28-year-old Cuban-American. “But because of certain very personal reasons, I always rejected that side of me.” Leyva added, “Earlier this year I finally understood that I’m bi/pan (still trying to figure that one out) but I also realized that, as of now at least, I’m not attracted to cis men.”

Speaking to Olympic Channel, Leyva shared that stereotypes about men in his sport, plus his own determination to not give homophobes “the satisfaction of being right,” slowed his coming out process in some respects. “[The stereotypes were] such a big factor in it, just not giving those people the satisfaction of being right because it doesn’t come from a good place,” said Leyva. “It wasn’t somebody that was trying to help us understand [our sexuality]. It was just somebody pointing at us and that doesn’t feel good.”

The Olympic champion also noted that, as he was growing up, he would “always somewhat reject” his sexuality. “And especially coming from Hispanic family, it’s very much rejected,” he added. Leyva says he had been thinking about coming out for a while and almost shared the news this past June during Pride Month. But with Black Lives Matter protests happening across the nation in the aftermath of George Floyd’s homicide, he reconsidered. “I was like, ‘No, I’m not really that important,’” said Leyva. “And so I decided to just kind of forget about it, and I did forget about it.” Until, that is, until this year’s National Coming Out Day and those five empowering tweets. Since sharing his authentic self with the world, Leyva says the response he’s received has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive. Among the many who have sent messages of support were fellow Olympic gymnasts Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, and out figure skater Adam Rippon.

Also comforting to the 2011 World parallel bars champion were messages giving him space to not worry about this label or that label. “In the post, I said that I’m still trying to figure out between whether I’m a bi or pan. It was nice to have people be like, ‘You don’t have to label it. You don’t have to just be ‘a thing’. It’s an ever-changing fluid thing, so you don’t have to worry about that,’” explained the world-class athlete. “That was nice because that was certainly reassuring.” “You know, it’s such a non-issue,” he continued. “It literally means nothing that if you’re just like, ‘Oh, you’re left-handed? That’s cool. Oh, you’re bi? That’s cool.’ Like, it’s really nothing.” “Everybody’s different, you know?” said Leyva before adding, “And at the same time, we’re not.” Leyva hopes that his coming out might offer some inspiration to those considering coming out themselves. “If I get help one person be brave enough to live in their truth, then I feel like that that was the entire point of that post.” And speaking of ‘inspiration,’ let’s flashback to Leyva’s exhibition performance on the parallel bars at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.

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Jake Bain, Out Former College Athlete, Says He’s ‘More At Peace’ Since Leaving Football

Out former college football player Jake Bain (image via Instagram)
Jake Bain, one of the first openly gay Division I college football players, tells Men’s Health Magazine he’s “more at peace” since leaving the sport a year ago. Shortly after announcing he was ending his college football career last year, Bain also shared with his 38K Instagram followers that he was coming out (again) but as pansexual. In an Instagram post, Bain admitted that when he came out to his classmates in 2017 as a high school junior in Missouri during National Coming Out Day, he wanted to send a message that “it was okay to be themselves and do whatever you put your mind to.” At the end of that speech in front of a school assembly, his fellow students gave him a standing ovation. “It was me finally letting so much weight off my shoulders that I had been carrying for so long,” he says today. But over time he’d come to realize that “gender does not effect” who he feels attracted to and that “love is something deeper than simply what gender we were given at birth.” And so, he shared with his followers, “I am pansexual.”

 

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In the spirit of Pride month, I would like to take this opportunity to take a little of my own advice and share a bit of my true self. I hope that others will do the same who may feel afraid to be themselves because of what others will say. For as long as I can remember, I have always struggled with my sexual orientation. For years, I hid who I truly was and tried to fit into a mold I knew I didn’t belong. Finally, after years of struggling with my sexual orientation, I came to the decision to come out as gay, because I knew I needed to use my voice to show others that it was okay to be themselves and do whatever you set your mind to. But the truth is, my struggles with my sexual orientation did not stop there. Throughout my 20 years of life, I have come to realize that my sexual orientation is truly a spectrum, and the truth is, I have never really known where I fell on that spectrum until just a few months ago. After being labeled the “gay football player,” it made it very challenging for me to decide if I should let everyone falsely label me, or take my own advice and be my true self. After a lot of thought, I’ve decided to share with you all that I am Pansexual. I’ve come to the realization that gender does not effect who I am attracted to. To me, love is something deeper than simply what gender we were given at birth. I decided to sort of “come out” again because I felt like I needed to take some of my own advice for a change and just be myself, and I can’t tell you how good it feels to get that off my chest😌 Happy Pride!🏳️‍🌈 #loveislove #pride

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But after the loss of a childhood friend, Bain realized he needed to “take a step,” recalibrate and “figure out what is was exactly I wanted to do.” Speaking to Men’s Health as part of The 2020 Project, which explores the lives of 20 different American 20-year-old men, Bain says he’s now studying to be a sports psychologist at North Carolina State University. He hopes to help other young athletes “find clarity” and perhaps some answers to other questions he has about his identity. Over the past year, the handsome college student has focused on his studies and dabbled in modeling, sharing several thirsty snaps on his Instagram.

 

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Son of a beach☀️

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Get outside and enjoy the sunshine today💛

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This past July, he penned an essay for Teen Vogue chronicling his journey from coming out in high school to ‘here,’ and many of the ups and downs along the way. “I began receiving calls and messages from people all over the country who said I was able to give them courage to be themselves,” he wrote of the period after he came out. “I never imagined I’d be able to reach and inspire so many people.” But admitting it “wasn’t all rainbows,” he reflected on the “ton of hate” he received on and off the gridiron including becoming a target of the anti-LGBTQ Westboro Baptist Church. But when word got out that the hate group was coming to protest him, his school and community rallied to show their support.

Today, after years of making sports the focus of his life, he tells Men’s Health, “I certainly miss football sometimes.” But, he quickly adds, “I feel more at peace and I definitely am happier than I was a year ago.” (source: Men’s Health, Teen Vogue)

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News Round-Up: September 14, 2020

Professional English Rugby player Levi Davis (image via Instagram)
Some news items you might have missed: • Gay Star News: Professional English Rugby player Levi Davis (above) has come out as bisexual – a first for a professional player with his career still ahead of him. The 22-year-old is also famous for his other love – music. Last year he formed a band to take part in the Celebrity X Factor competition and got through to the semi-finals. • Attitude Magazine: “I realized that being gay and growing up around people and in a culture where that wasn’t celebrated – where it was reviled, in many ways – had an impact on me. Happy as I am, I’m still working out the fear I grew up with: that by revealing who I really am, I will somehow lose the love of the people who are important to me.” – Jim Parsons in a new interview with the UK publication. • Lambda Legal: A federal district judge ruled in favor of a woman who was denied Social Security survivor benefits after her partner of more than two decades had passed away. Helen Thornton and Marge Brown lived as a couple for 27 years, purchasing a home together, and raising a child. Brown passed away in 2006 of cancer years before marriage equality came to Washington state. The Social Security Administration (SSA) refused to give Thornton survivor benefits after Brown passed away.
Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman
• The Atlantic: “They may or may not have dirt on him (Trump), but they don’t have to use it. They have more effective and less risky ways to employ him. He has aspirations to be the kind of leader that Putin is, and so he admires him. He likes authoritarian strongmen who act with impunity, without checks and balances. So he’ll try to please Putin. In the Army we call this ‘free chicken,’ something you don’t have to work for — it just comes to you. This is what the Russians have in Trump: free chicken.” – former National Security Council official Lt. Colonel Alexander Vindman. • Axios: In a new clip from an interview with Bob Woodward, Donald Trump said that his relationships with world leaders are better “the tougher and meaner they are,” naming Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan as an example. • CBSN: Meeting with officials in California to discuss the wildfires that are devastating the state on Monday, Donald Trump pushed back when Wade Crowfoot, secretary of California’s Natural Resources Agency, told him the science regarding climate change needed to be looked at. “It’ll start getting cooler. You just watch,” said Trump. “I wish science agreed with you,” Crowfoot replied. “I don’t think science knows actually,” Trump remarked with a smirk.

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News Round-Up: April 24, 2020

Canadian Idol winner Theo Tams (press photo)
***Re-upping this post as it didn’t seem to post correctly last night*** Some news items you might have missed: • OutSports: Brock Weston, a 25-year-old college hockey player from Marion University in Font du Lac, Wisconsin, came out to his hockey team and was surprised by the reaction. “People I thought would disown me or become even more cruel were among the first to voice their acceptance.” • NBC News: A top Health and Human Services official who said he was transferred from his post for pushing back on “efforts to fund potentially dangerous drugs promoted by those with political connections” felt pressured to rush access to chloroquine treatments for coronavirus after President Donald Trump had a conversation about it with a mega-rich donor • Out Music: Canadian singer/songwriter and pianist Theo Tams (above) drops his new video “The Last Song” which features the Canadian Idol winner as a character chameleon of sorts, all in the name of self-love and care. “The song represents the moment you realize your own self-worth,” says Tams. “It’s about recognizing you are enough and letting go of the past. Finally.”

• NY Times: The Trump administration is considering cutting back on sharing intelligence with partner countries that criminalize homosexuality as part of a push by the acting director of national intelligence, Richard Grenell, to prod those nations to change their laws. • OUT: On April 26, the Schitt’s Creek cast will join other Canadian celebrities in a commercial-free 90-minute special to support front-line workers fighting the global pandemic. Titled Stronger Together, Tous Ensembles, the display will feature musical artists like Michael Buble and Justin Bieber, as well as Cirque Du Soleil and Avril Lavigne. • SiriusXM: Host Jess Cagle speaks to Eric McCormack, Sean Hayes, and Debra Messing about the pride they feel over their “goofy sitcom” and its cultural impact. The final episode of the series airs tonight at 9 pm ET on NBC. The finale is followed by a retrospective, “A Will & Graceful Goodbye,” at 9:30 p.m.