Be You: Maine Principals’ Association draws up new policy for transgender athletes

transqueery:

ROCKPORT, Maine — A new policy that provides a pathway for transgender high school student-athletes in the state to participate in interscholastic sports teams gained final approval Thursday from the general membership of the Maine Principals’ Association.

The Transgender Participation Policy…

(via partnersofmtf)

Source: transqueery

I want people, whether gay athletes, athletes still in the closet, or youths who are not sure what their sexuality is to know those are common feelings. Don’t feel alone in having them. I’m gay. I’m a former athlete. And I think I’m a pretty normal guy.
Former San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Kwame Harris, who was outed as gay a few months back. (via The Advocate)

42 Athletes, Sport Figures Support Marriage Equality in Court Brief

The sports figures argue that legalizing marriage equality will give a bigger opportunity for professional athletes to feel comfortable coming out.

BY MICHELLE GARCIA

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Cleveland Browns’ Scott Fujita and Minnesota Lynx’s Rebekkah Brunson

More than 30 professional athletes and figures in pro sports have sent a friend of the court brief to the Supreme Court supporting marriage equality in a case next week challenging California’s Proposition 8. The brief was spearheaded by Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens and Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings, who were both honored by GLAAD last weekend for their outward support of LGBT rights. Supporters of the brief include openly gay retired athletes, Robbie Rogers, Esera Tuaolo, Wade Davis, Jr., David Kopay, as well as out Minnesota Lynx player Seimone Augustus.

“Athletes are learning that they can no longer say ‘I am not a role model’—that they are forced to be a role model and privileged to be a role model, and that their words and actions, no matter how innocently intended, are magnified for both good and bad,” the brief reads. ”If the Court reverses the Ninth Circuit, many professional athletes will take their cues from that. And that will cause a ripple effect as even more people follow their role models, their leaders, their heroes.”

The writers said that as more athletes feel free to express their support of marriage equality and other LGBT rights, more athletes will feel comfortable being out in the locker room. The brief cited Rogers’ recent coming out before retiring from professional soccer, when he said “secrets can cause so much internal damage. People love to preach about honesty, how honesty is so plain and simple. Try explaining to your loved ones after 25 years you are gay. Try convincing yourself that your creator has the most wonderful purpose for you even though you were taught differently.”

The supporters added that acknowledging same-sex marriages will also lead to more young people respecting LGBT and understanding the consequences of bullying and abuse.

“Even a fifth grader knows that words have very serious meaning, and even a fifth grader can see that the proponents of Proposition 8 provide no reasoned, evidence-based rationale for taking away that label and that all-important status,” the brief declares. “In America, there truly is no freedom until we’re equal.

Click the header link to read the full list of supporters.

Big News for the Gay Games

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BY OUTTRAVELER EDITORS

2014 Cleveland Gay Games get cash influx and first-ever presenting sponsor. The 2014 Gay Games in Cleveland got a big boost this week when The Cleveland Foundation announced a $250,000 donation to the sporting event, becoming the first-ever presenting sponsor of the Gay Games, the Associated Press reports. So the games will officially be called the 2014 Gay Games Presented by The Cleveland Foundation.

In addition to the Foundation, accounting firm Ernst & Young became the event’s first national sponsor with a $100,000 donation.

“We’re obviously thrilled about the announcement that shows this two organizations, rooted in Cleveland…they both see the value of the Gay Games and to the overall health of the community, games executive director Thomas Nobbe said.

Click the header link to read more and watch a video.

UFC Suspends Mitrione For Berating Trans Fighter Fallon Fox

Matt Mitrone was suspended for making transphobic remarks regarding recently out transgender fighter Fallon Fox

BY MICHELLE GARCIA

TW: misgendering, transmisogyny, transphobic remarks

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Fallon Fox and Matt Mitrione

A UFC fighter was suspended after making transphobic remarks about transgender fighter Fallon Fox on a webcast of The MMA Hour. Matt Mitrione had just won a match versus Phillip De Fries with a 19-second knockout. On the show two days later, he called Fox a “lying, sick, sociopathic, disgusting freak.” He continually referred to Fox as “he” and “him,” and said he was appalled that Fox was fighting other women, according to USA Today.

“It’s an embarrassment to us as fighters, as a sport, and we all should protest that,” Mitrione said. “The woman that’s fighting him, props to you. I hope you beat his ass, and I hope he gets blackballed and never fights again because that’s disgusting and I’m appalled by that.”

Shortly after, the UFC announced that Mitrioned’s contract would be suspended, and that he would be investigated.

“The UFC was appalled by the transphobic comments made by heavyweight Matt Mitrione today in an interview on The MMA Hour,” the statement read. “The organization finds Mr. Mitrione’s comments offensive and wholly unacceptable and – as a direct result of this significant breach of the UFC’s code of conduct – Mr. Mitrione’s UFC contract has been suspended and the incident is being investigated. The UFC is a friend and ally of the (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) community, and expects and requires all 450 of its athletes to treat others with dignity and respect.

Fox came out publicly as transgender earlier this year.

Ayanbadejo now says four gay players aren’t considering coming out

by Mike Florio
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Recently, free-agent linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo has been backpedaling more than a cornerback. After suggesting this his support for same-sex marriage was a factor in his release by the Ravens, Ayanbadejo quickly said it wasn’t.  Now, not long after explaining that four gay players are considering coming out at the same time, Ayanbadejo says they aren’t.

Via Outsports.com, that was the upshot of Ayanbadejo’s Friday night appearance with Anderson Cooper of CNN.

“No, actually, what it is is, is there are organizations I’m in contact with, and there are individuals I’m in contact with and collectively we know of some gay players,” Ayanbadejo said when asked if he knows the names of the four gay players who are considering coming out.  “And these players, some of them are anonymous, some of them we know who they are, but their identity is super secret and nobody wants to reveal who they are, and some of them don’t want to reveal who they are, rightfully so because it’s entirely up to them what they are going to do. What we want to facilitate is getting them all together so they can lean on each other, so they can have a support group.  And potentially it’s possible, it’s fathomable, that they could possibly do something together, break a story together.”

Apart from Ayanbadejo’s chronic inability to get his facts straight, he has an increasingly obvious desire to see one or more gay players come out.  Gay players wrestling with this intensely personal decision easily could perceive that they are merely pawns in a much broader agenda being driven by straight players and/or members of the media who believe that the time has come for closeted gay players to be openly gay. As former NFL player Wade Davis, who is openly gay, tells Outsports.com, “The problem is that you have straight people speaking on the behalf of these closeted gay athletes, instead of letting the gay athletes speak for themselves.”

There’s a fine line between providing support and applying pressure.  While having multiple gay players come out at once would reduce the distraction created by one gay player coming out, if none of them choose to come out, that’s their business. Ultimately, we believe people should be allowed to be who they are, and who they choose to be.  That includes straight, gay, and closeted.  If a gay player simply doesn’t want to come out, that’s his prerogative — and no one gay or straight should be trying to get him to do something he doesn’t want to do.

MARK CUBAN: I'd Be HONORED If 1st Gay Player Was On My Team

It’s only a matter of time before an active NBA player comes out as gay … so says Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban who tells TMZ he would be honored if the player was a member of his team. Cuban called in to “TMZ Live” moments ago to discuss how Magic Johnson’s support for his gay son will impact professional sports. Mark also acknowledges a current NBA player who was raised by 2 moms — and tells us how he’s helping to change the culture in the league.

Click the header link to watch the video.

NOM Caught Lying About Support From Chicago Bears

As many LGBT activists suspected, the Chicago Bears never donated anything to help the National Organization for Marriage raise money.

BY LUCAS GRINDLEY

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Brian Urlacher told the Chicago Tribune that he’d never donated anything to an antigay cause. A division of the National Organization for Marriage had gleefully claimed that the Chicago Bears contributed memorabilia to an auction that would help it raise money. But today its leader admitted that’s not true. Jennifer Roback More is the president of NOM’s “Ruth Institute,” and in a newsletter reported on by Equality Matters, Dan Savage and others, she claimed the Bears were huge supporters. She listed an autographed jersey from former linebacker Brian Urlacher and an autographed photo from the late running back Walter Payton as her big gets.

“You should know that we have two fabulous raffle items from the Chicago Bears Organization (and a huge THANK YOU to the Bears for supporting our message),” she wrote.

But after activists contacted the Bears to check out the claim, the team condemned Roback More for spreading “false” remarks.

“The two items featured in The Ruth Institute gala invitation were personal donations to Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse,” the team said in a statement, according to the Chicago Tribune. “Neither was a club donation, nor do they represent the team’s view on any social issues. Any remarks stating otherwise are false.”

That was followed by a retraction from Roback Morse herself.

“The Ruth Institute is not working with the Chicago Bears organization or any of its players past or present to promote our upcoming auction,” she said, according to the Tribune. “The memorabilia we are auctioning off was acquired by me personally, not through the team or players. We understand that the Chicago Bears organization takes no position on social issues, and we regret any confusion we may have caused on this point.”

Football: Hulk blasts anti-gay, racist fans in Russia

St Petersburg’s big-money signing Brazilian forward Hulk has said he felt safe and secure in Russia, but sharply criticised racist and anti-gay elements among Russian fans. Hulk, signed by Zenit last year for a reported 60 million euros in Russia’s biggest ever transfer deal, said he and his young family felt safer in Russia than they did in his homeland of Brazil.

“That’s one very important thing, which I feel here in Russia and which is seriously lacking at home in Brazil,” the 26-year-old international was quoted as saying by R-Sport news agency. “I don’t worry for my child or wife when they go outdoors alone. Security is a very important part of people’s life and I can say that people in Brazil desperately need to improve security.”

But Hulk also expressed his disapproval over racist attitudes from a section of Zenit fans, who provoked outrage in December by publicly urging the club not to sign any black players.

“I think those people, those fans do not care about culture at all. I respect footballers of any skin colour and any sexual orientation. Those fans who abuse people of a different colour or gays just do not think at all,” he said.

Zenit are notorious for extremist elements among its hard-core fan base while the city of Saint Petersburg has also earned notoriety for passing a law banning homosexual propaganda among minors. Hulk, who played for Brazil in the last week’s friendly with Russia at Stamford Bridge, which ended in a 1-1 draw, added that he believed that Russian team would be a real threat at next year’s World Cup in Brazil.

“The Russian team is currently playing at a very good level,” Hulk said. “They did really well against Brazil. I think that Russia are even capable of winning the World Cup next year.”

Former NFL Star Glad He Is Now Out

Former San Francisco 49er Kwame Harris wants to inspire kids and other athletes.

BY DIANE ANDERSON-MINSHALL

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A few months after being outed by the media — after an alleged assault of an ex-boyfriend — former San Francisco 49ers offensive tackle Kwame Harris tells CNN Newsroom, essentially, that he’s glad it happened (the outing, not the assault). This morning Harris appeared in his first interview since being publicly outed and talked abouot the pain of being closeted in the NFL. “You want to escape the despair and turmoil and your mind goes to dark places,” he said. “I’m happy today, and I’m glad they were just ideas and I didn’t act on any of them.”

The athlete, who played five seasons for the 49ers and one year with the Oakland Raiders, admits he never considered coming out while an active player but wishes he had: “The cost was great not [being] candidly open about myself in complete manner. If I could have done it differently, I would have hoped I found the strength [to come out].” 

In the interview, filmed at his alma mater, Stanford University, Harris also says he hopes his outing helps other people.

“I want people, whether gay athletes, athletes still in the closet, or youths who are not sure what their sexuality is to know those are common feelings,” he said. “Don’t feel alone in having them. I’m gay. I’m a former athlete. And I think I’m a pretty normal guy.”

Click the header link to watch the video.