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Are you ready for some gay NFL players? Well, they are getting ready for the football season with some impressive fanfare.
According to the Onion Sports Network, as the first round of preseason games drew to a close Monday, NFL sources reported that the league’s 164 closeted gay players were turning in excellent performances across the board as they battled for roster positions on the league’s 32 teams.
“It’s still early, but so far so good,” said one Giants lineman, who told reporters he was pleased with his team’s 31-16 victory over the Jets and who, like every gay player in the NFL, is not out to his teammates and asked not to be named. “I feel good physically and I’m playing well, so I should be able to survive at least the first roster cut if I stay healthy.”
“I’m not going to make any predictions, but I think all of us gay guys did great tonight,” said a Jets skill-position player, dismissing his team’s preseason loss as unimportant. “In fact, I wouldn’t be a bit surprised if all nine of our homosexual players made the cut.”
Across the NFL, gay players are shaking off the rust of a long offseason, contending with the rigors of learning the playbook, and competing with their teammates—some of whom are younger, some of whom are stronger, some of whom are also gay—for a spot on a 53-man roster.
For the past several weeks, they have been practicing, showering, watching videotape, eating, and sitting in the trainer’s hot tub alongside straight players. While many have formed close friendships in that time, every closeted gay player realizes as much as every openly straight player that the team doesn’t have enough positions for all of them.
“The first test for any player, gay or not, is how you do in that first full-pads practice, where the speed and power of players at this level surprises some guys who are coming right out of college,” said a gay player for the Kansas City Chiefs, adding that his career would surely be ruined if his sexual orientation were to be revealed. “Our first week, a receiver coming across the middle got hit so hard by a gay member of our secondary he could barely believe it. You see that happen a lot.”
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Posted 1 week, 6 days ago. Add a comment
Cuba’s gay pride rally received a big political push over the weekend as the niece of former Cuban President Fidel Castro and the daughter of the current president marched during the celebration.
According to the Associated Press, hundreds of gay and lesbian activists, some dressed in drag and others sporting multicolored flags representing sexual diversity, marched and danced through the streets of Havana on Saturday along with the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro as part of a celebration aimed at eliminating homophobia around the world.
Some of the marchers played drums and others walked on stilts as they made their way down a wide avenue in the capital’s hip Vedado neighborhood, where they have held a series of debates and workshops ahead of the May 17 celebration of the International Day Against Homophobia, which participants say marks the day in 1990 when the World Health Organization stopped listing homosexuality as a mental illness.
“We have made progress, but we need to make more progress,” said Mariela Castro, a campaigner for gay rights on the island and the leader of Cuba’s National Sexual Education Center. She is also the daughter of Cuban President Raul Castro.
Cuba has come a long way in accepting homosexuality. In the 1960s, shortly after the revolution, homosexuals were fired from state jobs and many were imprisoned or sent to work camps. Others fled into exile.
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Posted 3 months, 3 weeks ago. 1 comment
Michael Jackson’s father is calling stories that his son was gay untrue, despite the fact it’s Michael’s former physician and office manager who say it is so.
According to the Indian Express, popstar Michael Jackson’s father, Joe Jackson has dismissed reports that his son was gay.
The father of the late ‘King of Pop’ slammed his son’s close confidante and physician Arnie Klein, who recently claimed that the singer was a homosexual, TMZ.com reported.
“Michael was not gay. He (Klein) has no respect for Michael… to say things about him when he’s gone is shameful. He’s a doctor and knows better than to break his vows against a patient,” Joe said.
Klein and his office manager, Jason Pfieffer, were featured on the TV show ‘Extra’ a few days ago, where Pfeiffer claimed to have had a romantic relationship with MJ.
Klein said, that Pfeiffer was “the love of his (Jackson’s) life” and also recalled walking in on the two men with their shirts off.
Klein admits he and Pfeiffer have been the target of “horrible death threats” since going public with the claims, which Joe Jackson calls “not true”.
Michael Jackson died on June 25, last year at the age of 50 of a prescription drug overdose.
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If the rumors about a high-profile celebrity coming out in People magazine this month are true, then it looks like it’s going to be a big country music star.
According to the NY Daily News, Country music is about to take part in the
biggest coming out party ever.
Singer Chely Wright will be sticking her boot into the traditionally conservative
community by announcing she is a lesbian in People Magazine next week, TMZ
reports.
The 39-year-old musician, who was named Academy of Country Music’s Top
New Female Vocalist in 1999, will be the first major country artist to come out.
Wright has seven albums under her belt and scored a number one hit in 1999 with
“Single White Female.” She has also written songs for Brad Paisley – with whom she has also been romantically linked – Mindy Smith and Richard Marx.
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Move over Archie, there’s a new man in your comic world and he’s gay!
The decades-old question that has driven more Archie Comics plot turns than a white-walled jalopy just got a new twist.
According to the Washington Post, Archie Comics announced Thursday that Riverdale High will enroll its first openly gay character in September.
The character, a blond newbie named Kevin Keller, will debut in No. 202 of Veronica Comics.
In the initial story line, titled “Isn’t It Bromantic?,” Veronica is stymied when her womanly wiles hold no sway with Kevin, who has more in common with fellow foodie Jughead.
“Everyone seems to know where Kevin is coming from except Veronica,” says Victor Gorelick, editor in chief of Archie Comics. “They don’t tell Veronica — they let her stew in it for a while. But he hangs out with Jughead — they seem to have a connection as far as food goes.”
Judging by Gorelick and Archie artist-writer Dan Parent, there’s nothing more to be read into that last statement. Sometimes a malted is just a malted.
Kevin’s debut is part of Archie Comics’ larger efforts to contemporize the characters’ world.
“The introduction of Kevin is just about keeping the world of Archie Comics current and inclusive. Archie’s hometown of Riverdale has always been a safe world for everyone. It just makes sense to have an openly gay character in Archie comic books,” Archie Comics co-CEO Jon Goldwater said in announcing the news.
This is just the latest step toward Riverdale showing more diversity. In the new story line of Archie Comics, the redheaded star is dating neither Veronica or Betty — but Valerie from Josie and the Pussycats.
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Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
Not being gay enough is why three bisexual men claim they were pulled out of competing in the Gay World Series.
According to Fox News and the Seattle Times, the trio filed a lawsuit in Seattle Tuesday against the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance (NAGAAA) claiming they were discriminated against for not being gay enough to participate in the organization’s Gay Softball World Series.
The three men who filed the suit, Steven Apilado, LaRon Charles and Jon Russ, claim their softball team, D2, was disqualified from participating in the softball championship because the alliance ruled they were “nongay.”
After D2 qualified for the 2008 championship series, the NAGAAA held a hearing to determine the sexual orientation of D2 players. The plaintiffs allege they were asked “personal and intrusive questions” about their sexual attractions and desires.
At one point during the questioning, D2 players were allegedly told, “This is the Gay World Series, not the Bisexual World Series.”
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Posted 4 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
Award-winning singer and actor Cyndi Lauper is letting her “True Colors” shine through with development of a gay homeless shelter for teenagers she’s helping to build.
According to the San Diego Gay & Lestbian Times, Lauper says she is planning to open a shelter for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender young people.
The gay icon said the shelter in Harlem will be called True Colors Residence and will support young people who have been kicked out of their homes by their parents and disowned.
Anywhere from 3,000 to 8,000 LGBT youths are homeless in New York City, according to estimates from the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
“Kids are coming out in greater numbers as they see themselves accepted and represented on TV and in movies, but they’re still being kicked out of their homes or running away and living on the streets,” Lauper said in a statement.
“We need to make sure we’re taking care of them. This is the next generation of the LGBT community.”
The six-story building in Harlem will have 30 studio apartments, a computer room, a library and communal space. Residents, who must be between the ages of 18 and 24, will pay rent based on income, according to Section 8 rules.
Organizers hope the shelter will be operational by winter 2011.
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Gay couples are being urged to fill out their 2010 Census applications and checking off the spaces marked “husband” or ” wife.”
According to the Associated Press, with strong backing from the Census Bureau, gay-rights activists are urging maximum participation by their community in the first U.S. census that will tally same-sex couples who say they are married — even those without a marriage license.
The move has drawn fire from conservatives, who complain that it’s another step toward redefining marriage.
For the first time, the bureau has deployed a team of professional field workers — about two-dozen strong — to reach out to gays and lesbians. On Monday, the bureau unveiled its first public-service videos encouraging gay Americans to mail in their census forms.
“We have to reach out and engage this part of the population. Anything less than that is a failure,” said Tim Olson, a Census Bureau assistant division chief helping to oversee the campaign.
Only the District of Columbia and five states — Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Vermont and Iowa — have legalized gay marriages, starting with Massachusetts in 2004. But the Census Bureau says same-sex couples in any state who consider themselves spouses should feel free to check the “husband” or “wife” boxes on the census form, rather than “unmarried partner.”
The bureau’s willingness to count gay marriages — despite a federal law that denies legal recognition to any of them — has been hailed as a historic milestone by gay-rights leaders.
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New York Police are investigating the death of a gay, former professional wrestler after his body is discovered inside his apartment over the weekend.
According to the Associated Press, authorities said that a man who identified himself as one of the first openly gay professional wrestlers was found dead of an apparent suicide in his New York City apartment.
Police said Chris Klucsaritis was found by his brother in the living room of his apartment Friday. A suicide note has been recovered.
The 40-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Medical Examiner’s office is investigating to determine the exact cause of death.
Klucsaritis wrestled under the name Chris Kanyon.
He started his career in the late 1990s and was part of the championship tag team “Men at Work.”
He later joined World Wrestling Entertainment.
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Posted 5 months ago. 3 comments
New York Police are trying to figure out who killed a 29-year-old transgender woman after discovering her naked body in her apartment.
According to the NY Daily News, Amanda Gonzalez-Andujar was found dead in her ransacked Queens apartment on Tuesday, her naked body sprawled across the bed, police said.
Gonzalez-Andujar, who was born Edelbuerto, had not been heard from since Friday.
Her friends got her landlord to let them into her Glendale apartment around 4 p.m. Tuesday.
“We found her on her bed. She was naked,” said Barbara Vega, 35, of Bushwick, Brooklyn. “Everything in the apartment was destroyed. All her Marilyn Monroe pictures were destroyed.”
Police said the medical examiner will perform an autopsy to determine the cause of death. Vega, who believes Gonzalez-Andujar was slain, said she had tried in vain to reach her friend since spending time with her on Friday.
“She never had any problems with anybody. She was full of life,” she said. “We need to know who did this to her.”
Gonzalez-Andujar’s friends wailed as her body, covered in a black plastic bag, was taken out of the 62nd St. building yesterday.
Stephanie Lopez, 19, said she was returning home from school when she saw one of the “hysterical” friends lunge for the gurney that carried Gonzalez-Andujar’s body.
Lopez recalled that another woman screamed: “No! Why, Amanda? Why?”
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Posted 5 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
A former U.S. General is now saying that he’s sorry for his remarks against Dutch gay troops during the Serbian war.
According to Reuters, a retired U.S. general has apologized for comments this month linking the defeat of Dutch troops by Serb forces at Srebrenica in July 1995 to the presence of openly gay soldiers in the Dutch military.
On March 18, former NATO Supreme Allied Commander John Sheehan told a U.S. congressional hearing that European armies had been weakened by efforts to “socialize” them, including allowing gay soldiers to serve.
He specifically cited the example of Srebrenica, where Serb paramilitaries overran lightly armed Dutch peacekeepers before slaughtering over 7,000 Muslim men and boys. It was Europe’s worst atrocity since World War Two, and a six-year investigation into the attack led to the fall of the Dutch government in 2002.
Sheehan said he had been told by a Dutch military commander that the Dutch felt the presence of gay soldiers was one of the reasons the peacekeepers were so easily defeated.
But in a letter on Monday to that commander, retired general Henk van den Bremmen, Sheehan acknowledged that Van den Bremmen had said no such thing at the time.
“I am sorry that my recent public recollection of those discussions of 15 years ago inaccurately reflected your thinking on some specific social issues in the military,” Sheehan said in the letter. “To be clear, the failure on the ground in Srebrenica was in no way the fault of the individual soldiers.”
The Dutch Defense Ministry provided Reuters with a copy of the letter, which it said it had “absolutely” confirmed was written and sent by Sheehan to Van den Breemen.
Sheehan’s comments caused a storm of controversy in the Netherlands, which in some ways is still scarred by the memory of events during the Bosnian conflict.
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Posted 5 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
Latin superstar Ricky Martin is finally “coming out,” saying he’s been living la vida as a gay man for quite awhile.
According to Entertainment Weekly, Martin announced on his blog today that he is “a fortunate gay man,” which probably elicited two reactions: “duh!” and “double duh!”
Duh: Anyone who looks like Ricky is “fortunate.” And double duh: The announcement that he’s gay is about as shocking as when Sean Hayes came out on the cover of The Advocate last month.
After all, Ricky has been living la vida “don’t ask, don’t tell” for a long time—sometimes there was a girlfriend; other times, Ricky was doing stretching exercises on a beach with another guy in a Speedo.
But let’s put the cynicism (and the “He Bangs” jokes) aside for a moment. Coming out — even in this post Ellen/Rosie/Lance Bass/Neil Patrick Harris age — takes courage, especially when you’re a public figure.
You immediately become a spokesperson, whether you like it or not (and for that matter, whether the gay community wants you to be or not.) In fact, the entire gay movement can apparently rest on your shoulders: “[Ricky Martin's] decision to model this kind of openness and honesty can lead to a greater acceptance for countless gay people in the U.S., in Latin America and worldwide,” said Jarrett Barrios, president of GLAAD, in a statement.
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Posted 5 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
President Barack Obama appointed a lesbian law professor to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on Saturday.
According to the San Diego Gay & Lesbian News, using a constitutional provision known as a recess appointment, Obama put Chai Feldblum and three others to positions on the EEOC.
Feldblum and the others had been approved by a Senate committee in early December but their confirmation vote was put on indefinite hold by a lone Senate Republican.
In making the direct appointments for the EEOC, Obama also made 11 other recess appointments of nominees to “critical administration posts.” In a statement, the White House referred to “months of Republican obstruction” to nominees and noted that while the Senate has yet to approve 217 of Obama’s nominees, President Bush had only five still pending at this point in his first term.
Numerous right-wing groups voiced opposition to Feldblum shortly after she was nominated. The Traditional Values Coalition called Feldblum “yet another radical Obama nominee,” saying she would “use her power to strip nearly all First Amendment rights of freedom of expression/free exercise of religion from businesses.”
Concerned Women for America said Feldblum “represents one of the most serious threats to religious freedom we have seen in a long time.” And The Family Research Council said Feldblum “openly admitted to supporting polygamy.”
Some predicted that opposition would surface during her confirmation hearing in November. But it didn’t, at least in part because Tom Harkin, the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, which handled the nomination, met the controversy head on.
“Something has come to our attention here – a petition … that you signed onto” that expresses support for “committed loving households in which there are more than one conjugal partner,” Harkin said.
“That says polygamy to me,” Harkin said, noting that it is illegal in the United States and that, in the 20-plus years he has worked with her, he never knew she supported polygamy.
“I do not support polygamy,” Feldblum said. “I am sorry I signed that document and I have asked that my name be removed.”
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Posted 5 months, 1 week ago. 1 comment
A top U.S. general says that soldiers won’t be forced to bunk with other soldiers who are openly gay if the current gay policy is changed.
According to CBS News, Commandant Gen. James Conway, the top officer in the Marine Corps, told Miliary.com that straight soldiers will not be asked to share rooms on base with openly gay soldiers if the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy is repealed.
“We want to continue [two-person rooms], but I would not ask our Marines to live with someone who is homosexual if we can possibly avoid it,” Conway said. “And to me that means we have to build BEQs [bachelor enlisted quarters] and have single rooms.”
Other branches of the military already house people in single rooms.
“The overwhelming number of Marines have significant concerns” about living with openly gay troops and other issues tied to repeal of the policy, added Conway, who opposes a change to the law.
“If perception is reality, we just think our Corps would not want to see a change,” he said.
Conway is the second high-ranking military official this month to publicly pour cold water on the change in policy, which Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, has called “the right thing to do.”
Lt. Gen. Benjamin Mixon, a three star Army general, said earlier this month that troops and their families should “speak up” against the change. That prompted an admonishment from Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who said Mixon was using his rank to advocate for a political position.
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Posted 5 months, 1 week ago. 1 comment
Talk show host Oprah Winfrey settles a lesbian sex suit with the former headmistress of her South African girls academy on Tuesday.
According to the New York Post, the two women met privately — without lawyers, according to a statement — and ended the defamation case just days before it was set to go to trial on Monday in Philadelphia federal court.
The statement, issued by lawyers for both sides, made no mention of a financial settlement and a spokesman for Oprah’s production company declined to say whether money had been paid to end the case.
Winfrey and Lerato Nomvuyo Mzamane “met woman to woman without their lawyers” to “resolve this dispute peacefully to their mutual satisfaction,” the statement said.
Some reports had said Mzamane was seeking $250,000 in damages — but lawyers for Oprah claimed that the ex-headmistress had never specified in court papers how much she was seeking.
Mzamane, the ex-headmistress of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa, had claimed Winfrey defamed her in comments she made in the wake of a sex-abuse scandal that rocked the school in 2007.
In a press conference, and in comments she made to parents, Winfrey claimed Mzamane — who was fired after the scandal broke — didn’t act quickly enough after hearing about Virginia “Tiny” Makopo, who allegedly preyed on six young girls and a co-worker.
The judge in the case had ruled that Mzamane was a public figure, which made the case into a uphill legal battle. She had to prove not only that Oprah had made false statements about her but that she had done it knowing they were false.
The lawyer’s statements were, in effect, carefully worded apologies that let both women off the legal hook.
“Ms. Winfrey testified in her deposition that she did not intend the implications placed on her words by the plaintiff,” it read.
“Ms. Mzamane testified in her deposition that she has no evidence that Ms. Winfrey knowingly made a false statement about her or entertained serious doubt about the truth of what she said.
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Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
James “The Amazing” Randi is finally coming out of the closet at 81, writing in his blog that that he was inspired by the movie “Milk.”
According to Metro Weekly, Randi wrote in his blog (Randi.org) ”I’m gay…. From some seventy years of personal experience, I can tell you that there’s not much “gay” about being homosexual. For the first twenty years of my life, I had to live in the shadows, in a culture that was — at least outwardly — totally hostile to any hint of that variation of life-style…. This declaration of mine was prompted just last week by seeing an excellent film — starring Sean Penn — that told the story of politician Harvey Milk, the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. I’m in excellent company: Barney Frank, Oscar Wilde, Stephen Fry, Ellen DeGeneres, Rachel Maddow, are just a few of those who were in my thoughts as I pressed the key that placed this on Swift and before the whole world…”
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Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
Tallk show host Ellen DeGeneres and a Web site are giving a $30,000 scholarship to a lesbian teenager, who was kept from her attending her high school prom because she wanted to bring her girlfriend.
According to Reuters, DeGeneres and an inspirational Web site called Tonic on Friday gave $30,000 toward the college education of a teenage lesbian whose high school prom was canceled when she asked to attend with a girl.
Constance McMillen, 18, of Itawamba County, Mississippi, appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” to talk about her experience and at the end of the segment DeGeneres, who is a lesbian, presented her with the check.
McMillen’s story made headlines earlier this month when the Itawamba County school board canceled the high school dance that for many students is a high point of their year.
Back in December, McMillen had asked school officials if she could attend with her girlfriend, and at first they said “no.” Later, they changed their position and said the two could go, but not together, nor could they dance or hold hands.
“We could go, but not like as a date,” McMillen told DeGeneres. “I was like, I’m not going to go to prom and pretend like I’m not gay, so there’s no point in me going.”
The prom remains canceled, and the American Civil Liberties Union has sued the school on McMillen’s behalf.
McMillen told DeGeneres other kids from her school are angry and blame her for the canceled dance. DeGeneres countered that she thought the 18-year-old was “brave” for speaking out.
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Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
A former U.S. general claims that the Dutch Army was unable to fight off Serbian forces in the mid-1990s because it allowed openly gay soldiers to serve in its troops.
According to the Washington Post, a retired Marine general told senators on Thursday that the Dutch Army failed to protect the city of Srebrenica during the Bosnian war partly because of the presence of gay soldiers in its armed forces.
John J. Sheehan, a former NATO commander who retired in 1997, made his comments during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that bans gay people from openly serving in uniform.
The collapse of the Soviet Union led European militaries, including the Netherlands, to believe there was no longer a need for active combat capabilities, Sheehan said.
“As a result, they declared a peace dividend and made a conscious effort to socialize their military,” he said, noting that the Dutch allowed troops to join unions and enlisted openly gay soldiers. Dutch forces were poorly led and unable to hold off Serb forces in 1995, leading to the execution of Bosnian Muslims and one of the largest European massacres since World War II, Sheehan said.
Committee chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.) asked Sheehan whether Dutch leaders blamed the presence of gay troops in later conversations.
“They included that as part of the problem,” Sheehan said.
Pressed by Levin to name names, Sheehan cited Dutch Army Chief of Staff Hankman Berman, who was fired by the Dutch Parliament for failing to protect Srebrenica.
Levin called Sheehan’s assertions “off target,” but agreed that Dutch forces were poorly trained for the fight.
“But to slip over — or slide over from that into a suggestion that it’s something to do with the fact that homosexuals were allowed in the — in the Dutch army suggests that, somehow or other, homosexuals are not great fighters,” Levin said.
Sheehan later clarified that the general liberalization of the Dutch military contributed to the Srebenica debacle.
In a statement, Dutch Ambassador Renée Jones-Bos said, “I take pride in the fact that lesbians and gays have served openly and with distinction in the Dutch military forces for decades, such as in Afghanistan at the moment.”
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Posted 5 months, 2 weeks ago. Add a comment
A Dallas County Sheriff’s Department fired a jail guard, accused of making anti-gay slurs to some of his co-workers.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the jail guard recently fired after allegedly making anti-gay remarks and commenting about religion has said his free speech rights have been violated but he will not seek to regain his job.
A sheriff’s department review concluded Stephen Johnson, 59, persisted in volunteering his religious opinions and speaking out against homosexuality.
Johnson, after nearly 17 years with the department, was fired Jan. 20 for conduct unbecoming an officer and for lying to internal affairs.
Johnson in October interrupted a private conversation among jail staff and “interjected his own opinions,” telling them all gays should be annihilated, according to a sheriff’s report.
“They made it out to be that I was a bigot. I was fired ’cause I hurt someone else’s feelings,” Johnson said Monday. He said that his free speech rights were violated but that he will not appeal.
Johnson said he made his comments to some clerks. The names of the witnesses who filed the complaints were obscured in the sheriff’s department report.
In a sworn statement, Johnson denied saying he supported slavery while noting that “slavery is a fact in the Bible.” Johnson also offered an opinion about the origin of dinosaurs.
“I believe that all dinosaurs were born of Satanic angel who has sex with woman and the animal kingdom that created ungodly reptilian creatures none of these were on the Ark,” he said in the sworn statement.
Johnson also said that he didn’t believe in homosexuality and “that they should be put to death,” according to his statement. But he said his beliefs don’t lead him to treat gays differently.
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Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago. Add a comment
Many seniors are coming out of the closet late in life, which some experts say they have to deal with different issues, such as regrets for waiting so long.
According to the Associated Press, increased awareness and acceptance of varied sexualities and gender identities has led Americans to come out far younger, as early as middle school.
A less noticed but parallel shift is happening at the other end of the age spectrum, with people in their 60s, 70s and 80s coming to terms with the truth that they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender.
While no one tracks the numbers of the elderly who come out, those who work with older adults say the trend is undeniable, and a resulting network of support groups and services has cropped up.
The decision can fracture lifelong relationships. Or it can bring the long-sought relief of an unloaded secret.
“For the first time in my life, I’m not putting on a show,” said Farthing, who eventually had sexual reassignment surgery and changed her first name to Chrissie. “It seems like I’ve been out on a cloud all my life and now I’m not. I’m me.”
Outing yourself late in life can be complicated after having lived through times when being openly gay could get you arrested, put in an institution and given shock treatments. It’s snarled in a lifetime of trudging along through society’s view of normalcy and the resulting fear of being ostracized by children and grandchildren. And it’s marked by a nagging doubt that all the heartache, all the potential for it to go wrong, may not be worth it with one’s years numbered.
“When somebody comes out at the age of 20, they have their whole life ahead of them,” said Karen Taylor, the director of training and advocacy for SAGE, a national group that works with LGBT seniors. “There’s a real sense of regret and loss for somebody who comes out later in life, even when talking to them and they say the decision was the right one.”
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Posted 5 months, 3 weeks ago. 1 comment
