Former England Player Says Times Right For Gay Players

A top former England international football player and now TV pundit says that he thinks players would now accept a gay teammate in the changing room.

Popular former player and manager Gareth Southgate claims the real problem might well be the fans on the terraces that may not be quite as open, tolerant and welcoming to gay players not the sportsmen themselves.

Garreth Southgate

Garreth Southgate

Speaking with BBC Sport, Southgate said: ‘I’m sure there might be some reaction from crowds, but within dressing rooms I think it would be accepted.’

There has been a surprising amount of rather high-profile male and female athletes and sportspeople choosing to come out and be open in public with their sexuality, such as professional boxing’s Orlando Cruz, Rugby’s Gareth Thomas not to mention many of the British Olympic Team. However, there has not been a single top flight British footballer to come out since Justin Fashanu back in 1990.

Gareth Southgate who used to live in Northgate in Crawley made the comments in reaction to Manchester United’s goalkeeper, Anders Lindegaard saying ‘homosexuals are in need of a hero’. Lindegaard said the attitude of fans doesn’t encourage gay players to be open about their sexuality. “They are in need of someone who dares to stand up for their sexuality. But homosexuality in football is a taboo subject and the atmosphere on the pitch and in the stands is tough.” he said. “The problem for me is that a lot of football fans are stuck in a time of intolerance that does not deserve to be compared with modern society’s development in the last decades. While the rest of the world has been more liberal, civilised and less prejudiced, the world of football remains stuck in the past when it comes to tolerance.”

“It will take someone who is brave enough to be open and honest,” said the ex-England international, Southgate who was a key fixture of the line up of the national squad from 1995 to 2004. He added “Players mix with players of different nationalities, races and religions so I don’t see it being an issue in the dressing room. We can’t control the reaction of all supporters, so unfortunately there will always be an adverse reaction to parts of society. But the honest answer is that we don’t know until somebody steps forward.”

Homophobia is still regarded as one of the biggest problems in the modern UK football industry, despite various campaigns to ‘Kick Homophobia Out’ of the sport.

N.H. Transgender State Rep Resigns BEFORE She Would Have Started Work

Stacie Laughton, First Out Transgender Statewide in U.S., Had a Dark Past

Representative Laughton, (D-Nashua) resigned on Tuesday, November 27, 2012 after a local newspaper The Laconia Daily Sun reported on her criminal past: prior felony convictions. Laughton, then known as Barry Charles Laughton, had three felony convictions in 2008 for credit card fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud.  She was also convicted of tire slashing and faked illness to gain an ambulance ride.  Laughton was sentenced to seven and a half to fifteen years for conspiracy to commit credit card fraud and three and a half for falsifying physical evidence. However, those crimes were suspended pending ten years of “good behavior.”

She served four and a half months in prison.  Laughton completed her parole in 2010 and her sentence would have been suspended following ten years of good behavior.

Stacie Laughton

Stacie Laughton

Asked to Resign

New Hampshire State House Majority Leader Pete Silva (R-Nashua) called for Laughton to resign, citing that she had failed to inform Nashua voters of her prior convictions.  When Laughton ran for office, she was still serving “suspended” sentences for the crimes; she was essentially on probation. You are still considered a convicted felon by the state until the “final discharge” of your sentence. Only then can you run for or hold office.

Laughton claimed that she never intended to mislead voters. She told local television station WMUR that she believed she was eligible for office and was not aware of a statue that prevents felons from running or holding office until their “final discharge.”

“No one asked me to resign, Laughton attests, “but they were asking me to seriously consider all of the different things that have been presented to me… and they urged me to make a final decision sooner rather than later.”

Laughton was contacted by New Hampshire Democratic Party Chairman Ray Buckley who influenced her decision to resign. She would have taken office on December 5, 2012.

Steps Down

On November 27th, Laughton said she would step down.  She ceremoniously signed her letter of resignation on November 29th on a cable access show hosted by fellow Democrat and friend, State Rep. Ken Gidge.

Her final decision was based on the term “final discharge” as it applied to two suspended sentences which she did not have to serve time for.  Settled by the Attorney General’s office which reviewed the language in the law that states whether convicted felons are eligible to run for office.

Wants to Run Again

“ I never once believed that I’d done anything wrong in this process.  I believed  that once you finish your probation and parole, you are all done.  I really just wanted the chance to get on with my life and serve the people,” she elaborated.  “I feel called to public service.”

 

 

 

Yet Another Major Supporter of Boy Scouts Withdraws

 

Merck

Angry at Anti-Gay Policy of Boy Scouts

New Jersey-based Pharmaceutical Giant Merck, following the precedent set by Intel and UPS, this week reported that it would suspend all funding to the Boy Scouts until the Boy Scouts inclusion criteria has been expanded.

Merck had given the Boy Scouts of America $30,000 in 2011, according to records.  In a statement released last week, Vice President and spokesperson for Merck, Brian Grill outlined the decision to not donate :

“The Merck Foundation believes that it is critical to honor and support a foundational policy of diversity and inclusion in all funding decisions.  Recently, the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), with its 2.7 million youth membership, restated its policy that excludes members on the basis of sexual orientation. The BSA’s policy of exclusion directly conflicts with the Merck Foundation’s giving guidelines.”

Zach Wahls’s Campaign

Activist Wahls’s  has a campaign to have telecommunications giant Verizon withdraw its support for the Boy Scouts. Wahls  said about Merck: “I am thrilled that Merck and Company, has announced its foundation arm is immediately withdrawing funding from the Boy Scouts of America until the program ends its anti-gay membership.”

Prior History of Ousting Troop Leaders and Members

In July 2011, the Boy Scouts of American reaffirmed its long-standing policy that prohibits openly gay members from joining the organization and bans gays and lesbians from serving as scout leaders.

The Boy Scouts of America was criticized for kicking out a popular Ohio lesbian Den leader Jennifer Tyrell from her son Colin’s Tiger Scout’s troop.  She has since gained many signatures for her petition to be reinstated.  Similarly, California gay Scout Ryan Andresen was denied his Eagle Scout award although he completed all the badges to earn the prestigious award. (He did, however, receive a $20,000 check from Ellen De Generes.)

Claims of Pedophilia within Scouting

Despite BSOA’s rigid ruling against homosexuals serving within their organization, pedophiles have been able to infiltrate Boy Scout Troops. Former scouts and their parents have filed suits against this volunteer organization that kept secret or perversion files about leaders under suspicion, from 1960’s to 1980’s. BSOA did not always expel these questionables, leaving vulnerable Boy Scouts prey to those in power.

 

 

Pennsylvania Lawmaker Becomes Only Openly Gay Republican State Legislator

Mike Fleck, (R-Huntingdon), Pennsylvania State Representative announced that he is gay on December 1, 2012.  He is the first out gay legislator in Pennsylvania and the only out gay Republican state legislator in the U.S. until the new year.  Then, in 2013, gay attorney and Democrat Brian Sims, who defeated Rep. Babette Josephs (D-Phila) last April, joins him in the House.

Mike Fleck

Mike Fleck

His Politics Will Stay The Same

Despite his coming out, the move will not affect his committment to the Republican party.  Said Fleck “the Republican party is all about the government needing to stay out of people’s lives. I’m not a one-issue person and it’s not a one-issue party.”

In the legislature, Fleck, 39, has been considered a moderate Republican.  In 2011, he was targeted by the conservative Citizens Alliance for Pennsylvania. During his tenure, there haven’t been significant votes on gay rights issues.  According to PoliticsPA’s Keegan Gibson, registered Republicans outnumber Democrats nearly 2-1 in the conservative area of his 81st district which encompasses most of Huntingdon County with parts of Mifflin and Blair.  In 2014, his district, slightly more moderate, will include all of Huntingdon, a smaller part of Mifflin and a part of Centre County in the suburbs of State College.

In 2006, Fleck won a four-way primary for Rep. Larry Sather’s seat.  Fleck was unopposed this year for re-election.

Local LGBT Advocates Received News Well

“I’m still the exact same person and I’m still a Republican and, most importantly, I’m still a person of faith trying to live life as a servant of God and the public.  The only difference now is that I will also be doing so as honestly as I know how.”

Executive Director of Equality Pennsylvania, who came out at age 39, states that “there’s an opportunity to have an open discussion in a new way.  There’s a real live voice to talk about it inside the Capitol, inside the Republican caucus.  I hope Fleck will want to work with us.”

Diffficult Journey to His Announcement

Representative Fleck is a graduate of Liberty University, a college founded by Rev. Jerry Falwell, known for his anti-gay politics.  “Coming out is hard enough,” he told the Huntingdon Daily News,  “but doing so in the public eye is definitely something I never anticipated.”

A former district executive for the Boy Scouts of America, from 1999 to 2004, Fleck described in an article for Huntingdon Daily News what a tough time he had trying to live a heterosexual life: “I sought out treatment from a Christian counselor, but when that didn’t work out, I engaged a secular therapist who told me point blank that I was gay and that I was caught up in being the perfect Christian rather than actually being authentic and honest.”

Last year, Fleck divorced his wife.  They have no children.

The Uganda Anti-Homosexuality Bill Drops Death Penalty Clause.

The committee of Ugandan MPs that endorsed the proposed Anti-Homosexuality Bill have dropped the death penalty provision, claims MP Medard Segona. He told media outlets there had been “substantial amendments” to the horrific bill that increases penalties for being gay in the African nation, however he said he was not allowed to reveal further details.  Segona, is a member of the Legal and Parliamentary committee of Uganda’s parliament said “I can confirm it has been dropped.” Adding “Some of us who are human rights activists would discourage the death penalty.”

The Ugandan parliament will shortly debate the bill and Segona believes this will happen before Christmas, although refused to be more precise. In recent statement the speaker of the Ugandan parliament, Rebecca Kadaga promised the bill would be passed as a “Christmas gift” to all its advocates and supporters.

The bill has been tabled by MP David Bahati, well known for his deeply homophobic views, proposes longer jail terms for homosexual acts, including a life sentence in certain circumstances. Before the change , the original bill included the death penalty for those convicted of “aggravated homosexuality” which was defined as when one of the participants is a minor, HIV-positive, disabled or a “serial offender”.

The original drafting of the bill also prohibited the “promotion” of gay rights and called for the punishment of anyone who “funds or sponsors homosexuality” or “abets homosexuality” and sentences will be long.

There appears to be broad support for the bill in the Ugandan parliament, even President Yoweri Museveni who would have to sign the bill before it becomes law, is known to be supportive however international pressure is likely to increase dramatically.

US President Barack Obama who described the bill as “odious” and many International donors have threatened to cut off aid to Uganda if the country does not do more to protect the rights of gay people, including the UK, Canada and the US.

“If the Americans think they can tell us what to do, they can go to hell” said
John Nagenda, Ugandan presidential adviser recently.

Uganda is one of 38 African nations where homosexuality is currently illegal where penalties range from 1 year to life imprisonment. Three nations, Sudan, Mauritania and Nigeria still have the death penalty for being gay.

West Point Wedding Makes History

On December 1, 2012, a couple from Asbury Park, New Jersey exchanged their vows in front of 250 guests at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point’s Cadet Chapel. The ceremony was conducted by a friend, Senior Army Chaplain Colonel Wesley Smith of Dover Air Force Base.  They had the typical sword salute at their wedding as the bride was a graduate of West Point.  But the wedding was hardly typical as the couple were lesbians and were the first to get married in the Cadet Chapel (the week before, their friends, Army First Lieutenant Ellen Schick and Shannon Simpson, also lesbians, had gotten married, but in a different West Point Chapel).

First Same-Sex Marriage at Cadet’s Chapel – “Some day and it’s coming, this wont rate headlines.” – Col. Wesley Smith

Just about a year after DADT was repealed, the couple, Penelope Dara Gnesin and Brenda Sue Fulton decided to get married.  They had met in 1999 at a community sing in Plainfield, New Jersey.  Gnesin, 52, and Fulton, 53, had a commitment ceremony in 1999, but because New Jersey has not legalized gay marriage, and Gnesin has had breast cancer, and now has multiple sclerosis, they decided not to wait.

Fulton’s Military History Parallels Military Policy

Brenda, now a marketing director for pharmaceutical company Pfizer, graduated from West Point in 1980 and was in the first class of cadets that included women.  She later found Knights Out, an organization that is made up of West Point alumni, staff and faculty who support LGBT soldiers to serve openly.  She is also on the Board for Outserve-SLDN, a non-partisan, nonprofit association of actively serving LGBT military personnel focused on bringing full LGBT equality to the U.S. Military.  President Obama appointed Fulton, the first openly gay or lesbian member, to serve on the Military Academy’s Board of Visitors.

Fulton told Wall Street Journal that she realized that she was a lesbian while serving in the Army in Germany, but didn’t come out until 1993 after she served five years as Captain in the Signal Corps and while campaigning to repeal DADT policy. Captain Fulton was honorably discharged. However, she wanted to marry Gnesin, a holistic healer and Director of Women’s Choir, “Giving Voice,” at West Point because the Academy stands for “ integrity, leadership, and selfless service.”

 

 

Boeing Can Go Fly A Kite

Boeing’s Married Same-Sex Couples Dealt a Blow

One of the largest global aircraft manufacturers in the world, the Boeing Company employs more than 174,000 worldwide.  In the state of Washington, it has 82,000 workers.

Pension Benefits

Now that Washington state voters earlier this month approved R-74 or Referendum 74, the ballot initiative that affirmed the state legislature’s passage of a marriage equality bill,  Boeing’s married same-sex couples expect pension survivor benefits. The initiative was signed by Governor Chris Gregoire in February, but Preserve Marriage gathered enough signatures for a referendum and the law never took effect, instead remaining on hold pending this past election.

What Boeing’s Union Wants

Ray Goforth, Executive Director of the Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), IFPTE Local 2001, that represents 23,000 Boeing engineers and technical workers was once again at the negotiating table on November 21, 2012. At this meeting, Goforth reframed the proposal to apply to his union’s gay employees who wed. Goforth remarked to The Stranger, that his union for a long time has tried to get equal pension benefits for same-sex domestic partners at Boeing.

Boeing’s Response

According to Boeing, it intends to deny pension survivor benefits to its married same-sex couples.  It doesn’t have to give same-sex couples survivor benefits because federal law DOMA (Defense of Marriage Act) dictates pension benefits, not state law.

Goforth calls Boeing’s position a “loophole to engage in institutionalized discrimination.” He says the company’s stance says to employees that they can be discriminated against based on who they are. Boeing’s answer was that they had no intention of granting pension survivor benefits to legally married same-sex couples.

What Boeing Told The Media

Doug Alder, spokesman for Boeing, contradicted by saying that “any assertion that Boeing discriminates is blatantly false and quite frankly, offensive.”  On the same day, Boeing issued a statement to its employees saying it will assess the impacts of Referendum 74 on Company policy. “Boeing is taking a closer look at how R-74 might impact company policies once it takes effect in December. “

When asked if Boeing did actually refuse these benefits, Alder evaded the question. “Nothing is ever final in negotiations until they’re over.  What we said today is that these policies are not currently addressed in the contract.”

 

 

UK Radio Station Fined After Branding Gay People Evil

A community radio station in the English city of Leeds has been fined £4000 ($6412) after one of its homophobic advocated homophobic violence and branded gay people as “evil” and “shameful”.

The Fever 107.3 FM, a small local station dedicated to the Asian community, presenter Rubina Nasir, sometimes known as ‘Sister Ruby‘ made the revolting homophobic comments during August 2011.

The bigoted Nasir opened her Sister Ruby Ramadan Special 2011 show with a verse from the Quran (Sura Al-Nisa, verse 16) and then spouted her own interpretation of the verse, as being highly critical of mixed-faith marriages and also of same-sex relationships. She went on to discuss various historical events portrayed in the Quran in the context of her main focus on homosexuality.

At one point during the programme she said: “What should be done if they do [practise homosexuality]? If there are two such persons among you, that do this evil, the shameful act, what do you have to do? Torture them; punish them; beat them and give them mental torture.”

During the investigation by the UK’s broadcasting watchdogs OfCom, they found that Nasir comments were “likely to encourage or incite the commission of crime”. Accordingly they fined the small fine of £4,000. However they stopped short of revoking the stations broadcasting licence saying it “would not be appropriate to shorten, suspend or revoke Radio Asian Fever’s licence”.

Gold Medalist Soccer Star Out and Proud

Megan Rapinoe

“I’ve been out to friends and family and teammates and anybody, if I hadn’t really told them, they knew that I was gay.  It’s different being out publicly than just out in your personal life. I just felt like I was leaving something out and omitting something and not being 100% truthful.  Even though I never lied about anything.

Megan Rapinoe

Megan Rapinoe

“ The world is sort of presumably straight, so I think I wasn’t wanting to be assumed (to be straight) or have people believe that.  I’m obviously very proud of who I am.  I couldn’t be happier with who I am.  It was something that was important to me.”  Megan’s comments to Out Magazine, July 2, 2012.

Why Megan Came Out

Before competing in the summer Olympic Games (2012) in London, the 27 year-old midfielder on the U.S. soccer team decided to come out as a lesbian to the public.  Since doing so, Rapinoe who plays for the Seattle Sounders Women of the W-League, says she has no regrets.  If anything, Rapinoe has found that she has even more fans.  As told to Gay News, Gay News, 22 Nov. 2012, “Lesbian soccer star Megan Rapinoe talks to Gay Star News about why she came out” ,  ‘from young girls to middle-aged men! I think it’s very cool.  Sometimes people say, “You’re the reason I came out.’ Or older people who say, ‘I’m so proud of you.’”

The lesbian soccer star with her bleached blonde Tilda-Swinton (whom she idolizes) hairdo, told Gay Star News about why she came out. ” I’d been thinking about it for about a year. It kind of got to the point where it was, “Why am I not out? It’s an important to me and I think it’s important in general. I think it’s just nice to be open… It’s living my life as an open book which is really nice.”  Megan, an “All-American as a Junior and Senior in High School, believed that the public response to her outing would be positive. It has been confirmed that she has been dating Australian soccer player Sarah Walsh for three years.

To After Ellen.com’s questions about whether she was encouraged from other people or did she come out based on our own volition, Rapinoe, originally from Redding, California, said “ I mean I think it came from me.  Obviously, when I started telling people, they were encouraging and supportive of me. I was talking to friends and we mulled it over a little bit and there didn’t seem to be any downside at all.  I think all of the reactions I’ve gotten have been totally supportive and completely positive.”

Role Model for Other Gays and Lesbians

Rapinoe was recently honored at the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center’s 41st Anniversary Gala on November 11, 2012 for being a role model to others. She is one of twenty-one openly gay and lesbian Olympic players.  This gold medalist laments the fact that it is much easier for women to come out in sports than men: “in female sports, if you’re gay, most likely your team knows it pretty quickly.  It’s very open and widely supported.  For males, it’s not that way at all.  It’s sad.”

Gold Medalist With Personality

It was Megan’s precise cross to teammate Abby Wambach that tied the game in the 122nd minute of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinals against Brazil. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, she scored three goals and tallied a team-high assists to lead the United States to a gold medal in the 2012 Summer Olympics. Fans may also remember her grabbing a microphone and singing “Born in the U.S.A.” to the crowd.

 

 

Growth and Evolution

Life is a sequence of events, that when taken in the aggregate and with the benefit of hindsight appears to be interconnected.  Each instance in our lives builds on a past event, and the knowledge gained propels us forward to the next plateau or learning experience.

In order for us to learn and grow, we must also be open to change and the lessons to be learned.  Sometimes, we don’t recognize the event for what it is; a time of growth and evolution.  Growth and evolution cause us to reflect on things that are no longer germane to our existence or no longer represent who we really are.

We have heard many times that it is not what happens it is how one reacts to what has happened.  Depending on the event and whether the lesson is grounded in a good or bad experience, will determine how we react to it.

Clearly, we all wish that our learning experiences were grounded in pleasant experiences.  But most times the more substantive lessons to be learned are not grounded in the good things that happen to us.  The most often remembered lessons learned are derived from unpleasant or uncomfortable experiences.  Painful as they may be, it is the less than desired experiences that make us dig deeper within ourselves and question what truly matters to us.

When I look back on my life, I clearly can see that the more distressing the experience, the greater the jump forward was.  Often times we fail to realize that bad events are the bigger catalyst to personal growth and we realize that fact after the distressing event is over and we are beyond the short-term fear and agony.

Being a closeted queer individual, this is a no truer lesson!  The fear and agony related to hiding one’s true self wreaks untold havoc on a person’s psyche.  Overcoming that fear and anguish by coming out, propels us forward toward achieving personal greatness.  Embrace your distressing moments and learn from them.  Do not deny their existence and try to ignore what it is that is holding you back.

Take charge and decide to make those decisions that will allow you to grow and evolve into the person you are truly meant to be.  Embrace your agony and confront that which is causing the anguish.  You will not regret it especially after you overcome the challenge.