MICHAEL SAM MEETS THE PRESS, HANDLES THE GAY QUESTIONS LIKE A PRO

NFL prospect Michael Sam met the press on Sunday for the first time since coming out as gay, saying he wants to be known as “Michael Sam the football player, not Michael Sam the gay football player,” and by several accounts he handled the media with aplomb.

Sam appeared at a press conference in Indianapolis at the NFL Scouting Combine, a multiday event at which pro teams evaluate potential draft picks. A defensive lineman for the University of Missouri, Sam came out two weeks ago in a New York Times interview.

With that past him, Sam emphasized to reporters that he wants to be judged only on his football skills. Still, most of the questions were about the ramifications of being the first openly gay player in the NFL, if indeed he is drafted by a team.

Sam, who was out to teammates at Mizzou and encountered no problems, expressed confidence that as a pro, he could handle any homophobic reactions he might run into. “I’ve been in locker rooms with all kinds of slurs being said,” he said. “I don’t think anyone means it. As time goes on, everyone will adapt.”

Asked if slurs would lead to a fight, Sam was incredulous, according to NFL.com blogger Michael Shapiro. “A fight?” Sam said. “If somebody wants to call me a name, I’ll have a conversation with that guy and hopefully it will lead to nothing else.”

At Missouri, he noted, “Everyone could be normal around me. We would joke around, because it’s a brotherhood and it’s a family. We can say things to each other, and there’s no harm. We don’t draw blood. It’s all fun and games. A good portion of the student body knew, and word did get out, but we protect one another at Mizzou, I guess.”

Several reporters who attended the press conference praised Sam’s demeanor. “Sam was as honest, poised and intelligent as you’d imagine,” wrote Douglas Farrar on Sports llustrated’s website. “He was an ideal representative to break new ground.”

Added USA Today’s Jarrett Bell: “Sam was not timid, hesitant, nor did he appear to be the least bit nervous as one question after another focused on his sexual orientation.”

Silver called Sam’s appearance “an impressive display of maturity,” noting, “With so much noise surrounding his attempt to become the NFL’s first openly gay player, the former Missouri star injected a strong, steady and undeniably human voice into the fray, and the sports world was better for it.”

Farrar concluded, “It’s become very clear that just as Jackie Robinson was the right person to carry his cause into the sporting world for an infinite number of reasons, Michael Sam chose himself to do this, and he was absolutely correct in doing so.”

Watch the press conference below.

SOURCE: GAY DOT NET

FORBIDDEN FRUIT: THE ‘MAN PERIOD’ IS REAL

I knew what kind of day it was going to be when I could hear my roommate’s distinctive gravelly voice piercing through the walls of our apartment. I hadn’t slept much that night as it was, and it felt as if my snooze button expired every ten seconds instead of minutes. As I walked to the bathroom, led by my morning wood, I could hear the water I’d chugged right before going to bed sloshing around inside my stomach.

“Ugh,” I groaned, feeling about as shiteous as I knew I looked.

When my tired eyes finally adjusted to the bright vanity lights above my bathroom mirror, I saw that my face looked… weird. I hadn’t developed some overnight deformity or a third eyebrow, but it looked like someone had filled my cheeks with helium and painted them with struggle. My body, already a work in progress with irregular, bi-weekly or so visits to the gym, looked like a deflated casserole and felt just as gross. I’d been here before, but hated that it was happening again.

I was on my man period.

Now, before you jump to politically incorrect assumptions and accusations of marginalization, this is not intended to shade my sisters from other misters. If anything, this is meant to show them that we (or at least I) can at least on a small level identify with what they go through during that time of the month.

The man period is a complex thing to understand, and even more difficult to describe; however, I’ll do my best for the sake of expanding your minds. The easiest way to explain it is “the peak of a man’s insecurity.” It’s knowing you’ve been putting in work in the gym but still feeling fat. It’s being dressed to the nines but fearing Joan Rivers is lurking close behind with a camera crew to expose you to the world for being a fashion miss. It’s finding the one minuscule flaw in what everyone else would consider to be a beautiful day. And what’s more, it’s not exclusive to any subgroup of the male species: straight, gay, black, white, fat, skinny – we all get it.

Later that morning, I found myself standing in front of my open closet wearing nothing but a wife beater and boxer briefs. My clothes are all ugly, I thought, and the ones I do like probably don’t even fit.

“Might as well just go to work in my underwear,” I mumbled to myself as I picked out my go-to man period get-up: white button-up, dark blue jeans and brown loafers. I begrudgingly pressed my shirt and headed on my way to the office, where I knew that I would be tested beyond belief.

“Good morning,” our receptionist seemed to screech as I entered my office building.

Trying not to be a complete asshole (even though I felt she totally asked for it with that loud-ass greeting), I smiled and waved without a word and faced the elevator with my eyes closed. When I heard the ding of its arrival, I opened my eyes to see two of my office mates waiting with me. They were more cheerful than usual with a venti cup of the devil’s crack to boot – which just annoyed the hell out of me.

After what seemed like the longest elevator ride in the history of the contraption’s existence, I loafed over to my sad excuse for a cubicle and began my work day. “One minute down, 479 to go,” I said to myself, daring someone to even look at me the wrong way.

What makes the man period so different is there’s no real explanation for it; with women, it’s a scientifically proven biological process with known “side effects.” For us, it’s just…there. No rhyme, no reason, and most notably no warning. The worst, however, is when it manifests itself physically: bloating, insatiable – or nonexistent – horniness, constant hunger, and an overall feeling of whatthefuckinsons.

After what ended up being an uneventful day at the office (thank God, because…I just couldn’t), I hopped on the first train I could to just get back to my shack in the woods and sleep the rest of this man period off. But, considering the ease of the day, I figured the worst part was over and maybe it was salvageable after all. As the train approached and emptied, I saw a sight comparable to a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow: an empty seat! As I made my way toward this ray of light, the unthinkable happened: an old ass woman sat down in my seat!

“Ain’t this about a…” I said (again, to myself) as I stood the whole 30-minute ride home – bloated and ugly.

SOURCE: MUSED MAG

SHARON GLESS URGES FLORIDIANS TO 'GET ENGAGED' WITH GAY MARRIAGE CAMPAIGN

Actress Sharon Gless is urging Floridians to “get engaged” with the state's ongoing campaign to legalize gay marriage.

In a 50-second video released Sunday, Gless endorses Equality Florida'sGet Engaged campaign.

“I can't imagine what my life would be like if somebody told me that I couldn't marry the person I love,” Gless says in the clip. “And yet that is what is going on in the State of Florida every day, when they tell thousands of men and women that they cannot have what we all want: To marry the one person we love with all our heart. I'm Sharon Gless and I'm asking you to support Equality Florida. And join Get Engaged in the fight for marriage equality.”

Nadine Smith, CEO of Equality Florida, applauded Gless for publicly expressing her support.

“We are at a tipping point in the movement for full equality, and the voices of allies like Sharon Gless will make a huge difference,” Smith said.

LGBT audiences will likely remember Gless, 70, for her unforgeable performances as Det. Sgt. Christine Cagney in Cagney & Lacey and Debbie Novotny in Showtime's groundbreaking gay drama Queer as Folk.

SOURCE: ON TOP MAG

RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE: SEASON 6, EPISODE 1 - RUPAUL'S BIG OPENING

“This program will be broadcast in HDS: High Definition Shade.”

So said hostess with the mostess RuPaul, introducing the seven queens competing on Monday’s season 6 premiere, part one. Yep. You heard that right: Seven queens, part one. In an effort to shake it up like a stiff (no longer Absolut) cocktail, Ru changed the game for this edition of Drag Race. For starters, the premiere will take place over two weeks, with one batch of queens arriving the first week and facing elimination. The process will repeat next week because, as Ru put it, “The only thing better than one big opening is two big openings.” On week three, the final 12 will merge and emerge.

Another big change this go-around: No immunity this season. At all. Ru had no saucy pun for that new rule. So I’ll leave it to the opening line of her most famous song to communicate these new high stakes.

With that business completed, let’s meet the queens!

TODAY IS CHOCOLATE-COVERED PEANUTS DAY!

RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE, SEASON 6 PREMIERES TONIGHT

The wait is over, kittens. 

The time is "meow."

DESMOND TUTU PLEADS WITH UGANDAN PRESIDENT TO STRENGTHEN HUMAN RIGHTS

South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu today (23 February) pleaded with Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni to use the debate on the controversial Anti-Homosexuality Bill as a ‘catalyst’ for improvements to human rights in the country.

The 82-year-old anti-apartheid champion said improving other areas of law would provide families and children with more protection than criminalising ‘acts of love between consenting adults’.

Tutu said Museveni promised last month he would not let the Anti-Homosexuality Bill become law in Uganda and is ‘very disheartened’ to hear the African leader has now shifted his position.

Earlier this week Museveni reaffirmed his intentions to pass the legislation, and there are unconfirmed reports that Museveni has already signed the bill and is just delaying presenting it to parliament to appease international relations.

In a statement released by The Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation, Tutu commented on Museveni’s use of science to justify the Anti-Homosexuality Bill: ‘The history of people is littered with attempts to legislate against love or marriage across class, caste and race. But there is no scientific basis or genetic rationale for love. There is only the grace of God.’

He also said past regimes such as Nazi Germany and apartheid South Africa prove there is ‘no scientific justification for prejudice and discrimination, ever’.

Tutu asked Museveni to treat Uganda’s current political debate ‘to strengthen criminal sanctions against those who commit sexual acts with children, regardless of gender or sexual orientation’.

He continued: ‘To strengthen criminal sanctions against all acts of rape and sexual violence, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.

‘And, if needs be, to strengthen criminal sanctions against those involved in commercial sexual transactions – buyers and sellers – regardless of gender or sexual orientation.’

Uganda has been under intense global scrutiny since the ‘Kill the Gays bill’ was passed by parliament in December last year. Original death penalty clauses have been dropped, but those convicted under it may still face life imprisonment if Museveni signs the bill into law.

Earlier this week Museveni rebuffed US President Barack Obama’s comments that the passing of the legislation would ‘complicate’ the ‘valued relationship’ between the two countries: ‘Countries and societies should relate with each other on the basis of mutual respect and independence in decision making.

‘‘Valued relationships’ cannot be sustainably maintained by one society being subservient to another society.

‘There are a myriad acts the societies in the West do that we frown on or even detest. We, however, never comment on those acts or make them preconditions for working with the West.’

In the same statement, Museveni said the law would be reviewed if US scientists could prove the link between genetics and sexual orientation.

SOURCE: GAY STAR NEWS