Jaguars associate strength ach out as gay a first for US-based pro leagu

Contents:

• JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
• DIPLOMATIC TENSN REPORTEDLY RISG BETWEEN UNED STAT AND JAMAI OVER GAY AMERIN DIPLOMAT
• GAY NIGHTLIFE
• 10 BT GAY BEACH THE WORLD
• GAY AND GAY-IENDLY HOTELS TALLN
• TALLN GAY
• EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS TALLN
• A GUI TO GAY-FRIENDLY TALLN
• GAILY TOUR TALLINN - GAY & LBIAN TOUR

JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT

In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out. In other words, where Bud Light has buckled unr prsure as bigotry grows agast the LGBTQ+ muny, Gay Water’s creator Spencer Hodson wants his new boozy brand to be the anthis of that.

“The key issue that Bud Light tapped to was the fact that they didn’t unrstand their re dience and know enough about them,” Hodson, a gay man, told CNN about the ntroversy that began when the Anhser-Bch beer brand sent fluencer Dylan Mulvaney a n of beer. Gay Water, however, is out and proud. The nned cktail is named after a lloquialism given to the popular mixed drk (vodka and soda) orred at bars by the gay muny.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU

“Puttg a product wh the word gay the tle is reprentatn self,” which he hop reclaims the word om the negativy ’s sometim associated wh. He thought of creatg Gay Water about a year ago while on a vatn wh his iend that had got a job wh the beverage dtry.

The two chatted about the limed amount of gay people wh , and wh Hodson burnt out om his tradnal day job tech, started the nned cktail. Hodson built up a strong social media followg on TikTok and Instagram durg Covid-19 and is g some of the money om that (as well as om iends and fay) to help fund Gay Water.

“Gay is an umbrella term and the ia behd the brand is to be as clive as possible, which means we want alli, we want straight people to be part of this muny we’re buildg.”. For now, Gay Water is sold largely onle (wh a few retailers) and four sugar-ee flavors — watermelon, lime, peach and grapeu — at lnch. Gay Water might not have the ep pockets pared to s petors, like Whe Claw, but “even at small sle, pani of many siz are havg succs makg spir-based seltzers and premixed cktails,” Bryan Roth, an analyst for Feel Goods Company and edor of the alhol beverage newsletter, Sightl+, told CNN.

DIPLOMATIC TENSN REPORTEDLY RISG BETWEEN UNED STAT AND JAMAI OVER GAY AMERIN DIPLOMAT

“There’s lots of space the spir-based seltzer tegory which Gay Water n play, pecially if the brand n offer a cultural or emotnal nnectn that will feel more excg than the prospect of another peapple-flavored vodka seltzer om natnal or ternatnal rporatns,” Roth said.

Of urse, other drks e the word “gay,” too, cludg Gay Beer and So Gay Rosé, Hodson noted, which are also tryg to reach the queer muny and offer them an alternative the straight-domated space. McCoy for The New York TimHis Sexualy Don’t Defe Him, but It Can Set Him ApartEric Bach is an openly gay broadster for the Frericksburg Natnals. Three years earlier, while he was studyg journalism at Michigan State Universy, he had publicly e out as gay an say he wrote for Outsports.At the time of the say, he braced for a backlash, but nothg materialized.

He worked his way up om ternships to full-time broadstg jobs, and while anyone wh an ter nnectn uld learn he was gay, nobody asked, and he did not say so aga publicly. It was bil and ugly, filled wh “every gay slur you uld thk of,” Bach said.

GAY NIGHTLIFE

It was paful at the time — the worst thg that had happened to him as a gay man, he said — but has reced far enough to his memory that did not e to md an hourlong terview about his experienc as a gay broadster. As far as Bach knows — and as far as many of his unterparts wh other teams are aware — there are no other openly gay broadsters the sport. McCoy for The New York TimBorn to BroadstLong before he knew he was gay, Bach knew he wanted to be a sports broadster.His father was a ach, and a love of sports ran through the fay.

10 BT GAY BEACH THE WORLD

Whatever.”)He began to accept that he was gay durg his sophomore year of high school, but wh that acceptance me worry. As a multisport athlete, Bach was often locker rooms filled wh chos of homophobic slurs and gay jok. He didn’t take them personally, but they ma him unfortable, as did the ia of g out.“I knew the stuff wasn’t directed at me,” Bach said, “but I was thkg, ‘Oh, is this how ’s gog to be for me my entire life?’”By the start of his sophomore year at Michigan State, Bach was ready to tell his parents that he was gay, tchg his father off guard but nfirmg what his mother had prevly assumed.

He did each job to the bt of his abily, and his sexualy never me up.Still, he has found that there’s a difference between beg a gay man baseball and beg pletely fortable as one.ImageKnown as the FredNats, the Class A Natnals play at Virgia Cred Unn Stadium Frericksburg, Va.Cred...Michael A.

Bach and Manager Jake Lowery had been enjoyg a meanrg chat when the young broadster sprang a self-nsc qutn.“I was sually like, ‘You know I’m gay, right?’” Bach said.

GAY AND GAY-IENDLY HOTELS TALLN

That uncertaty mak him feel self-nsc a way he believ is mon for gay people mostly straight spac.“I feel like that’s the burn a lot of gay people live wh — tryg to be perfect for straight people,” he said.His job requir equent teractn wh the players and the achg staff — addn to his duti as play-by-play announcer, Bach also is the ma public relatns ntact for the team — and he said he hadn’t fully relaxed any of them. The environment is not hostile, but Bach never fets that he is the only openly gay person the room.ImageIn a small operatn like a Class A team, Bach teracts wh the players que regularly. Cred...Edward Mrer/Frericksburg NatnalsThat feelg is somewhat “self-flicted,” Bach said, but he believ the solutn is to brg more openly gay people to sports and create a safe environment for those who are already there but have felt necsary to hi their inti.Major League Baseball has touted self as a place of clivy.

Billy Bean, an openly gay former player, was named the league’s first ambassador for cln 2014 and has sce been promoted to senr vice print and special assistant to Commissner Rob Maned.

TALLN GAY

In Febary, Anrson Comás, a mor leaguer the Chigo Whe Sox anizatn, me out as gay wh a post on Instagram, and the announcement was met wh public support om his club and some people around the game.Other cints suggt there is more work to be done. The Boston Red Sox lled up a mor leaguer, Matt Dermody, who had posted an anti-gay msage on Twter 2021, and Anthony Bass, a reliever for the Toronto Blue Jays, reposted a vio on social media that lled for boytts of L.G.B.T.Q.-iendly pani.Dermody and Bass were subsequently released by their teams, though their poor performance on the field was most likely a major factor those cisns.“I don’t thk some silly Rob Maned iative is gog to help anythg,” Bach said of the league’s creatg a diversy fellowship. But he has also cid that if he is to achieve his dream of llg major sports, he don’t want to leave part of himself behd.“Those of that are this very small mory sports have to keep on havg the nversatns, keep on workg really ick’ hard to earn your spot this space,” he said.He aspir to be a gay person at home a big-league booth.

EXPLORE GAY ROOMS & RENTALS TALLN

McCoy for The New York TimA versn of this article appears prt on  , Sectn A, Page 27 of the New York edn wh the headle: A Gay Broadster Climbs the Ladr, But It’s Been Lonely. Jacksonville Jaguars associate strength ach Kev Maxen me out as gay on Thursday what is believed to be a first for a male ach major U. Kev Maxen me out as gay an terview wh Outsports.

A GUI TO GAY-FRIENDLY TALLN

When Estonia broke off om the former, opprsive Soviet Unn 1992, homosexualy was crimalized the procs.

It clus the recently reloted, two-level gay bar and dis, X-Baar, and a gay sna, Club 69. It’s not unual to spot gay tourists holdg hands Old Town and young queer Estonians hangg around hipster hood Kalamaja and morn shoppg center, Solaris.

GAILY TOUR TALLINN - GAY & LBIAN TOUR

Stunngly signed by Fnish archect Pekka Vapaavuori, ntemporary art mm Kumu is edgy and pop-savvy, wh exhibns featurg queer Talln artist Jaan Samma, who explor provotive topics (thk Estonia’s gay history durg the Soviet Era, and public rtrooms) through multidisciplary work. Bt (and Gayt! While there’s only one explicly LGBTQ bar and nightclub Talln at prent, 's everythg you'll need for a gay 'ole night out.

If you’re feelg a b isky, men n head to Club 69, Estonia’s only gay sna, which is loted down the street om X-Baar and open until 2 a. If you happen to be Talln at the end of June, check Facebook for the annual “Club Angel Rnn Party, ” a huge LGBTQ-iendly dance that memorat a legendary albe closed Old Town gay club.

Old Town’s vegetarian-iendly Pegas ed to be a wrer’s mune but nowadays serv as a ol gay favore, pecially warmer months when the pat seatg is open for prime people-watchg.