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

Contents:

• KEV MAXEN, JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH, OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE ACH NFL
• WT HOLLYWOOD’S HISTORIC GAY NIGHTCLUB THE ABBEY IS UP FOR SALE
• KAMALA HARRIS DANC WH BRAVO'S ANDY COHEN FOR PRI MONTH: 'I BET YOU'RE FUN AT A GAY BAR'
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH OUT AS GAY A FIRST FOR US-BASED PRO LEAGU
• WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

KEV MAXEN, JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH, OUT AS FIRST OPENLY GAY MALE ACH NFL

Wisns has long been a forenner LGBTQ+ advocy, ever sce was the first state to pass anti-discrimatn legislatn for the LGBTQ muny 1982, givg the tle of "the first gay rights state."And while most of Wisns's LGBTQ history has been told through Madison and Milwkee, the Fox Ci has s own rich history of phg for LGBTQ rights.Durg the late 20th century, when LGBTQ people were crimalized and faced large amounts of public backlash, much of the Fox Ci' LGBTQ muny rved out spac for themselv bars and book clubs where they uld safely be their thentic selv.At the turn of the century, the Fox Ci saw a lot more fights for acceptance as members of the muny began phg for support schools and lol ernment."Up until recently there were the pockets of LGBTQ support," the former anti-vlence program director for Diverse & Rilient, Kathy Flor, said.

WT HOLLYWOOD’S HISTORIC GAY NIGHTCLUB THE ABBEY IS UP FOR SALE

"A lot of what we saw for support were hom, the bar scene and small bs."Here are five stori that scratch the surface of the Fox Ci' LGBTQ muny and history.The Lambda Lounge: Appleton's first gay barThroughout the late 20th century, gay people primarily found muny through the bar scene, often seen as a safe space for LGBTQ people to socialize.Appleton's first gay bar, the Lambda Lounge, opened downtown 1977 by partners Pl DeB and Gene Koenke.Cdi DeB, Pl's sister, said the two bought the bar om Claire Kempky who ran Doris' Super Bar, a bs wh a reputatn as a hangout spot for gay people. That reputatn, she said, enuraged her brother to open a gay bar after Kempky's closed.Matchbook vers for The Lambda Lounge that read "The Gayt Spot Town." The bar opened 1977 and was Appleton's first gay bar.While the bar wasn't openly advertised as a gay bar for the safety of s patrons, people knew of through word of mouth and natnal gay bar guis, such as the Damron Gui.Rearcher for the Universy of Wisns-Green Bay's "Our Voic: LGBTQ+ Stori of Northeastern Wisns" Dennis Jab said bar patrons often experienced backlash om Appleton rints who believed homosexualy was wrong and didn't like havg a gay bar downtown.While patrons were safe to be themselv si the bar, Jabs said people knew to not enter or leave the bar alone as they faced vlence om straight people and many fights took place outsi the bar."The early [gay] bars were rough," Jabs said. "But the gay populatn Appleton stood their ground and fought back."Ultimately, the bar closed down amid petn om 1101 Wt, a gay dance club, that opened down the road soon after.

However, the Lambda Lounge's prence Appleton paved the way for other LGBTQ bars, such as The ReMixx Neenah, Rasls Appleton and the now-closed Pivot Club.More: A Neenah LGBTQ club is creatg a growg love for drag shows the Fox CiMore: Rasls has long been a gay refuge AppletonBook clubs allow gay people to fd munyBook clubs have often been a place for people wh shared inti to fd muny while discsg lerature pertag to their liv and experienc.To provi a safe space for gays and lbians to socialize, Appleton Public Library llectns ordator Michael Nz and Lawrence Universy Profsor Dick Wslow found a book club named the Lavenr Salon 1993.For 15 years, the group met each Sunday members' hom wh potluck meals and discsns on books and movi.The club was exclive to gay people, so members — whether they were openly gay or not — were able to be themselv and safely meet other people the LGBTQ muny."For some, was their first time knowgly meetg other people who were gay and lbian so beg a safe space was really important," Nz told The Post-Crcent.Participatn the club grew om seven members to over 60 at a time, brgg people om Marette and Sheboygan for the weekly meetgs.Neenah stunts' fight for gay-straight alliance clubDurg the turn of the century, stunts Madison and Milwkee high schools started creatg gay-straight allianc, or GSA clubs, to provi supportive environments for LGBTQ peers.As word about the clubs grew, a number of stunts at Neenah High School 2001, cludg Nick Ross — a current Appleton School Board member — wanted to create an official club for LGBTQ stunts to discs experienc and issu they were gog through.Many of the stunts were already LGBTQ support groups at the school and the muny, but Ross said was important for them to create an official group to give visibily to LGBTQ stunts and let other stunts know there was a safe space the school to discs their experienc.But, when the stunts applied for club regnn, Neenah High School Prcipal Mark Duerwaechter nied them, sayg a GSA has polil goals and would go agast district policy, acrdg to Post-Crcent archiv.Addnally, Neenah Supertennt Jam Wiswall turned down the club bee the school already had a club, STAND, which addrsed diversy and he didn't believe the school should supply rourc to another club wh siar objectiv."We wanted to start a GSA bee STAND had really important issu around race and racism to al wh and we had unique thgs that we wanted to talk about that were very different om what STAND was dog," Ross told The Post-Crcent.After their club got nied, the stunts appealed to the Neenah school board and began strategizg wh help om the Amerin Civil Liberti Unn on how to get club approval om the board.The stunts' stggle to create a GSA received tense media attentn, drawg support and opposn om Neenah parents and rints.The fight for the GSA culmated a school board meetg discsn October 2002.

KAMALA HARRIS DANC WH BRAVO'S ANDY COHEN FOR PRI MONTH: 'I BET YOU'RE FUN AT A GAY BAR'

People packed to the board room and muny members, parents and stunts gave hours of public statements llg for the acceptance of the GSA or askg the school board to turn down on the basis of relig grounds.After a closed ssn, the school board granted the stunts the right to create a GSA, makg the first club of s kd northeast Wisns."It was extremely terrifyg and sry for all the reasons of beg out public as LGBTQ, but also super excg bee we put ourselv out there and ma thgs happen," Ross said.The Neenah stunts' ph for a GSA and the attentn gathered the Fox Ci spired other stunts to create the club their own schools and a year later all three Appleton high schools had a GSA.Neenah High School Gay Straight Alliance club om an Oct. "Once one person is allows other people to brg their full, thentic selv to the table."Appleton mov to make the cy more clive for the LGBTQ munyIn the last 15 years, Appleton elected lears have sent strong msag of support for LGBTQ folks through passg rolutns protectg the rights and safety of youth and fai the muny."In the last 15 years wh the cy of Appleton, we were dog some pretty active support of LGBTQ folks bee we were tired of seeg teens harmed and havg hate crim our parks," Flor, who also prevly served as Appleton's diversy ordator, told The Post-Crcent.The first time Appleton got volved LGBTQ issu was 2012 when the cy passed domtic partnership protectn for gay cy employe and their partners.At a time when same-sex marriage wasn't legal, domtic partnership benefs allowed cy employe and their partners the same benefs as spo, such as health surance and sick leave.The next time the cy got volved LGBTQ issu was Augt 2013 when the cy passed fair hog based on genr inty and exprsn, beg the third cy the state to ban hog discrimatn for transgenr people.Wisns had already banned discrimatn based on sexual orientatn 1982, but Appleton officials wanted to expand that to clu transgenr people.The followg year June 2014, Appleton expand s discrimatn ban to provi safeguards to transgenr people employment and public acmodatns."As wh any kd of fight, the more we were public about thgs, the more harm actually started to happen," Flor said.Flor remembers drov of anti-LGBTQ rints packg to cy uncil meetgs to speak agast the rolutns and groups formed to prott the wave of LGBTQ-clive rolutns happeng Appleton and across the state.But all the backlash to rolutns then didn't ter the cy om ntug s stance of support for the LGBTQ muny.In January 2020, the cy uncil passed a rolutn banng licensed medil and mental health profsnals om practicg nversn therapy on mors."I don't know where we would be as a muny today if the cy had not taken steps forward and been so support of LGBTQ folks," Flor said.More: In effort for more clivy for LGBTQ people, a new anizatn forms Outagamie CountySophia Voight is a lol ernment and polil reporter wh The Post-Crcent.

Jacksonville Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen me out publicly as gay Thursday, makg him the first known openly gay male ach the NFL and men’s profsnal sports the Uned Stat. RAIDERS' CARL NASSIB ON COMING OUT GAY: ‘I DIDN’T KNOW IF IT WOULD RUIN MY CAREER' "It wasn’t until recently — and wh the immense love and support of my fay, my iends, lleagu and peers, and the urage and sacrifice om my partner — that I realized I have the right and rponsibily to love and be loved, and that maybe sharg this will hopefully give someone else the strength to accept their own life and take ntrol of their own story, " Maxen explaed.

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

In the NFL, Tampa Bay Bucneers fensive leman Carl Nassib beme the league’s first openly gay active player when he ma his announcement 2021 while playg for the Las Vegas Rairs.

San Francis 49ers assistant Katie Sowers was the first woman and openly gay ach a Super Bowl 2020. The Abbey, arguably the untry’s biggt and most famo gay bar Wt Hollywood, is officially on the market. Vice Print Kamala Harris celebrated the fal week of Pri Month by dancg wh Bravo's "Watch What Happens Live" host Andy Cohen outsi the Stonewall Inn New York Monday, Cohen posted a vio on his Instagram acunt of himself wh the vice print durg her vis to the historic gay bar.

I bet you’re fun at a gay bar, " Cohen joked. Photographer: Tasos Katopodis/UPI/Bloomberg via Getty Imag (Getty Imag)The vice print spoke about mpaigng for the San Francis District Attorney's office and visg the Castro District, a famo historic gay neighborhood. "Stonewall Inn is nsired a landmark for the gay muny after a police raid on the Greenwich Village bar 1969 led to fights between bar patrons and police officers.

WISNS MIDDLE SCHOOL FEATUR 'THIS BOOK IS GAY' LIBRARY, STIRRG ONLE OUTRAGE

… If you’re gay, bls you. As I said last night, if you’re gay, God bls you.