Jags' Maxen is first male Amerin pro sports ach to e out as gay - ESPN

Contents:

• 25 YEARS LATER, 'IN & OUT' REMAS A GOOD-HEARTED GAY FILM AHEAD OF ITS TIME
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS KEV MAXEN BE FIRST PROFSNAL MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• IS OPRAH’S ‘GREENLEAF’ RACIST TOWARDS WHE WOMEN AND PROMOTG GAY AGENDA?

25 YEARS LATER, 'IN & OUT' REMAS A GOOD-HEARTED GAY FILM AHEAD OF ITS TIME

Kev Satterlee wanted eply to be sexually attracted to his wife, Chary Greenleaf-Satterlee, and f snugly to the pews of the Greenleaf fay's megachurch, Calvary Fellowship World Mistri, where a sympathetic view on homosexualy n be hard to e by. In Season 2, the uple faliz their spl and Kev is able to eely explore his gay OWNArticle ntu below advertisementHowever, many viewers pot to his sexualy — and the panic attack that Chary suffered upon learng about her hband's fantasi — as what ed Chary to misrry only one of the two tws. This lls to qutn whether or not his own father left bee he was gay or if the mment of parentg was too strong.

When he reveals that he has feelgs about men and might be Gay to Chary, she attacks him and suffers an emergency suatn and is shed to the hospal. In a pivotal scene om the send episo Season 2 of the OWN TV seri Greenleaf, Grace Greenleaf (Merle Dandridge), the newly stalled associate pastor of the fictnal Memphis megachurch Calvary, approach Carlton Cise (Parnell Damone Marno) — the church’s out gay mic director — Carlton’s driveway.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS KEV MAXEN BE FIRST PROFSNAL MALE ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

”It’s a moment that monstrat what the show do bt: addrsg the church’s unrolved attu toward homosexualy a rehgly nuanced way. ”The seri provis an opportuny to terrogate the church’s unsteady stance on homosexualy. Among my iends, a group prised mostly of gay black men, I still fd myself havg to reassure skeptics before they’ll give a try.

When gay black men nsir Greenleaf, many of are reckong wh our own legaci of parture.

Bee when gay black men nsir Greenleaf, many of are reckong wh our own legaci of parture om ngregatns as tightly kn as the one picted the show — ngregatns that loved , but wanted our silence return, a mutg of the impulse that we believe to be immutable. I’ve had this nversatn among enough of my gay black iends the cy, the former sweet ltle boys om whichever Baptist or COGIC or CME Church, om whatever small Southern town they me om, to know how much they miss — the hand of Miss So-and-So on the nape of their neck, her “good job, baby”s.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

That’s a story I’d heard about black gay men throughout the South, or maybe felt their absence, until I regnized wrten my future, too. The show seemed mted to unmaskg a toxic tenncy among some church muni to rpond to sexual asslt wh silence, and the show’s gay characters generally took a backseat to this gay character given the most airtime on Greenleaf last season was son--law Kev Satterlee (Tye Whe), the hband of the youngt Greenleaf dghter, Chary. In last season’s fale, Kev grips a gay nversn pamphlet, tears, beggg Chary to stay the marriage.

Such moments, while dramatic, felt like a rehashg of the bloodls, undyg "down-low" narrative that sts gay men as negligent and ultimately selfish. It’s the show’s ls eply explored gay thread about mic director Carlton, an out gay man reckong wh the spirual turmoil of stayg at Calvary hop of changg the stutn, that actually has more transformative potential for queer Carlton arriv Season 1, he don’t shrk om explag his bumpy reer trajectory: As an out gay man, he’s been fired twice om other lol ngregatns.

Though Kev had begun to appear spels by the end of last season, Carlton’s firg helped to st him a more sympathetic light, “bee we unrstand what n st a man to be gay and out wh this muny.

JAGUARS ASSISTANT KEV MAXEN IS FIRST MALE NFL ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

Sudnly the dience has a new unrstandg of the pth of his sufferg and ’s easier to see why he n’t brg himself to tell his mother that he’s gay, even though she tus as such.

Those were the on I looked up and down for exceptns, fdg a teenager, I accepted my place wh a legacy of partg, joed a tradn of gay black men a silent but stubborn dispute wh their mothers. Black gay men have been leavg for s — the men a now-middle-aged Carlton might have grown up wh, men who fled their hom a generatn ago and often returned after years spent away ci, spng dis rerds and gowns om cloth and even whole new languag to beg. I remember them whenever a new vio of a gospel artist nmng my gay fay surfac — a whole generatn of men who were rebed, and then mourned, but too late.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

”Greenleaf normaliz the prence of LGBT people the church, but also forc me to reckon wh the legacy of black gay men partg. But by imagg how a person might navigate the church as an out gay person, the show works at somethg eper: challengg the silenc which my mother and I, and the black church at large, have grown too Season 1 of Greenleaf was about gaggg at the hijks of the church, then my relatnship to Season 2 has epened. When I terviewed Craig Wright, he told me that he thks about Six Feet Unr as havg “executed a social sleight of hand” that normalized gay narrativ wh a show that purported to be about somethg else.

KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY

“If, the long n, someone were to say about Greenleaf … ‘Wow, that show seemed to be about one thg, but when I look back at , what I really take away om is that normalized homosexualy wh the black muny as jt a fact of life on televisn for five years, ’ I would be very very proud, ” Wright said. It teas at somethg more timate, and more unual onscreen, and giv enough nuanced attentn that you n watch the show and feel you’ve actually glimpsed that rart of thgs: a gay black man, livg. Who is the gay choir director on Greenleaf?

OWN’s Greenleaf, a drama that centers around mega-church Calvary World Mistri and the fay who ns (the Greenleafs), has featured the story of hband Kev Saterlee (Tye Whe) and his stggle wh gay sir sce last season. Apparently, Kev only wanted to fight his gay urg for his wife’s sake and not for the sake of his fah or himself, bee no sooner had the k dried on their divorce papers than he found himself succumbg to his sir.

There has been much ranr over gay nversn therapy programs for s, but the topic has aga been hotly bated as of late wh Vice Print Mike Pence's support for such programs as well as Ken Blackwell, domtic policy adviser to the Tmp printial transn team. Chary Greenleaf (Deborah Joy Wans), the dghter of the bishop of Calvary World Mistri, was pregnant when she learned her hband Kev Satterlee (Tye Whe) is gay last season and, though ed an obv stra, the uple still loved each other.

IS OPRAH’S ‘GREENLEAF’ RACIST TOWARDS WHE WOMEN AND PROMOTG GAY AGENDA?

I don't know that I buy this whole "Pray the gay away. You n see the nfn and pa on Kev's face after his wife rejects him for beg gay but wantg to change, yet she happily walks away arm--arm wh a gay uple. If we are supposed to accept those who believe beg gay isn't a choice, why then are we not allowed to accept those who believe is?

If women this untry are allowed to take the life of their unborn child the name of "eedom of choice, " why then n't a gay man or woman have the right to choose nversn therapy whout the threat of the ernment shuttg down such programs? ' We will tell you what your problem is, which is to learn to enjoy gay sex. So drop your hibns, drop your archaic relig beliefs, fet your moraly or ethic and jo the gay para.

“Well, you’re about as gay as Tom Selleck In & Out! The implitn here, of urse, is that Will and Grace are no more gay or Jewish than actors playg rol wh those intifiers, who are not those thgs real life. It’s a plat still lodged agast mastream queer films today—why do Hollywood still sist on nsirg straight actors for gay rol when there is an endls list of eligible queer actors?

Box office succs, no doubt, but the mentaly that an creasg number of queer moviegoers tend to hold where they won’t support films starrg straight actors as gay characters n also cloud our visn of enjoyg gay films that hold up spe their flaws. Released 25 years ago this week, In & Out stars Kev Kle as Howard Bracken, a high school English teacher Greenleaf, Indiana who is outed as gay by a former stunt, Cameron Drake (Matt Dillon), durg his acceptance speech for the Amy Award for Bt Actor.