Kev Maxen be first male ach a US men’s pro sports league to publicly e out as gay | CNN

Contents:

• A GAY MICHIGAN COUPLE ARE FLIPPG HOM DETRO ON THEIR VERY OWN HGTV SHOW
• THE GAY DETROERS ARE ROCKG THE BLOCK YET ANOTHER HGTV REALY SHOW COMPETN
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• THE BLOCK’S DARREN PALMER FENDS STG OF ‘EDY GAY UPLE’

A GAY MICHIGAN COUPLE ARE FLIPPG HOM DETRO ON THEIR VERY OWN HGTV SHOW

"Keh actually has a lot of experienc the nstctn dtry and a lot of homophobia and not super great employment opportuni for people like , " Thomas said. But their happs has been a long time didn't e out as gay until his mid-thirti, by which pot he'd married and had three children.

He says beg gay "wasn't an optn" for him growg up. "I thought beg gay was wrong, " Mch, 56, tells TV went on to get married at age 22.

'"But my wife knew somethg was wrong and [him beg gay] fally me out. Meanwhile, Mark me out at 21 – he knew he was gay when he was about ne – and faced his own challeng.

THE GAY DETROERS ARE ROCKG THE BLOCK YET ANOTHER HGTV REALY SHOW COMPETN

-- Jaguars assistant strength and ndng ach Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach major Amerin men's profsnal sports to publicly e out as gay, tellg he ma the cisn bee he didn't want to hi who he is any longer and to possibly spire others siar 's a cisn and move that drew praise and support om owner Shad Khan, who was a vol and emphatic supporter of a cy ordance that expand protectns on the grounds of sexual orientatn, genr inty and genr exprsn.

Outsi lebacker Carl Nassib beme the first active NFL player to e out as gay and to play a game Associated Prs ntributed to this report. Jenks owned the Willows, a stic rort terg to gay men along the Rsian River sixty north of San Francis. Every other week, Jenks drove down to the Castro to pass out upons at the gay bars and rtrants, hopg to entice ctomers wh $5 or $10 disunts.

” Jenks told Burke about growg up Mormon ral Idaho, and a groundbreakg manifto he had wrten refutg the church’s ultranservative teachgs on homosexualy.

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

“Both of were amazed at the tremendo difference our backgrounds and yet our strongly shared views of the gay liberatn thg and the very diverse rol each of were playg , ” Jenks relled.

Jenks’s untry n sat on five wood acr overlookg the Rsian River near the town of Guerneville, a ral lumber muny that had bee fashnable wh gay vatners seekg an pe om the cy the late 1970s. Burke enjoyed relaxg the hot tub and on the sunck at the Willows and partyg at a gay bar on Guerneville’s Ma Street lled Rabow Cattle Company.

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

The populary of the Willows and other hotels, bs, and bars terg to gay men om San Francis had created tensns the town of ten thoand. Some lol bs owners weled the flux of new ctomers and risg property valu, while other lols vlently risted their prence—roughg up gay men on the street outsi Rabow Cattle Company and settg fire to a stretch of gay bs on the block.

After a lol newspaper ran a story about Burke’s prence Guerneville, some of the regulars at Pat’s Bar, an tablishment that tered to the same lols who had asslted gay men the past, exprsed an tert meetg him. The guys were sports fans, and the ia that a former major leaguer was partyg jt down the block meant more to them than the fact Glenn was gay.

THE BLOCK’S DARREN PALMER FENDS STG OF ‘EDY GAY UPLE’

Jenks hosted the gay players om San Francis at the Willows for a weekend of partyg, and then me time for the game at the ballfield at Berry’s Saw Mill.

“He had an abily to attract both straights and gays. The guys at Pat’s Bar were as taken wh him as anyone the gay world.