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

Contents:

• BLACK, GAY AND GRAYG GRACEFULLY LOVE
• ‘I'M A BLACK GAY GUY,' VIRAL TWEET OM PA. GOP CANDIDATE LEADS TO SOCIAL MEDIA MYSTERY
• LIL NAS X MAK HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK ARTIST TO W AT CMA AWARDS
• GAY BLACK MEN RARELY SAW THEMSELV ON SCREEN. MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS CHANGED THAT.
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• 5 BT GAY BLACK DATG S & APPS TO FD THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE
• A NVERSATN WH T.J. CALLAN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF GAY BLACK MEN G OUT SPORTS

BLACK, GAY AND GRAYG GRACEFULLY LOVE

" Beyond her LGBTQ activism, DeLarverie also anized and performed at fundraisers for women who suffered om domtic vlence and their Jam Baldw (Photo by Ted Thai)The LIFE Picture Collectn/GettyJam Baldw (1924-1987)A wrer and social cric, Baldw is perhaps bt known for his 1955 llectn of says, "Not of a Native Son, " and his groundbreakg 1956 novel, "Gvanni's Room, " which picts them of homosexualy and bisexualy. Baldw spent a majory of his lerary and activist reer tg others about Black and queer inty, as he did durg his famo lecture tled “Race, Racism, and the Gay Communy” at a meetg of the New York chapter of Black and Whe Men Together (now known as Men of All Colors Together) and playwright Lorrae Hansberry her New York Cy apartment April Attie / Getty ImagLorrae Hansberry (1930-1965)Hansberry was an activist and playwright bt known for her groundbreakg play “A Rais the Sun, ” about a stgglg Black fay on Chigo’s South Si.

The inic work was then ma to a 1961 film starrg Sidney Poier and Ruby to “A Rais the Sun” fame, Hansberry — who never publicly acknowledged she was a lbian — joed lbian rights group Dghters of Bilis and ntributed letters about femism and homophobia to s magaze, “The Ladr, ” acrdg to LGBTQ historian Eric Marc, host of the “Makg Gay History” podst.

‘I'M A BLACK GAY GUY,' VIRAL TWEET OM PA. GOP CANDIDATE LEADS TO SOCIAL MEDIA MYSTERY

Now 79, Miss Major, known to many simply as “Mama, ” ris Ltle Rock, Arkansas, where she ntu to be a vol Sprg's mayor Ron On, April 18, Khan / LA Tim via Getty ImagRon On (Born 1950)When On was elected mayor of Palm Sprgs, California 2003, he ma history by beg the first openly gay Ain Amerin man elected mayor of an Amerin cy.

LIL NAS X MAK HISTORY AS FIRST OPENLY GAY BLACK ARTIST TO W AT CMA AWARDS

Wispread reprentatn of lbian, gay — and to a lser extent, bisexual and transgenr — people media have only recently bee anythg near “mastream. “We jt want to let young gay people know that they n have somethg to look forward to when they get old, ” Phil said to me on the send-floor ck of their Amerin Foursquare on Detro’s Wt si, one of the greatt pris of their 50-year relatnship.

” We were troduced by Curtis Lipsb, the executive director of LGBT Detro (also featured the book), who, hearg me lament the arth of olr gay men my life, sisted that I meet this uple.

GAY BLACK MEN RARELY SAW THEMSELV ON SCREEN. MICHAEL K. WILLIAMS CHANGED THAT.

He scribed them as “val” to the cy’s gay Black muny, and was easy for me to unrstand why: I spent my teen years Detro.

“We’ve dited our liv to makg sure younger gay Black people know that they n grow old, and that they’ll have somethg to live for. He had a gay uncle that his entire fay “held up on a pestal, ” so he knew om a young age that beg gay was accepted his fay. “The few tim anyone ever ma fun of me, rarely impacted me, bee beg gay was affirmed by the people my life who meant the most to me.

He don’t want to spend too much time on his backstory and offers me only the followg: “I grew up Flt, Michigan, a homophobic cy, was reprsed.

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

The tablishment soon beme a popular spot for churchgoers, who wanted to hang out a welg space that wasn’t a is one set of patrons, however, whose memory hnts the uple to this day: In the weeks after they first went to bs the 1980s, a group of eight gay teenagers me to the rtrant every Sunday. ”The group of iends started to drift apart soon moment provid a lson that has bee a guidg prciple for Mike and Phil as they’ve settled to old age: “More of olr gays need to talk to younger people like you, ” Phil tells me.

5 BT GAY BLACK DATG S & APPS TO FD THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE

And, as their neighborhood rapidly chang around them, they ntue to pour love to their home, still obssg over the layout of the wicker furnure set on the ck, or the ntrast of a bright red wall and a tufted, cream-lored len sofa their sun ’s been years sce I first ma photos wh Mike and Phil, but I still revis my early imag of them om time to time, an artifact om the day that I met my first olr gay Black uple. When two Black men love each other on screen, shows others what is possible, and shows that you n be who you are and still fd we want to take a look back at some of the Black gay upl that we've seen on TV who have spired viewers and changed media as we know .

Unfortunately, the upl aren't as numero as they should be, but as more Black queer creativ get chanc to tell stori, we n only image what the future of Black gay reprentatn looks like. Two of the mentors have a romantic history, and one of them unwtgly gets assigned to a boy who is gay, prentg somethg of a plex dynamic as the ruals ntue at a remote mp.

Paris Is Burng highlights the importance of chosen fai, as well as creativy and muny borne amid stggl wh poverty, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and accs to health re. Two Mlim, gay, and closeted teenagers New York's Bed-Stuy neighborhood have a secret love affair that gets swept up amidst the surveillance of mosqu.

A NVERSATN WH T.J. CALLAN ABOUT THE HISTORY OF GAY BLACK MEN G OUT SPORTS

This 2014 film follows a gay high schooler raised Hattiburg, Mississippi, as he rencil his sexualy and Christian fah, as well as a plex fay dynamic.