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

Contents:

• GAY, BLACK GYMNAST FDS HE N BE HIMSELF AT WT POT
• KG LIL JAY SLAMS GAY MORS AFTER VIO OF MAT KISSG PROMPTS TROLLS’ RPONSE
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• SEA T LEAR JEROME GAY FILMED SEX ATTACK ON BOY
• SO WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A GAY CAT AT WT POT THE DAYS?FOUR YEARS AFTER THE REPEAL OF “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL,” THE AMY IS A HOTBED OF SWEET DIFFERENCE.BY DAVE CULLENJUNE 30, 2015FROM AP PHOTO/MIKE GROLL.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVESARA EMSLEY ALWAYS KNEW SHE WANTED TO JO THE U.S. ARMY, EVER SCE SHE WAS A SMALL CHILD. “YOU N ASK ANY OF THE KIDS I MA GO THROUGH AN OBSTACLE URSE AT MY SIXTH BIRTHDAY PARTY,” THE WT POT T RECENTLY SAID. SHE DRSED UP AS SOLDIER FOR HALLOWEEN FOR “MANY, MANY YEARS,” AND NEVER PSED TO WORRY ABOUT WHETHER THE ARY WOULD LET A GIRL LIKE HER FIGHT.THEN SHE H ADOLCENCE AND BEGAN TO DISVER HER SEXUALY. SHE DIDN’T LIKE WHAT SHE FELT. GIRLS LIKE THAT WERE FORBIDN OM SERVG, SO SHE NIED HER OWN URG. SHE ULDN’T LET THEM STAND THE WAY OF HER DREAM.EMSLEY FIRST WENT TO LLEGE AT VIRGIA TECH, WHERE SHE FALLY ME OUT TO HERSELF AND TSTED OTHERS, BUT HID HER SEXUALY OM HER PEERS THE LLEGE’S R.O.T.C. PROGRAM. BY THEN, THE ARY HAD LIFTED S ABSURD “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” POLICY, BUT EMSLEY STILL FELT WAS TOO DANGERO TO SAY ANYTHG. THEN THE U.S. MILARY AMY AT WT POT ACCEPTED HER. SHE EXPECTED TO DIVE MUCH EPER TO THE CLOSET WHEN SHE ARRIVED LAST SUMMER FOR BASIC TRAG. “I ULDN’T HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG,” SHE SAID. “I RECEIVED NOTHG BUT SUPPORT OR DIFFERENCE.”FUNNY HOW APPEALG “DIFFERENCE” SOUND. SUCH A SURPRISGLY BETIFUL WORD. AT FIRST GAYS ASKED FOR TOLERANCE, BUT WHAT A GRADG GOAL THAT WAS: WHO THE HELL WANTS TO BE TOLERATED? THEN WE ASKED FOR ACCEPTANCE, BUT MAYBE “DIFFERENCE” WOULD BE BT OF ALL. IT SOUND THAT WAY WHEN EMSLEY SPOKE ABOUT THIS MARCH AT AN OFFICIAL WT POT CEREMONY I ATTEND HONORG GAY TS AND SPECTM, THE AMY’S GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE. INDIFFERENCE. THE ULTIMATE GOAL, THE CHERISHED HAZY OBJECTIVE GAYS HOPE FOR ON SOME DISTANT HORIZON HAS ALWAYS BEEN DIFFERENCE. WHERE NOBODY GIV A SH. YOU’RE A LBIAN? COOL—WE WON’T BE TERTED THE SAME GUYS.EMSLEY HAD REASON TO FEAR ACCEPTANCE, PECIALLY THE ARY. MUCH OF THE NATN CELEBRATED THE SUPREME COURT MARRIAGE-EQUALY CISN FRIDAY, BUT LARGE SECTORS WERE FUMG. IT’S EASY TO PICTURE SOME OF THE MOST STUBBORN POCKETS OF RISTANCE. IT’S EASY TO PICTURE WT POT RIGHT UP THERE WH AN N.F.L. LOCKER ROOM.WHEN I ENLISTED THE FANTRY, 1983, I DIDN’T MEET A SGLE GAY GUY—NOT EVEN THE MIRROR. I WAS SO SANELY HOMOPHOBIC THAT I CEIVED EVEN MYSELF. TWO GUYS MY PLATOON WERE ACCED OF GETTG TOO CLOSE, AND WAS NOT PRETTY: NO BEATGS, JT OSTRACISM AND HUIATN. AND I WAS FAR TOO TERRIFIED TO FEND THEM.NEARLY 30 YEARS LATER, WH “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” STILL EFFECT, A LITENANT LONEL I’VE BEEN FOLLOWG FOR MY UPG BOOK ON GAY SOLDIERS ME HOME OM AFGHANISTAN. DPE WORSENG PTSD SYMPTOMS, HE ULDN’T SEE AN ARMY SHRK FOR FEAR OF OUTG HIMSELF AND ENDG HIS REER.SCE THE REPEAL OF “THE POLICY,” HOWEVER, I’VE MARVELED AT THE PACE OF CHANGE WH THE ARY. ON THREE TRIPS TO THE PENTAGON AND ANOTHER TO GUANTáNAMO BAY WH THAT LITENANT LONEL, I ULD NOT FD A SOUL WHO SEEMED TO GIVE A SH ABOUT HIS SEXUALY. BUT NOTHG PREPARED ME FOR THE WT POT BANQUET THIS SPRG.INSI A SPAC HALL WH A PANORAMIC VIEW OF A STRATEGIC BEND THE HUDSON RIVER, ABOUT A HUNDRED TS, OFFICERS, AND ALUMNI DRS BLU SAT AROUND TABL SET WH THE GOOD CHA. SPECTM HAS TWO FACULTY AND 40 T MEMBERS, A MIXTURE OF GAY, STRAIGHT, BI, AND UNCID. QUE A FEW FALL TO THAT LAST TEGORY. ONE T AT MY TABLE SCRIBED HIMSELF AS STRAIGHT, BUT THEN LATER NFID HE HAD MSED AROUND WH GUYS. STILL WORKG OUT. FAIR ENOUGH.AWARDS WERE PRENTED TO LEARS THE L.G.B.T. STGGLE, WHO GAVE STIRRG SPEECH, BUT THEY ULDN’T PETE WH THE TS WHO TOOK THE LECTERN TO RELAY THEIR STORI. MAC SIMS, A SOPHOMORE, SAID HE HAD HID HIS SEXUALY FOR A WHILE WHEN HE ARRIVED 2013. THE POLICY HAD END, BUT HE FEARED REPERCSNS. EVENTUALLY, SENSG THE DIFFERENCE, HE TOOK THE PLUNGE AND NEVER REGRETTED . “I E OM GEIA AND I WAS KD OF PROJECTG HOW PEOPLE HAD TREATED ME,” HE SAID.SIMS EXPRSED AMAZEMENT AT THE CHANGE HE’S WNSED A SGLE YEAR. AT LAST YEAR’S SPECTM BANQUET, NEARLY EVERY SPEAKER TALKED ABOUT THEIR STGGL UNR “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL,” HE SAID. THIS YEAR, WAS ABOUT THE EASE OF ACCEPTANCE—MOST TS WERE NEVER REQUIRED TO CEIVE. “THAT TIME IS BEHD ,” HE SAID.MOST POPULARTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISSOUND OF FREEDOM: THE WILD TE STORY BEHD 2023’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL FILMBY EVE BATEYTHAT SOUND YOU HEAR IS DONALD TMP SCREAMG, CRYG, AND THROWG UP A MAR-A-LAGO BATHROOMBY BS LEVSIMS RELAYED A NVERSATN HE’D JT HAD WH A STRAIGHT LONEL WHO HAD LIVED THROUGH THE POLICY. THE LONEL SAID HE’D KNOWN OF GAYS HIS UNS OVER THE YEARS, BUT THEY ALWAYS HAD TO LIE. THIS MARCH, HE HAD ASKED A T ABOUT HIS SPRG BREAK PLANS, AND THE GUY NONCHALANTLY RPOND, “I’M GOG TO SPA WH MY BOYIEND.” DIDN’T EVEN PSE TO WORRY ABOUT .PROFSOR AARON BELK ACCEPTED THE LEARSHIP AWARD FOR HIS PIVOTAL ROLE OVERTURNG “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL.” BELK IS THE FOUNDG DIRECTOR OF THE PALM CENTER, A THK TANK DITED TO PROMOTG ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS THE ARY. HE GAVE THE TS A SENSE OF JT HOW FAR THEY HAD E. HE SCRIBED A OF SPEECH AT DOZENS OF ARY BAS, WHERE ONE TY MOMENT ON THAT VERY MP STOOD OUT. AFTER HE GAVE A SPEECH AT WT POT AROUND 2003, ONE T WAED FOR EVERYONE ELSE TO FILE OUT. ONLY WHEN WAS SAFE DID THE T APPROACH BELK TO SAY, “THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK, SIR.” THEN HE TURNED AND LEFT.“THAT WAS THE EXTENT HE FELT SAFE MUNITG WH ME,” BELK SAID.THERE WERE PLENTY OF HAPPY L.G.B. TS AT THE CEREMONY, BUT ALL THE TS WERE OLR. TRANSGENRS ARE STILL BANNED OM THE U.S. ARY—OR SO THE ARY THKS. THE HEALTHY SHOWG OF TRANS ALUMNI PROVED THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SERVG SECRET FOR YEARS.ACTIVIST ALLYSON ROBSON, A 1994 GRADUATE WHO SERVED AS AN OFFICER THE AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY BEFORE TRANSNG, STOOD UP TO ACCEPT THE COURAGE AWARD, BTOWED ON DIVIDUALS WHO “CHOOSE THE HARR RIGHT OVER THE EASIER WRONG.” (IT’S A LE PARAPHRASED OM THE WT POT CAT PRAYER—NICE TOUCH.) ROBSON WAS ACPANIED BY HER WIFE AND WT POT CLASSMATE, DANYELLE, WH WHOM SHE HAS FOUR CHILDREN.A REARCH STUTE RECENTLY TIMATED THAT 15,500 TRANSGENR PEOPLE ARE SERVG THE U.S. ARY RIGHT NOW. DEFENSE SECRETARY ASH CARTER RAISED EYEBROWS FEBARY WHEN HE SAID HE’S “OPEN-MD” WHEN TO LIFTG THE BAN ON TRANSGENR SOLDIERS. BUT A PENTAGON SPOKMAN LATER SAID THERE IS NO “SPECIFIC REVIEW” UNR NSIRATN TO END THE BAN. LAST WEEK, OBAMA CELEBRATED GAY PRI AT THE WHE HOE, AND VED TWO ACTIVE TRANS SERVICE MEMBERS AND FOUR TRANS VETS—A FIRST.AT THE WT POT EVENT, PROFSOR BELK SAID THE PALM CENTER IS NOW TURNG S ATTENTN TO DISMANTLG THE TELLECTUAL UNRPNGS OF THE TRANSGENR BAN. “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” WAS BASED ON THE MYTH THAT GAYS WOULD STROY UN HN, SO OVERTURNG REQUIRED NVCG KEY GENERALS OTHERWISE, BELK SAID. NOW THE CENTER IS HAMMERG AWAY AT THE NOTN THAT TRANSGENRS ARE SOMEHOW MEDILLY UNF. HE SAID HIS TEAM RECENTLY PERSUAD A FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL TO SIGN ON TO A STUDY REFUTG THE CLAIM.IT SURE FELT WELG AT THE BANQUET, BUT I HAD TO WONR HOW GAY-AFFIRMG WAS OUTSI THE BUBBLE OF THAT HALL. WHAT WAS LIKE THE BARS? I DIDN’T HAVE TO WA LONG. ABOUT HALF THE ATTEN, AND MOST OF THE TS, HEAD STRAIGHT TO PATTON’S TAVERN, A BAR RIGHT ON MP. IT WAS SATURDAY NIGHT, AND THE PLACE WAS THUMPG.NOBODY SEEMED TO NOTICE WHEN A HERD OF L.G.B.T.S SCEND. THE BEER FLOWED, THE ENERGY WAS HIGH, AND THE NVERSATN GOT RACY. SOLDIERS MAKG SEX JOK, WHAT A SURPRISE. IT WAS A SMALLISH PLACE, PACKED CLOSE, AND I ULD EASILY OVERHEAR NVERSATNS ALL AROUND . THEY ULD CLEARLY HEAR , CLEARLY TELL WE WERE GAY. AND NOBODY RED. WE DRANK FOR A UPLE HOURS, AND I KEPT AN EYE ON THE CROWDS AROUND THE WHOLE TIME. NO SIGN OF REVULSN, NOT EVEN A RAISED EYEBROW OR CUR STARE. COMPLETE DIFFERENCE. IT FELT WONRFUL.DAVE CULLEN
• U.S. AIR FORCE AMY GRADUAT FIRST OPENLY GAY CATS (VIDEO)
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• KG LIL JAY SLAMS GAY MORS AFTER VIO OF MAT KISSG PROMPTS TROLLS’ RPONSE
• KEV MAXEN BE FIRST MALE ACH A US MEN’S PROFSNAL SPORTS LEAGUE TO PUBLICLY E OUT AS GAY
• KG LIL JAY SLAMS GAY MORS AFTER VIO OF MAT KISSG PROMPTS TROLLS’ RPONSE

GAY, BLACK GYMNAST FDS HE N BE HIMSELF AT WT POT

Wh a day of s publitn, the Natnal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsiya) announced would open an vtigatn to “this ugly se” prsure om the regnal ernor, the rector of the Ulyanovsk Instute of Civil Aviatn, Sergei Krasnov, likened the ts’ suatn to Psy such an “unfivable” disgrace to veterans, he said, they uld be expelled, perhaps, even, tried unr Rsia’s ntroversial anti-homosexual laws. I also happen to be gay.

Not too long ago I uld not be openly gay the ary whout facg nsequenc. What hurt then was the fact that the “choice” I ma to reveal myself as gay uld impact the choice they ma to keep me.

When I me out as gay, my parents first asked if I’d ever been abed, and then thought was a phase.

KG LIL JAY SLAMS GAY MORS AFTER VIO OF MAT KISSG PROMPTS TROLLS’ RPONSE

In middle school and high school, gymnasts are nstantly batg the belief that gymnastics is a “gay sport. ” I remember nstantly beg ma fun of and mocked for participatg such a “feme” and “gay” pastime. I have always been ut to validate others opns of the sport beg a gay bee I was “a gay” who happened to do gymnastics.

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

In fact, I know very few gay gymnasts. I have always found that outsi of the locker room, I would be the gayt actg (maybe ’s bee I am gay!

SEA T LEAR JEROME GAY FILMED SEX ATTACK ON BOY

If I played around touchg others or makg “gay” jok like my straight unterparts did, would not be seen as a joke or taken lightly. That’s a rhetoril qutn that should be thought about for those who neglect to thk about the gay teammat on their team.

In 2021, my sophomore year, I cid to stop hidg myself and began actg like how I would outsi of the gym. An alleged vio of Chigo rapper Kg Lil Jay kissg another prison mate after which an mate ss on his lap has given rise to ‘gay’ mors on viral vio surfaced on Twter and has got the rapper’s fans talkg. In the wake of the clip gog viral, several mors suggtg Lil Jay is gay began spreadg.

Lil Jay’s alleged prison vio wh mate giv rise to gay morsGay mors about the Chigo rapper began trendg on Twter after an alleged vio of him wh an mate surfaced. “Soon as y’all put du up actually sayg some gay sh** y’all would try to put me on there. “Face don’t match, tattoos don’t match, body don’t match, ” he nied gay mors a 2022 terview In his terview wh Say Chee, the terviewer asked Kg Lil Jay about mors of him “msg” wh a guy.

SO WHAT’S IT LIKE TO BE A GAY CAT AT WT POT THE DAYS?FOUR YEARS AFTER THE REPEAL OF “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL,” THE AMY IS A HOTBED OF SWEET DIFFERENCE.BY DAVE CULLENJUNE 30, 2015FROM AP PHOTO/MIKE GROLL.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVESARA EMSLEY ALWAYS KNEW SHE WANTED TO JO THE U.S. ARMY, EVER SCE SHE WAS A SMALL CHILD. “YOU N ASK ANY OF THE KIDS I MA GO THROUGH AN OBSTACLE URSE AT MY SIXTH BIRTHDAY PARTY,” THE WT POT T RECENTLY SAID. SHE DRSED UP AS SOLDIER FOR HALLOWEEN FOR “MANY, MANY YEARS,” AND NEVER PSED TO WORRY ABOUT WHETHER THE ARY WOULD LET A GIRL LIKE HER FIGHT.THEN SHE H ADOLCENCE AND BEGAN TO DISVER HER SEXUALY. SHE DIDN’T LIKE WHAT SHE FELT. GIRLS LIKE THAT WERE FORBIDN OM SERVG, SO SHE NIED HER OWN URG. SHE ULDN’T LET THEM STAND THE WAY OF HER DREAM.EMSLEY FIRST WENT TO LLEGE AT VIRGIA TECH, WHERE SHE FALLY ME OUT TO HERSELF AND TSTED OTHERS, BUT HID HER SEXUALY OM HER PEERS THE LLEGE’S R.O.T.C. PROGRAM. BY THEN, THE ARY HAD LIFTED S ABSURD “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” POLICY, BUT EMSLEY STILL FELT WAS TOO DANGERO TO SAY ANYTHG. THEN THE U.S. MILARY AMY AT WT POT ACCEPTED HER. SHE EXPECTED TO DIVE MUCH EPER TO THE CLOSET WHEN SHE ARRIVED LAST SUMMER FOR BASIC TRAG. “I ULDN’T HAVE BEEN MORE WRONG,” SHE SAID. “I RECEIVED NOTHG BUT SUPPORT OR DIFFERENCE.”FUNNY HOW APPEALG “DIFFERENCE” SOUND. SUCH A SURPRISGLY BETIFUL WORD. AT FIRST GAYS ASKED FOR TOLERANCE, BUT WHAT A GRADG GOAL THAT WAS: WHO THE HELL WANTS TO BE TOLERATED? THEN WE ASKED FOR ACCEPTANCE, BUT MAYBE “DIFFERENCE” WOULD BE BT OF ALL. IT SOUND THAT WAY WHEN EMSLEY SPOKE ABOUT THIS MARCH AT AN OFFICIAL WT POT CEREMONY I ATTEND HONORG GAY TS AND SPECTM, THE AMY’S GAY-STRAIGHT ALLIANCE. INDIFFERENCE. THE ULTIMATE GOAL, THE CHERISHED HAZY OBJECTIVE GAYS HOPE FOR ON SOME DISTANT HORIZON HAS ALWAYS BEEN DIFFERENCE. WHERE NOBODY GIV A SH. YOU’RE A LBIAN? COOL—WE WON’T BE TERTED THE SAME GUYS.EMSLEY HAD REASON TO FEAR ACCEPTANCE, PECIALLY THE ARY. MUCH OF THE NATN CELEBRATED THE SUPREME COURT MARRIAGE-EQUALY CISN FRIDAY, BUT LARGE SECTORS WERE FUMG. IT’S EASY TO PICTURE SOME OF THE MOST STUBBORN POCKETS OF RISTANCE. IT’S EASY TO PICTURE WT POT RIGHT UP THERE WH AN N.F.L. LOCKER ROOM.WHEN I ENLISTED THE FANTRY, 1983, I DIDN’T MEET A SGLE GAY GUY—NOT EVEN THE MIRROR. I WAS SO SANELY HOMOPHOBIC THAT I CEIVED EVEN MYSELF. TWO GUYS MY PLATOON WERE ACCED OF GETTG TOO CLOSE, AND WAS NOT PRETTY: NO BEATGS, JT OSTRACISM AND HUIATN. AND I WAS FAR TOO TERRIFIED TO FEND THEM.NEARLY 30 YEARS LATER, WH “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” STILL EFFECT, A LITENANT LONEL I’VE BEEN FOLLOWG FOR MY UPG BOOK ON GAY SOLDIERS ME HOME OM AFGHANISTAN. DPE WORSENG PTSD SYMPTOMS, HE ULDN’T SEE AN ARMY SHRK FOR FEAR OF OUTG HIMSELF AND ENDG HIS REER.SCE THE REPEAL OF “THE POLICY,” HOWEVER, I’VE MARVELED AT THE PACE OF CHANGE WH THE ARY. ON THREE TRIPS TO THE PENTAGON AND ANOTHER TO GUANTáNAMO BAY WH THAT LITENANT LONEL, I ULD NOT FD A SOUL WHO SEEMED TO GIVE A SH ABOUT HIS SEXUALY. BUT NOTHG PREPARED ME FOR THE WT POT BANQUET THIS SPRG.INSI A SPAC HALL WH A PANORAMIC VIEW OF A STRATEGIC BEND THE HUDSON RIVER, ABOUT A HUNDRED TS, OFFICERS, AND ALUMNI DRS BLU SAT AROUND TABL SET WH THE GOOD CHA. SPECTM HAS TWO FACULTY AND 40 T MEMBERS, A MIXTURE OF GAY, STRAIGHT, BI, AND UNCID. QUE A FEW FALL TO THAT LAST TEGORY. ONE T AT MY TABLE SCRIBED HIMSELF AS STRAIGHT, BUT THEN LATER NFID HE HAD MSED AROUND WH GUYS. STILL WORKG OUT. FAIR ENOUGH.AWARDS WERE PRENTED TO LEARS THE L.G.B.T. STGGLE, WHO GAVE STIRRG SPEECH, BUT THEY ULDN’T PETE WH THE TS WHO TOOK THE LECTERN TO RELAY THEIR STORI. MAC SIMS, A SOPHOMORE, SAID HE HAD HID HIS SEXUALY FOR A WHILE WHEN HE ARRIVED 2013. THE POLICY HAD END, BUT HE FEARED REPERCSNS. EVENTUALLY, SENSG THE DIFFERENCE, HE TOOK THE PLUNGE AND NEVER REGRETTED . “I E OM GEIA AND I WAS KD OF PROJECTG HOW PEOPLE HAD TREATED ME,” HE SAID.SIMS EXPRSED AMAZEMENT AT THE CHANGE HE’S WNSED A SGLE YEAR. AT LAST YEAR’S SPECTM BANQUET, NEARLY EVERY SPEAKER TALKED ABOUT THEIR STGGL UNR “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL,” HE SAID. THIS YEAR, WAS ABOUT THE EASE OF ACCEPTANCE—MOST TS WERE NEVER REQUIRED TO CEIVE. “THAT TIME IS BEHD ,” HE SAID.MOST POPULARTHE CAST OF OPPENHEIMER AND THE REAL PEOPLE THEY PLAYBY HILLARY BISSOUND OF FREEDOM: THE WILD TE STORY BEHD 2023’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL FILMBY EVE BATEYTHAT SOUND YOU HEAR IS DONALD TMP SCREAMG, CRYG, AND THROWG UP A MAR-A-LAGO BATHROOMBY BS LEVSIMS RELAYED A NVERSATN HE’D JT HAD WH A STRAIGHT LONEL WHO HAD LIVED THROUGH THE POLICY. THE LONEL SAID HE’D KNOWN OF GAYS HIS UNS OVER THE YEARS, BUT THEY ALWAYS HAD TO LIE. THIS MARCH, HE HAD ASKED A T ABOUT HIS SPRG BREAK PLANS, AND THE GUY NONCHALANTLY RPOND, “I’M GOG TO SPA WH MY BOYIEND.” DIDN’T EVEN PSE TO WORRY ABOUT .PROFSOR AARON BELK ACCEPTED THE LEARSHIP AWARD FOR HIS PIVOTAL ROLE OVERTURNG “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL.” BELK IS THE FOUNDG DIRECTOR OF THE PALM CENTER, A THK TANK DITED TO PROMOTG ACCEPTANCE OF GAYS THE ARY. HE GAVE THE TS A SENSE OF JT HOW FAR THEY HAD E. HE SCRIBED A OF SPEECH AT DOZENS OF ARY BAS, WHERE ONE TY MOMENT ON THAT VERY MP STOOD OUT. AFTER HE GAVE A SPEECH AT WT POT AROUND 2003, ONE T WAED FOR EVERYONE ELSE TO FILE OUT. ONLY WHEN WAS SAFE DID THE T APPROACH BELK TO SAY, “THANK YOU FOR YOUR WORK, SIR.” THEN HE TURNED AND LEFT.“THAT WAS THE EXTENT HE FELT SAFE MUNITG WH ME,” BELK SAID.THERE WERE PLENTY OF HAPPY L.G.B. TS AT THE CEREMONY, BUT ALL THE TS WERE OLR. TRANSGENRS ARE STILL BANNED OM THE U.S. ARY—OR SO THE ARY THKS. THE HEALTHY SHOWG OF TRANS ALUMNI PROVED THAT THEY HAVE BEEN SERVG SECRET FOR YEARS.ACTIVIST ALLYSON ROBSON, A 1994 GRADUATE WHO SERVED AS AN OFFICER THE AIR DEFENSE ARTILLERY BEFORE TRANSNG, STOOD UP TO ACCEPT THE COURAGE AWARD, BTOWED ON DIVIDUALS WHO “CHOOSE THE HARR RIGHT OVER THE EASIER WRONG.” (IT’S A LE PARAPHRASED OM THE WT POT CAT PRAYER—NICE TOUCH.) ROBSON WAS ACPANIED BY HER WIFE AND WT POT CLASSMATE, DANYELLE, WH WHOM SHE HAS FOUR CHILDREN.A REARCH STUTE RECENTLY TIMATED THAT 15,500 TRANSGENR PEOPLE ARE SERVG THE U.S. ARY RIGHT NOW. DEFENSE SECRETARY ASH CARTER RAISED EYEBROWS FEBARY WHEN HE SAID HE’S “OPEN-MD” WHEN TO LIFTG THE BAN ON TRANSGENR SOLDIERS. BUT A PENTAGON SPOKMAN LATER SAID THERE IS NO “SPECIFIC REVIEW” UNR NSIRATN TO END THE BAN. LAST WEEK, OBAMA CELEBRATED GAY PRI AT THE WHE HOE, AND VED TWO ACTIVE TRANS SERVICE MEMBERS AND FOUR TRANS VETS—A FIRST.AT THE WT POT EVENT, PROFSOR BELK SAID THE PALM CENTER IS NOW TURNG S ATTENTN TO DISMANTLG THE TELLECTUAL UNRPNGS OF THE TRANSGENR BAN. “DON’T ASK, DON’T TELL” WAS BASED ON THE MYTH THAT GAYS WOULD STROY UN HN, SO OVERTURNG REQUIRED NVCG KEY GENERALS OTHERWISE, BELK SAID. NOW THE CENTER IS HAMMERG AWAY AT THE NOTN THAT TRANSGENRS ARE SOMEHOW MEDILLY UNF. HE SAID HIS TEAM RECENTLY PERSUAD A FORMER U.S. SURGEON GENERAL TO SIGN ON TO A STUDY REFUTG THE CLAIM.IT SURE FELT WELG AT THE BANQUET, BUT I HAD TO WONR HOW GAY-AFFIRMG WAS OUTSI THE BUBBLE OF THAT HALL. WHAT WAS LIKE THE BARS? I DIDN’T HAVE TO WA LONG. ABOUT HALF THE ATTEN, AND MOST OF THE TS, HEAD STRAIGHT TO PATTON’S TAVERN, A BAR RIGHT ON MP. IT WAS SATURDAY NIGHT, AND THE PLACE WAS THUMPG.NOBODY SEEMED TO NOTICE WHEN A HERD OF L.G.B.T.S SCEND. THE BEER FLOWED, THE ENERGY WAS HIGH, AND THE NVERSATN GOT RACY. SOLDIERS MAKG SEX JOK, WHAT A SURPRISE. IT WAS A SMALLISH PLACE, PACKED CLOSE, AND I ULD EASILY OVERHEAR NVERSATNS ALL AROUND . THEY ULD CLEARLY HEAR , CLEARLY TELL WE WERE GAY. AND NOBODY RED. WE DRANK FOR A UPLE HOURS, AND I KEPT AN EYE ON THE CROWDS AROUND THE WHOLE TIME. NO SIGN OF REVULSN, NOT EVEN A RAISED EYEBROW OR CUR STARE. COMPLETE DIFFERENCE. IT FELT WONRFUL.DAVE CULLEN

”He talked about his iends and didn’t say any “gay sh*t” about him. He also mentned that he “a’t got nothg agast the gay people.

U.S. AIR FORCE AMY GRADUAT FIRST OPENLY GAY CATS (VIDEO)

In a sea of nned cktails, Gay Water wants to stand out.

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

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. “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.

KG LIL JAY SLAMS GAY MORS AFTER VIO OF MAT KISSG PROMPTS TROLLS’ RPONSE

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.”.

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

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. “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.

How I Met Your Father star Hilary Duff recently learned somethg that queer gals of a certa age have known sce 2002: that her Disney Channel Origal Movie Cat Kelly was high-key gay. Kev Maxen has bee the first male ach a US men’s profsnal sports league to e out as gay.

KG LIL JAY SLAMS GAY MORS AFTER VIO OF MAT KISSG PROMPTS TROLLS’ RPONSE

Per Outsports, as of September 2022, there have only ever been 16 players NFL history to publicly e out as gay or bisexual.