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

Contents:

• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT
• JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY
• JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY

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

Kyle EllttCareer ach and member of the Gay Coach AllianceI texted my parents my senr year of high school g out, and they were overwhelmgly supportive. Then, when I was between my hman and sophomore years of llege, I roomed wh someone who was out and queer and, well, we were girliends jt a uple of weeks. After that, was easy to tell people I was gay.

JAGUARS ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY HISTORIC ANNOUNCEMENT

Iran is not acceptg of LGBTQ people, and 's very dangero to be gay Iran. S., where beg gay was safer than Iran, I realized I didn't have to lie about who I was, so I me out to my mom. After tellg her, she locked herself our apartment and threatened suici unls I stopped beg gay.

Askg for advice on havg a gay son. She feared judgment om our muny, but more than anythg, she feared for my safety and the challeng I would face as a gay man. I remember a time when I wanted to go to this big gay Halloween party.

Urty of GurzaJP BrammerAuthor of Hola Papi: How to Come Out a Walmart Parkg Lot and Other Life Lsons“I remember when I me out to my nt, whom I’ve always been close to, I said, “Auntie, I thk I’m gay. Even though we lived Massachetts, which is a liberal state, this was the early 2000s, so still wasn't like is now that people are more ted and everyone seems to know somebody who's gay or a celebry who's nonbary.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS ASSISTANT STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT PUBLICLY AS GAY

My mother’s homophobia was one of the reasons I waed to e out. Every time my mother would see a gay woman, she would say, “if one of my children be like that, I’ll kill them. Growg up, I thought if I got married and had a baby, I wouldn’t have to tell my mother that I was gay and uld be normal.

No one ever said anythg about women likg women beg bad specifilly but I fely heard anti-gay rhetoric om some fay so I never said anythg. Years later, bothered me how men would stigmatize gay men but sexualize gay later, bothered me how men would stigmatize gay men but sexualize gay women and I got a ltle more open wh my sexualy but wouldn’t say I was bi.

JAGUARS ASSOCIATE STRENGTH ACH KEV MAXEN OUT AS GAY

However, my “nephew” (an olr ’s son) was batg g out and so sred bee of a lot of the anti-gay and bigoted rhetoric he had heard around him, his fay and the media. Then, last summer havg a lot of nversatns around BLM and anti-racism and bigotry, my maternal grandmother ed gay slurs and I let her know was unacceptable and that she shouldn’t speak that way as a Christian and havg a gay granddghter.

My mom approached me, askg about me beg gay and how she didn’t know. But I wasn’t out to any of my guy iends at all, bee I wanted my inty to be the metalhead, the funny guy, not the gay guy. I would go out at the gay clubs or dtrial metal goth shows (where all the guys are wearg more makp than the girls anyway), but wasn’t my day-to-day realy.

After I graduated and got my first job as a reporter, I me out as gay to my edor, but I knew that where I lived and worked, beg gay and beg trans were two different thgs. Getty ImagThe actor, who is bt known for playg Will Byers Netflix's credibly popular sci-fi thriller seri Stranger Thgs, publicly me out as gay a January the viral 'You know what never was? That ser' d on the popular app, Schnapp ptned the post: "When I fally told my iends and fay I was gay after beg sred the closet for 18 years and all they said was 'we know.