Friendly Voices - Ron Darling

"I don't think we're there yet, and I think that is sad. But it is going to happen. It is going to take one of the great players to come out. At some point, one of our athletes is going to reveal that he is gay, and I think that will be a joyous moment - not only for gays and lesbians, but for all of us." - Retired New York Met and current sportscaster Ron Darling, speaking on when a currently-playing major league athlete might come out. Darling tells the Daily News that he's "joyous" over the passage of marriage equality.

TRAILER: PBS' Out In America

Airing this Wednesday at 8pm nationwide.

TRAILER: Beginners

Subtitle: "A son's love letter to his gay father." Based on the filmmaker's real life story. It looks wonderful.

COMING OUT: New York Times Launches Interactive Series On LGBT Youth

The New York Times has launched a new series in which LGBT youth tell their stories. Hit the link, this looks pretty cool.

HomoQuotable - Jared Max

"Are we ready to have our sports information delivered by someone who is gay? We're going to find out. Because for the last 16 years I've been living a free life among all my close friends and family. But I've been living behind what is a gargantuan size secret in the sports world. I am gay. Yeah, Jared Max, the sports guy with one of the most familiar voices in New York sports isn't quite like the majority." - Veteran NYC sports radio announcer Jared Max, speaking yesterday to his audience on ESPN 1050 AM.

(Via - Gothamist)

UPDATE: Listen to Jared Max's announcement.

Phoenix Suns President On Coming Out

Don Lemon On Coming Out

Phoenix Suns President Comes Out

The president of the Phoenix Suns NBA franchise has come out. Rick Welts is the first such professional sports leader to publicly declare his gayness.

Welts talked separately to NBA commissioner David Stern, Suns guard Steve Nash, Hall of Famer Bill Russell and founding WNBA president Val Ackerman to discuss the message he wished to convey in making his sexual orientation public. The 58-year-old Welts, who began his career as a ball boy for the Seattle SuperSonics, spent several years with Stern in the league office. He was the architect of the All-Star Weekend and helped raise the NBA's profile before leaving for the Suns' front office. Stern was not taken aback or even surprised by the conversation, though he did assume beforehand that Welts had wanted to meet to discuss career advice, according to The Times. "What I didn't say at the time was: I think there's a good chance the world will find this unremarkable," Stern told The Times. "I don't know if I was confusing my thoughts with my hopes."

CNN Anchor Don Lemon Comes Out

CNN anchor Don Lemon has come out. Lemon made the revelation in his coming book, Transparent.

Mr. Lemon has not made a secret of his sexual orientation in his work life; many of his CNN co-workers and managers have long been aware that he is gay. But he still acknowledged that going public in his book carries certain risks. “I’m scared,” he said in a telephone interview. “I’m talking about something that people might shun me for, ostracize me for.” Even beyond whatever effect his revelation might have on his television career, Mr. Lemon said he recognized this step carried special risk for him as a black man. “It’s quite different for an African-American male,” he said. “It’s about the worst thing you can be in black culture. You’re taught you have to be a man; you have to be masculine. In the black community they think you can pray the gay away.” He said he believed the negative reaction to male homosexuality had to do with the history of discrimination that still affects many black Americans, as well as the attitudes of some black women.

When the Bishop Eddie Long scandal first broke last fall, Lemon startled viewers by acknowledging that he had been molested as a child.

Gay Mormon Contestant Comes Out To Father On The Voice

"My father does not know that I'm gay. I haven't actually told him yet. I guess he knows NOW."

CNN Asks: Should Gay Teachers Come Out In Their Classrooms?

Clip description:

Coming out of the closet at work is difficult, but when your job involves children, being openly gay can be even tougher. Steve Perry talks with Tom Greene (Chapel Hill High School), Robert McGarry (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network) & Danielle Riley (Jordan High School).

I'm told that Tom Greene, the North Carolina history teacher profiled below, is a JMG regular.

Maddow: Gay Anchors Should Come Out

"I'm sure other people in the business have considered reasons why they're doing what they're doing, but I do think that if you're gay you have a responsibility to come out." - Rachel Maddow, in a profile by the UK's Guardian.

Whoever could she be talking about?

The Trailblazer Campaign

Matthew Rettenmund reports at Boy Culture:

Duke Mason is the son of Morgan Mason, who served in Ronald Reagan's State Department, and singer Belinda Carlisle, as well as the grandson of film star James Mason. But he's also a vocal proponent of LGBT rights—and he's not letting his acting aspirations silence his advocacy. Mason has founded the Trailblazer Campaign. Modeled after It Gets Better, Trailblazer's goal is to help Hollywood come out of the closet—and it's about fucking time!). With videos coming from Chad Allen, David Moretti, Perez Hilton, Mike Manning and Sandra Bernhard, he's off to a good start.

The Verizon Guy Comes Out

Now that the long run of Verizon's "Can You Hear Me Now?" campaign is over, actor Paul Marcarelli has come out and is talking about the anti-gay abuse he endured while playing the character known as Test Man.

Marcarelli has a home in Guilford, Connecticut, and five summers ago, kids in an SUV began driving past at night, yelling, “Can you hear me now?” Later, says Marcarelli, “they started screaming ‘faggot’ up at my house. It got progressively more profane as the years went by.” One night, it happened while some friends were over, and he decided to call the police. “As soon as I hung up the phone,” he says, “I realized that in order for them to do anything about it, it would have to become a report that would go into a police log.” Worried about the publicity—and the questions that might ensue if it came out that the actor playing Test Man was gay—he declined to file a report.

Marcarelli has produced and written a film titled The Green, which "centers on how a small town slowly turns against a gay couple when one of the men, a schoolteacher, gets ensnared in scandal." His movie is currently being pitched to film festivals.

SWEDEN: Soccer Star Comes Out

Swedish soccer star Anton Hysen, 20, has come out. I missed this story when it first broke last week, but this morning a JMG reader in Sweden tips us to today's story in Britain's tabloid, The Sun.

Anton Hysen was a professional footballer dating a supermodel. Hardly a trail-blazing story, the son of former Liverpool star and Swedish heart-throb Glenn Hysen merely appeared to be a chip off the old block. Yet the youngster ended the relationship with this stunning woman after finally confronting the fact he is gay. Hysen, 20, has displayed enormous courage by making his sexuality public and is only the second professional footballer in Europe to do so after Justin Fashanu in 1990. England cricketer Steve Davies and rugby star Gareth Thomas are the only other prominent British sportsmen to come out, as the wait continues for a Premier League or Football League player to break this sporting taboo. Former Swedish Under-17 international Hysen plays for Utsiktens, the fourth-tier team managed by his dad. And he insists the reaction to his news has been extremely supportive. He said: "I have so many reasons to be positive about the situation."

Hysen's soccer coach father was accused of homophobia in a 2001 incident in which he punched a man he said came on to him in an airport restroom. Several years later the elder Hysen spoke at a Stockholm pride festival, encouraging young athletes to come out and leading the younger Hysen to suspect that his dad knew about him by then. Anton Hysen on his own ephiphany: "When you consider dumping a supermodel, you know you are gay."

MARYLAND: House Delegate Comes Out In Advance Of Marriage Equality Vote

Maryland's House of Delgates today has seven openly gay members as Del. Peter Murphy comes out to the Washington Blade.

Del. Peter Murphy (D-Charles County), a divorced father of two who also has two grandchildren, said his colleagues and family have known for years that he is gay. “I have never denied [being gay],” Murphy said, “I just presumed people knew.” [snip] Murphy said he’s confident the marriage equality bill will pass later this week, possibly in a final vote on Friday. “As I have said all along, I think it’s a strong civil rights bill,” Murphy said. “I think it’s a fair bill because it also addresses the religious issue and doesn’t require any religious organization to practice something that goes against their teachings.”

Including one state senator, Maryland has more openly gay legislators than any other state.

RELATED: Openly gay Maryland Delegate and JMG reader Luke Clippinger writes us this morning with a recap of what we can expect today.

Here's the big picture - the bill is on second reading today. There will be a number of amendments offered to the bill today and tomorrow - any amendments that pass will require that the bill will need to go back to the Senate, presuming the bill then passes the House. Throughout the day there will also be a number of procedural votes regarding rulings of the chair. There is not normally a vote to "pass" the bill on second reader. After the amendments are offered on second reader, the bill is printed and moves to third reader. Then, further amendments may be offered, followed by the final vote.

BRITAIN: Gay Cricket Star Steve Davies Talks To CNN About Coming Out

BRITAIN: Cricket Star Comes Out

Britain now has its first openly gay cricket star.

England wicketkeeper Steve Davies has revealed he is gay, becoming the country's first top cricketer to come out. Davies has played eight one-day internationals and five Twenty20 matches for England and was a member of the victorious Ashes squad as back-up gloveman to Matt Prior. Welsh rugby international Gareth Thomas, former NBA player John Amaechi and the late footballer Justin Fashanu are the only other high-profile British sports stars to have come out. Davies told The Sun: "I'm comfortable with who I am and happy to say who I am in public. To speak out is a massive relief for me, but if I can just help one person to deal with their sexuality then that's all I care about.

Davies says he was inspired to come out by rugby star Gareth Thomas, who has issued a message of support.

Pastor Sean McDowell: Parents Who Accept Gay Kids Make A "Costly Mistake"

Never heard of this guy before, but he and his father are apparently well known evangelists. Reactions to this clip are here, here, and here.

Coming Out Begins At Home

Via Copyranter, the above is an ad from the National Association Of GLBT In Israel.