Charles Barkley On Gay Athletes

"First of all, every player has played with gay guys. It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say, ‘Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.’ First of all, quit telling me what I think. I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play. Any professional athlete who gets on TV or radio and says he never played with a gay guy is a stone-freakin’ idiot. I would even say the same thing in college. Every college player, every pro player in any sport has probably played with a gay person. They always try to make it like jocks discriminate against gay people. I’ve been a big proponent of gay marriage for a long time, because as a black person, I can’t be in for any form of discrimination at all." - Retired NBA star Charles Barkley.

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."

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

Mickey Rourke As Gareth Thomas?

According to British tabloid The Sun, Mickey Rourke has signed on to play Welsh rugby star Gareth Thomas in a movie about the newly out national sports hero.

The two met for dinner last week after Rourke had been a guest on Jonathan Ross' last BBC chat show. Their managers are now trying to work out a deal to make a movie based on the life of Wales's most-capped rugby union international. Oscar-nominated Rourke, 57 - a former boxer - is believed to have wanted to do a film about rugby for some time. But he did not have a suitable story until he read about full-back Thomas. Thomas, 35 - who last year became the first rugby union player to reveal he was gay - has since switched codes to play for Wrexham-based league side Crusaders.

Rourke is way too old to play Gareth Thomas.

(Via - The Advocate)

Rugby Club Fined After Fans Taunt Gareth Thomas With Homophobic Chants

A British rugby team has been fined £40,000 after its fans taunted openly gay star Gareth Thomas with homophobic chants.

The Yorkshire club was punished by the Rugby Football League (RFL) for the abuse Thomas received from its supporters at a March 26th match against the Crusaders. A statement from the RFL said: "Castleford were found guilty of unacceptable behaviour, of breaching the RFL's respect policy, of misconduct by their supporters and of conduct prejudicial to the interests of the sport. "The tribunal was chaired by his Honour Judge Rodney Grant, who criticised the club for failing to take steps to stop the homophobic chanting, for failing to identify the perpetrators, for failing to challenge the chanting and for their failure to undertake a meaningful inquiry afterwards." The March game was Thomas' second for the Crusaders after he switched from rugby union to rugby league.

The team is expected to appeal the fine.

AUSTRALIA: Footballer Gets Home Egged For Saying Gays Should Stay In The Closet

Last week straight Australian football star Jason Akermanis got a lot of negative reaction from gay groups when he wrote a newspaper column telling gay athletes to stay in the closet. Yesterday he had his car and home egged.

Jason Akermanis, who suggested in his column that the world of Australian football wasn't ready for openly gay men, said it was terrifying to have missiles thrown in the darkness at his house and car, the Herald Sun reported. "I'm not happy and I didn't get a wink of sleep after it happened," Akermanis said. "It was pretty terrifying, to be honest, to hear all that noise coming because it's such a quiet neighbourhood we live in." It's the second time in a month the Western Bulldogs footballer has been egged. Akermanis, whose comments in the Herald Sun on homosexual footballers sparked a controversy last week, said about 20 eggs had been thrown. He said his comments could have provoked the latest attack, but he was not sure.

Akermanis had written: "I believe the world of AFL (Australian Football League) footy is not ready for it. To come out is unnecessary for a lot of reasons. Football clubs are very different environments. Locker room nudity is an everyday part of our lives and unlike any other work place. I believe it would cause discomfort in that environment should someone declare himself gay." Akermanis says that he is not anti-gay.

(Tipped by JMG reader Jonny in Sydney)

Johnny Weir Speaks At Equality California

Olympian Johnny Weir spoke an event for Equality California on Sunday. He refers to "this community, us, our people" but still hasn't formally come out.

Olympic Equestrian Medalist Charged With Failure To Disclose HIV+ Status To Partner

Olympic equestrian medalist Darren Chiacchia has been charged under Florida's rarely-used law against failing to disclose HIV+ status to sex partners. Chiacchia's former boyfriend notified the police after finding personal medical documents in his home.

Mr. Chiacchia, who pleaded not guilty in February, faces up to 30 years in prison under a Florida law passed in 1997 that makes it a felony for people with H.I.V. to have sexual intercourse without informing their partners of their condition. His trial is scheduled to begin in June, his lawyer said. Florida is one of at least 32 states nationwide that have criminal statutes specific to H.I.V., many of which date to the height of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s and 1990s, when fear of spreading the disease was at its peak. As the science and treatment of H.I.V. and AIDS have changed considerably in the ensuing decades, fear of infection has subsided. However, the laws remain on the books, and prosecutors continue to enforce them. A recent survey by the Center for H.I.V. Law and Policy documented at least 50 cases nationwide since January 2008. But laws can be unevenly applied, even within a state. Although records show that at least 71 people have been arrested under Florida’s H.I.V. law since it was enacted, Mr. Chiacchia is believed to be the first in his five-county region to be prosecuted under the law, said the assistant state attorney handling the case.

Many HIV/AIDS activists oppose the notification laws on several grounds, including that it may deter people from learning their own status. In some of the prosecuted cases, those charged have claimed that they did indeed inform their partners and that their arrests were vindictive retribution for having been dumped.

In Chiacchia's case however, phone and email records indicate that he did purposely withhold his status. Chiacchia won the bronze medal for the United States at the 2004 Olympics in Athens. In 2008 a brutal fall from his horse put him in an a long coma and ended his career, leaving him with a severe brain injury affecting his memory. It's not yet known if his lawyers will use his brain injury in his defense.