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Just as Jason Collins, a veteran NBA player, announced he is gay, a hall of fame for gay athletes and allies launched in Chicago. The nonprofit National Gay & Lesbian Sports Hall of Fame will accept nominees beginning this summer. Its goal is to honor people and organizations that have "stood up to stereotypes" and embraced gay and lesbian athletes, said Bill Gubrud, executive director and board chairman.

The first openly gay man in a major American team sport may turn out to be former Middle Tennessee State kicker Alan Gendreau, who hopes to get a shot at the NFL this year. And, if he’s successful, that could translate into millions of dollars in endorsements and speaking engagements, experts say. Whether it’s the Sun Belt Conference’s leading scorer or someone else, the athlete who makes sports history by coming out will likely be sought after by companies that want to appeal to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender population, whose annual buying power last year was estimated at...

While the equality treadmill under most of our feet is moving at a high rate of speed, I would imagine this journey is not traveling fast enough for many Americans whose lives are directly impacted by the possibility of change. Consider tennis hall of famer Billie Jean King, who was outed in 1981 when her relationship with another woman became public, and Greg Louganis, the four-time Olympic gold medal-winning American diver, who came out some seven years after King. With more than 55 years combined of public scrutiny of their sexuality, the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),...

The Boy Scouts of America on Friday moved to partially lift its long-standing ban on gays, with a decision that would allow openly gay youth members but continue to bar gay adults in one of the largest youth serving organizations in America. If the resolution is approved in a nationwide vote in May, "no youth may be denied membership in the Boy Scouts of America on the basis of sexual orientation or preference alone," Deron Smith, the organization´s spokesman, told Reuters. The report found religious groups linked to the Scouts were concerned with homosexual adult leaders not with youth

According to a new poll by Conservative Intel, 60 percent of likely voters who live in states that haven’t allowed gay marriage want to keep it that way. We asked the entire sample of 2,375 likely voters, “Do you support or oppose a measure defining marriage as between one man and one woman?” The result was 60 percent in favor. Sixty-five percent of people in states that don’t recognize same-sex marriage say they would support such a measure. In states where same-sex marriage is legal, the result was tied, 45 percent in favor to 45 percent against.

Michigan Republican National Committeeman Dave Agema, who caused a stir last month when he posted an article to his Facebook page that labeled the homosexual lifestyle as “filthy,” is now comparing homosexuality to alcoholism and says it leads to drug abuse.

With growing expectations in recent weeks that a gay male athlete for a major professional sports team in the United States will soon come out publicly for the first time, the leagues have begun exploring ways to accommodate and respond to such a landmark announcement.

Russia does not discriminate against homosexuals, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters in Amsterdam on Monday where he was greeted by gay rights and other activists critical of Russia's track record. "In the Russian Federation - so that it is clear to everybody - there is no infringement on the rights of sexual minorities," Putin told a press conference. "These people...enjoy all the same rights and freedoms as everyone else."

One of the gun-grabbing members of Michael Bloomberg’s organization, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, recently found himself trying to lure a man into a sexual encounter through the liberal use of alcohol. When the charm and alcohol didn’t do the trick, James ‘Jay’ Schiliro (R) decided to go a different route – firing a handgun into a wall in an attempt at intimidation. The mayor who, as the title suggests, is against illegal guns, was forced to hand over his firearm collection, and has been charged with several crimes. - See more at: http://menrec.com/unreal-one-of-bloombergs-mayors-against-illegal-guns-arrested-for-trying-to-force-man-to-have-sex-with-him-at-gunpoint/#sthash.CvXYsZQs.dpuf

For Sam Rohrer, the debate on same-sex marriage comes down to an unwavering Biblical outlook on the world. Sam Rohrer, president, Pennsylvania Pastors Network Patriot-News file photo, 2010 Rohrer, a former nine-term Republican state representative and now president of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network, believes political leaders who support gay marriage are shirking a sworn duty to uphold “God’s moral and natural law.” “The concept of what is important and what is to be protected by government arises from the clear concept that those rights and standards and values emanate from God, not government,” Rohrer said. “Government’s responsibility is to protect...

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski said he would be accepting of a gay teammate. "I got this question before, about a year ago, and I basically will say the same answer that I did a year ago," he said Wednesday in an interview with Stephen A. Smith and Ryan Ruocco on ESPN Radio New York, when asked how the Patriots' locker room would receive an openly gay player. "You've got to accept the player. Everyone has their own ways to live their life and as long as he's respecting me, keeping distance, respecting myself, I'll respect him back....

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) - Organizers of Tuesday's "Celebration of Marriage" at Utah's Capitol Hill got a much larger crowd than they probably expected. The evening was intended to celebrate traditional family. While that did happen, people who attended were surrounded by hundreds gay rights activists. Tuesday's celebration of traditional family marriage had everything: the Osmonds, the Governor, and hundreds of gay rights party crashers. Needless to say it was not what traditional family supporters expected. "Do you think it makes this thing tense?" asked Reporter Brian Carlson. "In some ways yes, in some ways no," said Claus...

The kids these days on the right are full of a great libertarian notion that “hey, let’s just get the government out of marriage.” “Rock on,” say other libertarians.They then all smugly self-congratulate themselves, pat themselves on the back, and move on to other issues.What they ignore is that the left will never take marriage out of the hands of the government. The left cannot. But it goes beyond that. The left cannot take marriage out of government because for so long it has been government through which marriages were legitimized to the public and the left must also use...

Now that Senate Democrats have passed their first budget in four years, Washington is turning its attention away from fiscal issues this week and towards social ones. President Obama devoted his weekly radio and internet address Saturday to pushing for more gun control in response to the mass killing in Newton, Connecticut last year. “As a nation, the last three months have changed us,” Obama said. “You – the American people – have spoken. You’ve made it clear that it’s time to do something.” Specifically, Obama called for more background checks and an assault weapon ban. Aides told the Associated...

In West Hollywood, Pope Francis' Stand On Gays Is Unimpressive March 14, 2013 For Giancarlo Urey, a 29-year-old lawyer who spent the day in West Hollywood when Pope Francis was named to the papacy, the new leader's anti-gay stance is not a good sign. Like his predecessor in the Vatican, Francis is equally committed to conservative, traditional doctrine, people who know him say, a sensibility fostered in part by his theological studies in Germany. He was a staunch opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage, issues that an increasingly secular Argentina has embraced. He once said allowing gay couples to adopt...

American Indian Tribe OKs Same-Sex Marriage, Lets Gay Couple Wed March 15, 2013 in Harbor Springs, Mich. Tribal Chairman Dexter McNamara, center, officiated during the wedding after signing a measure approved by the tribal council that allows same-sex marriages on the reservation. By Miranda Leitsinger. The head of an American Indian tribe in Michigan signed a law approving same-sex marriage on Friday, joining at least two other tribes nationwide in doing so, then immediately wed a gay couple who had been together for 30 years but never thought they would see this day come. Dexter McNamara, chairman of the 4,600-member...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman urged the NFL on Thursday to investigate whether possible draft picks were improperly asked about their sexual orientation during the league's combine, which he said would be illegal in New York. "We ask that the league immediately issue a statement that any form of discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation by league teams or players against potential recruits or players constitutes a violation of state, local and, in some cases, contractor law and will not be tolerated," Schneiderman said in a letter dated Thursday and released to news...

Abstract Text: DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant: Sexual Orientation and Obesity: Test of a Gendered Biopsychosocial Model Obesity is one of the most critical public health issues affecting the U.S. today. Racial and socioeconomic disparities in the determinants, distribution, and consequences of obesity are receiving increasing attention; however, one area that is only beginning to be recognized is the striking interplay of gender and sexual orientation in obesity disparities. It is now well-established that women of minority sexual orientation are disproportionately affected by the obesity epidemic, with nearly three-quarters of adult lesbians overweight or obese, compared to half of heterosexual women....

Former Chicago Bears quarterback Jim Miller cited religion Tuesday in arguing that an openly gay player would not be welcomed in NFL locker rooms. “There are some religions that are just not going to accept a gay individual in the locker room,” Miller told "The McNeil and Spiegel Show" on WSCR-AM 670. “So now, are you as an organization going to bring that element into your locker room and think everything is going to be OK?

Well, I guess if you can redefine the definition of marriage, you can also redefine the definition of "objective newspaper." This hilariously obtuse piece of reasoning comes from the Washington Post's soon-to-be "inefficiencied" ombudsman, Patrick Pexton, and a Post reporter, who, for some odd reason, doesn't wish to be named. This so-called reporter, Pexton, and a reader entered into a three-way email debate over the issue of how the Post reports on the issue of same-sex marriage. The reader, a social conservative, is tired of seeing his beliefs described (in an "objective" newspaper, mind you) as bigoted and hateful. He...