Let's Celebrate the NBA and Its Effort to Be More LGBT Inclusive
This Sunday, millions of basketball fans will join together in homes, bars and public spaces to watch the NBA’s annual All-Star Game, celebrating the league’s finest players like LeBron James and Kevin Durant. While these might be some of the biggest success stories out of the league, perhaps it’s time to pause and celebrate the league itself for its efforts to create a more inclusive environment for LBGT players and fans.

We know that homophobia in sports has deep roots and is an issue that requires systemic change. Though it may seem obvious, we must continue proactively educating athletes about why LGBT respect and inclusion matters. The NBA has been a leader in this practice; in fact, it was the first professional sports league to provide its rookies with LGBT-specific training and resources in partnership with Athlete Ally– a non-profit I founded which works every day to foster inclusive sports communities. Other leagues are taking on this mantle as well. The WNBA, the MLB and the NFL are providing LGBT resources to their rookies and are trying to build a culture of acceptance by recruiting inclusion educators to support individual teams.

While important, education alone cannot end homophobia. Policies must protect LGBT athletes from discrimination and harassment. In 2011, the NBA added a non-discrimination policy that covers sexual orientation as part of its collective bargaining agreement. The NBA walks the walk, too. They were the first to issue reactive fines to players that make homophobic slurs – a blanket $50,000 fine levied on players who use anti-LGBT oppressive language. Other leagues should strive to be so progressive.

With viewership for professional sports continuing to rise, we have an opportunity to leverage these broadcasts to promote LGBT inclusion and diversity practices. We can make great contributions to ending homophobia in sports and supporting broader LGBT acceptance. We can reach the young athletes who might be afraid to stand up and be proud of themselves.

As a long-time basketball fan, I am not only proud of my favorite team and players, but I am also proud of the progress the NBA has made in championing LGBT respect and inclusion. It’s no surprise that when Jason Collins came out in 2013, it was met with widespread support from the NBA and his peers. While cheering on Sunday, I’ll be ever mindful of how far we have come – since Jason first felt comfortable to come out. We must take time to celebrate the progress so far. To achieve real change, we will be relentless in our drive toward more action with a laser focus.

Hudson Taylor is a wrestling coach and a prominent straight ally and LGBT rights activist. He is the founder and executive director of Athlete Ally, an organization that works to foster inclusive sports communities.

www.huffingtonpost.com/hudson-taylor/lets-celebrate-the-nba-and-its-effort-to-be-more-lgbt-inclusive_b_6684866.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Comic Solomon Georgio Explains Why He Gave Up Being Openly Gay for MLK Day: VIDEO

Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/gay-ethiopian-comic-solomon-georgio-tackles-war-famine-and-pocahontas-on-conan-video.html

50 Shades Of Gay Grey: The Ultimate Guide To The Man-Loving Silver Fox

Sean Mandell

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/50shadesofgaygrey.html

Arkansas Passes Ban on Discrimination Bans

The new law will prevent local governments from enacting or enforcing LGBT-inclusive antidiscrimination measures. Legislators also advanced a ‘license to discriminate’ bill regarding business operators.

read more

Trudy Ring

www.advocate.com/politics/2015/02/14/arkansas-passes-ban-discrimination-bans

Towleroad Reader Travel Survey: Miami and Fort Lauderdale

Andy Towle

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/towleroad-reader-travel-survey-miami-and-fort-lauderdale.html

Psychic Snow, Coming-Of-Consciousness Queer Party, To Hit Brooklyn Tonight
It’s that time of the year again. Tonight one of our favorite queer parties will return to transport us away from the icy terrain of New York City to a higher spiritual plane: Psychic Snow.

What initially started as a one-off party event has turned into a Brooklyn queer art and performance institution for promoters David Sokolowski and Paul Leopold. The seasonal Psychic party series has evolved into a unique fusion of art, performance, music and spiritual/physical release for queers to come together four times a year in a new practice in queer community culture.

For tonight’s Psychic Snow, Sokolowski and Leopold are bringing in Mark Dommu of The Culture Whore in order to add further nuance to the visual, performance and installation art aspects of the Psychic party series.

“Psychic parties are visceral adventures into the power of community,” Leopold told The Huffington Post. “The warmth we create when we gather close together on a winter’s night fuels the spiritual fire that inspires our dreams. Party goers can expect a symphony of house music, tarot readers, masseurs, video projections and a theatrical ritual that will shower the audience in love.”

In conjunction with further emphasis on the visual aspects of the Psychic Snow party, organizers plan on sending attendees into sensory overload with on-site masseurs and tarot card reading. At a time of year where life in the metropolis can feel bleak, trying and depressing, the importance of healing, community-focused events such as the Psychic party series cannot be overremphasized.

“It’s hard not to feel bleak this time of year, it’s part of the cycle — these are the dead months,” Dommu elaborated. “Thankfully, we have all these living, breathing, beautiful queers who love to come together and create these temporary sacred spaces where we can be together, warm our bodies and hearts, and dance until Spring comes.”

The Psychic party series just completed it’s first full cycle, having successfully sold out 2014’s Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall installations — an impressive feat in an industry where nightlife events can have a short lifespan.

“Since 2013, Psychic has been used as a platform for varying queer art and party scenes to converge, with a strong focus on music,” Sokolowski told The Huffington Post. “In part, the success of Psychic is owed to accommodating our crowd’s wide-range of music preference, while pushing their boundaries at the same time; we generally start with a light, poppy vibe, go into a fun, bassy, bounce scenario, then deeper into an eclectic blend of music from movements spanning decades from across the US.”

In this age of gay marriage where mainstream understandings of queerness are increasingly normalized, parties like the Psychic series serve a valuable purpose: they not only create a safe space for identity exploration and expression, but they also preserve those parts of our queerness that, historically, the world at large tries to erase. We hope the Psychic series continues to evolve and extend it’s influence as a source of cultural production and experiment in queer community culture throughout 2015.

Psychic Snow will take place at 1332 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, New York. Head here for tickets and more information and check out the slideshow below of previous Psychic parties.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/14/psychic-winter-2015_n_6681406.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Happy Valentine’s Day From HRC

Today is a day when we celebrate that all love is equal, regardless of gender or sexual orientation.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/happy-valentines-day-from-hrc1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

Alabama Supreme Court to Consider Liberty Counsel's Petition to Stop Issuance of Same-Sex Marriage Licenses

Kyler Geoffroy

www.towleroad.com/2015/02/alabama-supreme-court-to-consider-liberty-counsels-petition-to-stop-issuance-of-same-sex-marriage-li.html

United Methodist Church Makes Small Step Toward Accepting Same Sex Marriage
The United Methodist Church is taking a small step towards becoming a more welcoming place for LGBT people.

The Connectional Table, a global church body tasked with articulating a vision for the UMC, has supported a proposal that would make sure clergy members aren’t defrocked for officiating same-sex weddings or coming out as gay.

According to United Methodist News, the affirmation taken on Tuesday wasn’t a formal vote. The legislation will be need to be finalized when the Connectional Table meets in May and then approved by the 2016 meeting of the General Conference, the highest lawmaking assembly in the church.

While on the one hand removing punishments for clergy who are supportive of LGBT rights, the proposal also reaffirmed the UMC’s doctrine on homosexuality. The text notes that the church “historically has not condoned the practice of homosexuality and has considered the practice incompatible with Christian teaching.” It also says that the UMC should still be banned from using church funds “to promote the acceptance of homosexuality.”

Rev. Kennetha J. Bigham-Tsai, a Connectional Table member, said the draft proposal highlighted a “third way” for the church to come to an agreement about homosexuality.

“We’ve tried to allow some exercise of conscience, to allow for varying beliefs, to allow for varying practices within different contexts,” she said, “and to open a space for grace where people can live together in unity with their different beliefs.”

With more than seven million members in the United States alone, the UMC has been struggling in recent years to come to an agreement about how to minister to LGBT people. UMC clergy members in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and New York have recently come under fire for officiating at same-sex weddings. In January, the UMC decided not to put a retired bishop on trial for blessing a same-sex union in Birmingham, Alabama.

Methodist minister Rev. Frank Schaefer was defrocked in 2013 for officiating at his son’s wedding. Although he was reinstated in the fall of 2014, he still believes the church has a long way to go in terms of welcoming LGBT people.

Schaefer told The Huffington Post that the Connectional Table’s proposal has the potential to be adopted at the General Conference in 2016. But he couldn’t agree with the idea of a “third way” proposal, since he says it wouldn’t remove “harmful and discriminatory language” that teaches that homosexuality is a sin.

“It was the harmful language… that led my gay son to believe that he is a freak and that there was no place in the church (and in heaven) for him. And since faith was important to him, it thrust him into a spiritual crisis that almost caused him to take his own life. My son is not an exception,” he said. “There are thousands of LGBTQ teens and adults in the United Methodist Church who are being harmed-spiritually abused-in this way even today. We are past the time to compromise.”

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/02/14/united-methodist-church-gay-marriage_n_6680290.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

Ten Great Gay Love Songs To Crack The Toughest Cynic

What better time to celebrate these ten glorious gay love songs than Valentine’s day? And if you’re feeling a little scorned by love these days, don’t worry, they don’t all have happy endings.

Rufus Wainwright – “The Art Teacher”

“He asked us what our favorite work of art was / Never could I tell him it was him.” OK, you got us with that one. This song is technically sung from the perspective of a woman, but Rufus makes it plenty gay. And we love it.

Matt Alber – “Handsome Man”

A handsome man who also brings you coffee, OJ, a cinnamon bun and and almond croissant?! Too much. Where do we sign up?

Sufjan Stevens – “The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!”

Though not explicitly a gay love song, this tune will tug at your nostalgic heart strings with lyrics like “Oh how I meant to tease him / Oh how I meant no harm / Touching his back with my hand I kiss him…I can’t explain the state that I’m in / The state of my heart, he was my best friend / Into the car, from the back seat / Oh admiration in falling asleep.”

Hercules and Love Affair ft. John Grant – “I Try To Talk To You”

Sometimes love is best expressed in interpretive dance.

Sam Smith – “Nirvana”

Sam has spoken publicly about the fact that his Grammy Award-winning album In The Lonely Hour was written post-breakup. But his track “Nirvana” captures some of the good times in spite of impending heartbreak.

Cosmo Jarvis – “Gay Pirates”

Life as a pirate isn’t easy. Life as a gay pirate is even tougher.

R.E.M. – “Be Mine”

If anyone ever wrote us a song like this, it’d be checkmate in one move.

Broken Social Scene – “I’m Still Your Fag”

Here’s a goth-meets-jock love story that is just chock full of tenderness.

Mashrou’ Leila – “Shim El Yasmine”

Out Lebanese singer Hamed Sinno fronts Mashrou’ Leila, and on this track, sings about a past lover he wanted to introduce to his parents. Even without being able to understand the lyrics, it’s a hauntingly beautiful tune.

Indigo Girls – “Power of Two”

The pronouns may be neutral in “Power of Two,” but it’s understood that the song is written about two women. Regardless, it’s a love song worthy of everyone.

Dan Tracer

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