David Denson Becomes First Openly Gay Player On MLB-Affiliated Team

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee Brewers minor leaguer David Denson has become the first openly gay player on a team affiliated with Major League Baseball.

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel said Denson, with the help of former major leaguer Billy Bean, reached out to the newspaper to tell his story.

The 20-year-old first baseman plays for the Helena Brewers in the rookie Pioneer League. Bean, Major League Baseball’s first Ambassador for Inclusion, revealed he is gay after his playing career.

“Talking with my teammates, they gave me the confidence I needed, coming out to them,” Denson told the newspaper. “They said, “You’re still our teammate. You’re still our brother. We kind of had an idea, but your sexuality has nothing to do with your ability. You’re still a ballplayer at the end of the day. We don’t treat you any different. We’ve got your back.’

“That was a giant relief for me. I never wanted to feel like I was forcing it on them. It just happened. The outcome was amazing. It was nice to know my teammates see me for who I am, not my sexuality.”

In June, pitcher Sean Conroy of the Sonoma Stompers of the independent Pacific Association, revealed he is gay. The Pacific Association is not affiliated with Major League Baseball.

Denson was selected by the Brewers in the 15th round in 2013 after playing for South Hills High School in West Covina, California. He spent last season with the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers in the Class A Midwest League, hitting .243 with four homers and 29 RBIs in 68 games. He started this season with Wisconsin, hitting .195 with one homer and eight RBIs in 24 games before being sent to Helena. In 42 games with the Montana team, he’s hitting .245 with four homers and 18 RBIs.

On Saturday night in a doubleheader at Idaho Falls, Denson was 1 for 3 in a 6-1, seven-inning loss and 0 for 5 with an RBI in an 8-7 loss in nine innings.

“It’s a lot to take in right now,” Denson told the Idaho Falls Post-Register. “I’m a ball player first. That’s what I’m focusing on.

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

feeds.huffingtonpost.com/c/35496/f/677065/s/4906fe74/sc/38/l/0L0Shuffingtonpost0N0C20A150C0A80C160Cdavid0Edenson0Egay0Ebaseball0In0I79947260Bhtml0Dutm0Ihp0Iref0Fgay0Evoices0Gir0FGay0KVoices/story01.htm

Civil rights icon and LGBTI ally Julian Bond dies at 75

Julian Bond, a stalwart defender of civil rights, died today (15 August) at the age of 75.

‘With Julian’s passing, the country has lost one of its most passionate and eloquent voices for the cause of justice, the Southern Poverty Law Center said in a statement. ‘He advocated not just for African Americans, but for every group, indeed every person subject to oppression and discrimination, because he recognized the common humanity in us all.’

Bond was a co-founder of the SPLC, serving as its president from 1971 to 1979. He also was a board member of the activist organization.

In the 1960s, when a student at Morehouse college, Bond helped form the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. Known as SNCC, the group was an important arm of the US civil rights movement.

In 1965, he was elected to the Georgia House of Representatives. However, he was refused his seat because of his stance against the Vietnam War. The case made it to the US Supreme Court, which ruled in his favor. He served the house from 1967 to 1975. He also sat in the Georgia Senate, from 1975 to 1986.

He was the former chairman of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

‘The grateful citizen heirs of the civil and human rights legacy of Julian Bond can neither be counted nor confined to a generation,’ NAACP Chairman Roslyn M. Brock said in a statement. ‘Many of the most characteristically American freedoms enjoyed by so many Americans today were made real because of the lifelong sacrifice and service of Julian Bond.’

Bond never shied away from making the connection between the struggle in the 1960s to the fight for gay equality.

‘We ought to be happy that many people, including gays and lesbians…have imitated the black movement for human rights,’ Bond said in a 2012 March interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper. ‘When others imitate what we did to gain their rights we ought to be first in line to say “can I help you.”‘

Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin said the following:

‘Quite simply, this nation and this world are far better because of his life and commitment to equality for all people,’

Bond is survived by his second wife and five children.

Below is a clip of the CNN interview:

The post Civil rights icon and LGBTI ally Julian Bond dies at 75 appeared first on Gay Star News.

James Withers

www.gaystarnews.com/article/civil-rights-icon-and-lgbti-ally-julian-bond-dies-at-75/

Florida AG Pam Bondi’s Tooth and Nail Fight Against Gay Marriage Isn’t Over Just Yet

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who was labeled a “modern-day Anita Bryant” and named “Loser of 2014″ by the Tampa Bay Times for her unsuccessful crusade against marriage equality, is back in the news for all the wrong reasons.

Last week, Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi objected to a motion concerning legal fees from lawyers who represented gay couples seeking to have their marriages recognized in Florida. In response, she wrote that because Florida voluntarily dismissed its appeal after the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the right to same-sex marriage nationwide, the state should not have to cover the cost of the lengthy appeals process it initiated.

Attorneys who worked to defeat the marriage ban said they have not come up with the exact amount they are owed.

However, one suggested that it could be in the realm of $500,000.

“It’s ludicrous,” said Elizabeth White, a Jacksonville civil rights attorney who helped bring one of the cases that challenged the state’s gay marriage ban. “Quite frankly, the state vigorously litigated this. Now they’re saying, ‘We lost, but we don’t want to pay.’ “

Previously, Florida AG Pam Bondi Extends Insincere Olive Branch to the Gay Couples She Fought So Hard Against

Added ACLU of Florida attorney Stephen Rosenthal, who represented the same-sex couples in the case:

“It really is the height of hypocrisy to argue we shouldn’t be entitled to fees when they put us through this…They knew full well that if they lost, that they and, frankly taxpayers, would be on the hook for paying for their unwise legal defense of an unconstitutional law,”

The post Florida AG Pam Bondi’s Tooth and Nail Fight Against Gay Marriage Isn’t Over Just Yet appeared first on Towleroad.

Kyler Geoffroy

Florida AG Pam Bondi’s Tooth and Nail Fight Against Gay Marriage Isn’t Over Just Yet

Can This Man Tell The Difference Between A Kiss From A Woman And A Kiss From A Man?

Can a straight man tell the difference between a kiss from a woman and a man?

Popular YouTube vlogger Davey Wavey investigated by blindfolding a straight male friend of his and putting him to the test.

Wavey led the volunteer to believe that a woman would also be part of the experiment and he would be challenged to determine which kiss came from the woman and which came from Wavey.

However, Wavey had a few tricks up his sleeve: there actually was no woman present — all three kisses came from the muscly blogger himself.

So how did the straight guy react? Check out the video above to see for yourself. 

— This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.

www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/08/14/can-this-man-tell-the-difference-between-a-kiss-from-a-woman-and-a-kiss-from-a-man_n_7994404.html?utm_hp_ref=gay-voices&ir=Gay+Voices

HRC Mourns the Loss of Civil Rights Leader Julian Bond

Today, HRC mourns the loss of civil rights leader Julian Bond.
HRC.org

www.hrc.org/blog/entry/hrc-mourns-the-loss-of-civil-rights-leader-julian-bond1?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed

I Survived Amsterdam’s Queerest, Craziest Summer Festival

It was raining when I got to the entrance of the Milkshake Festival in Amsterdam. I’d only arrived to the city a few hours earlier, on an early morning flight. As I was checking into my hotel the weather seemed perfectly fine, which is why when I left the hotel just before noon, I walked out in short shorts and a tank top. Only to find the sunny weather I was anticipating had turned to a sudden downpour. But as I walked up to the festival entrance (thankfully: under a poncho handed to me by a drag queen on the sidewalk outside Westerpark), I didn’t care.

But the rain eventually disappeared and the sun came out — as well as all the crazy characters you’d expect from Amsterdam’s most queer & crazy summer festival. This was the fourth annual Milkshake Festival and with thousands of guests, the crowd was far from typical. Most people had costumes or colorful outfits (or lack of outfits) but there was a definite “come as you are” vibe. The festival ran from just after noon until 11pm with acts performing nonstop on the nine different stages. Backup dancers kept the grooves going throughout the day and “secret” stages were home to chill-out spaces with face-painters, hula-hoopers, bubbles and other random activities.

Scroll down for a few more photos from the fest.

A longer version of this article was previously published on Travels of Adam. Read the full story and see even more photos here.

Follow Groffman on Twitter @travelsofadam.

Jeremy Kinser

feedproxy.google.com/~r/queerty2/~3/XAnCe2bK_wg/i-survived-amsterdams-queerest-craziest-summer-festival-20150816