99 Photos of Mostly Hairy Guys Show Themselves for Ryan Stanford

www.advocate.com/photography/2019/10/01/99-photos-mostly-hairy-guys-show-themselves-ryan-stanford

WATCH: Trans pro-boxer features in powerful new sportswear advert

Iconic boxing goods manufacturer Everlast features trans boxer Patricio Manuel in its new ‘Be First’ advertising campaign.

Manuel, 34, from California, is the first trans man professional boxer in the world.

Manuel competed against women up until 2012, including Olympic tryouts. A shoulder injury prompted him to take a break from the sport, and during this time he decided to begin his transition.

Related: Meet the first trans man to model for an Andrew Christian

He competed in his first bout against a man in 2016. He made his professional debut in December 2018, when he defeated Mexican super-featherweight Hugo Aguilar.

In the advert, Manuel says, “When I was a little kid, I always thought of myself as a boy. But you learn really early on that someone like me is immediately going to be told they’re a girl, so I learned to be quiet. I learned to stifle that part of me.

“But the thing is, anything you push down long enough, it will have a bad reaction, and that reaction for me was a complete disconnect from myself.

“I just mentally checked out so that I could continue coping through life. And it was boxing that brought me back into my body and it was boxing that allowed me to be proud of, actually, what I was physically able to do.

“But boxing also taught me to be really introspective and be like, ‘What do I really want? And how am I going to have to work for it?’ Because unfortunately, when you deviate from the norms that society has constructed, you have to fight for that identity. You have to really make it yourself.

Manuel says many people he knew in boxing were incredulous of his decision to transition when he had previously enjoyed great success in the women’s sport.

“They would come to me and say ‘You could have been one of the greatest female world champions … you would throw it all away to be yourself?’ and I tell them, that’s how bad I felt living that lie if it meant that much to me to risk the love of my life: Boxing.

“And then they knew it was something valid. No-one just throws away a possible chance at going to [the] Olympics or being a world champion. Living in your truth is gonna hurt but it’s worth it.

He goes on to talk about the importance of being yourself – offering words queer people everywhere will identify with.

“I want to live in a world where being yourself isn’t seen as this courageous act. I want all of us to be who we are and to be unafraid and not to have to deal with every obstacle just to be our true authentic self.

“So many of us are being forced into these restrictive boxes of identification but very few of us actually fit, and I want to see all of us be celebrated when we fight against those specific restrictive norms.

“I’m the first professional male boxer who is transgender. I may be the first but I’m not the last.”

Related: Father teaches trans son to shave in moving ad for Gillette

Manuel follows in the footsteps of Jack Dempsey and Sugar Ray Robinson in being the face of Everlast.

The sportswear label is not the first major brand to use a trans man for a marketing campaign. Earlier this year, razor and grooming brand Gilette used a trans man for a shaving commercial that went viral on social media.

www.queerty.com/watch-trans-pro-boxer-features-powerful-new-sportswear-advert-20191001?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+queerty2+%28Queerty%29

Matthew Perry Rejected ‘Friends’ Episode in Which Chandler Snuck into a Gay Bar

Writers of the decade-long hit sitcom Friends tried out a storyline which had Matthew Perry’s character sneaking into a gay bar — because he liked the tuna melts it served.

Writer Saul Austerlitz writes about what happened in his book, Generation Friends: An Inside Look at the Show that Defined a Television Era, the Independent reports.

Wrote Austerlitz: “Perry said no, and the story was shelved.”

The Independent notes that the show has often been criticized for its homophobic and sexist jokes and storylines.

Actress Kathleen Turner,  who played Chandler Bing’s trans parent on the show, told Gay Times in 2018 that she thought the show hadn’t aged well for LGBTQ people.

Said Turner: “How they approached with me with it, was ‘would you like to be the first woman playing a man playing a woman?’ I said yes, because there weren’t many drag/trans people on television at the time.”

Gay Times added: ‘During Friends’ run, the character was never actually acknowledged as trans, and was referred to as either gay or a drag queen. She was often mocked by the other characters – especially for her drag show, which was titled Viva Las Gaygas. “Yeah, people thought Charles was just dressing up,” Kathleen added.’

But the evidence is also there in plenty of other places. Here’s a lengthy clip of some of it by video editor Tijana Mamula :

The post Matthew Perry Rejected ‘Friends’ Episode in Which Chandler Snuck into a Gay Bar appeared first on Towleroad Gay News.

Matthew Perry Rejected ‘Friends’ Episode in Which Chandler Snuck into a Gay Bar

HRC Celebrates LGBTQ History Month

This LGBTQ History Month, HRC is proud to honor the trailblazers who helped pave the way for LGBTQ rights and visibility in the ongoing fight for equality over the past five decades. 

As HRC marked World Pride in New York City in June, we remembered that the first Pride was a riot a little more than 50 years ago. On June 28, 1969, the uprising at The Stonewall Inn, a bar in New York City, was a pivotal marker in the beginning of the LGBTQ rights movement in the U.S. After experiencing police brutality simply for congregating, LGBTQ patrons decided to take a stand and fight back against the brutal intimidation they regularly faced.

Stonewall was the most visible incidence of police brutality against the community, but it was part of a pattern of law enforcement targeting LGBTQ people without cause. Three years earlier and 3,000 miles away, police in San Francisco were arresting drag queens, transgender women and other LGBTQ people at Gene Compton’s Cafeteria. 

These trailblazers took a stand and made our resistance visible and concrete. 

Our movement stands on the shoulders of these early heroes, and their bravery and visibility is inspiring leaders of today, including South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and HRC National Press Secretary Sarah McBride. Buttigieg is is the first openly gay candidate to run for the Democratic presidential nomination. If elected, McBride, who is running for state senate in Delaware, will become the first openly LGBTQ candidate elected to the state legislature in Delaware and the first openly transgender state senator in the U.S. They join others who are ushering in a new era of representation.

Openly LGBTQ leaders and our allies are also helping us achieve tremendous victories. This year, the U.S. House passed the Equality Act, which would provide explicit federal non-protections for LGBTQ people nationwide. While this is a major milestone for equality, we will take our fight to the U.S. Senate and work to ensure that we elect a pro-equality president in 2020 who would sign the bill into law. 

In the political and sports world, LGBTQ people are racking up wins and bringing visibility. The U.S. women’s soccer team won the World Cup, bringing pride to an international platform. LGBTQ players including Megan Rapinoe, Ashlyn Harris, Ali Krieger and more are open, proud and outspoken about equality. 

And while openly LGBTQ athletes are winning on the world stage, trailblazing actors, entertainers and programs are changing hearts and minds for our community. 

This includes the groundbreaking series “Pose”, which showcases LGBTQ visibility and sheds light on important issues impacting the LGBTQ community such as the epidemic of violence against Black transgender women. The show serves as a somber reminder that in 2019 alone, 18 transgender people — primarily transgender women of color — have been murdered. 

Awareness and visibility continue to expand as HRC Visibility Award honoree actor, producer and writer Ryan O’Connell brings intersectional identities to the screen with his hit Netflix show “Special.” As a gay man with cerebral palsy, O’Connell has been an outspoken advocate for both the LGBTQ community and people living with disabilities. His show is based on his 2015 memoir, “I’m Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves,” where he writes about navigating his identities. 

We need trailblazers and visibility more than ever. Despite the strides we’ve made, the Trump-Pence administration continues to implement hateful policies that hurt LGBTQ parents and kids, transgender military service members and more. The administration refuses to condemn anti-LGBTQ regimes and atrocities in Bangladesh, Chechnya, Egypt, Tanzania and elsewhere. Nationally and internationally, the administration continues failing LGBTQ people. 

As we celebrate LGBTQ History Month, we acknowledge that we have a long way to go to achieve full equality. We stand on the shoulders of giants, and we must honor them with action. It starts by centering the stories of our past as we deepen our connection to each other and our commitment to continuing to move equality forward.

www.hrc.org/blog/hrc-celebrates-lgbtq-history-month-2019?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss-feed