Lt. Daniel Choi dismissed from military for saying "I am Gay".
In an interview with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Lt. Dan Choi shared his reaction to the notification of his dismissal from the U.S. Army over an admission consisting of three words: "I am gay." Under the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, publicly admitting one's homosexual orientation constitutes a homosexual act which is grounds for termination.
Choi was previously deployed to Iraq, where he utilized his specialties as an arabic linguist. He also served as leader for his unit in the United States Army National Guard and founded Knights Out, an organization comprised of openly gay and lesbian West Point graduates and their supporters. He offered this introduction on the KnightsOut.org website.
My name is Dan Choi. I am a West Point graduate. I am a Lieutenant in the United States Army.
I am gay.
I serve my country. I serve my country because I heard a leader say: “ASK NOT what your country can do for you… ASK what you can do for your country.” But when I step up to serve our country, to put my life on the line to protect my community, to protect my neighbors, to protect my family, to protect America, I am ordered… DON’T ASK. I am ordered… DON’T TELL.
I serve with 65,000 selfless gay and lesbian Americans; we are ordered to deny who we are. We’re ordered to HIDE. But I am not hiding anymore. I am not asking permission anymore. I am done ASKING. I am TELLING. I am gay.
I applaud Dan Choi for his bravery, honesty and service to his country. Even with the recent victories in GLBT rights legislation, our community still faces the ugly threats of discrimination and intolerance. How does a person's sexual orientation affect his or her work?
I strongly hope that President Obama will uphold his commitments to rectify this lingering stain on the Democratic party. As revealed in the interview, it is estimated that 12,500 soldiers have been dismissed because of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." Will Obama choose to use the momentum built by his historic election to accomplish historic advances in civil rights? Or will our concerns be silenced by the demands of other, more immediate issues?
How much longer will gay soldiers have to serve their country in silence?
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Adam Lambert: The Real American Idol.
Adam Lambert from Rolling Stone site:
On making his sexuality public:There are so many old-fashioned ways of looking at things, and if we want to be a progressive society, we have to start thinking in a different way. There's the old industry idea that you should just make sexuality a non-issue, just say your private life's your private life, and not talk about it. But that's bullshit, because private lives don't exist anymore for celebrities: they just don't. I don't want to be looking over my shoulder all the time, thinking I have to hide, being scared of being found out, putting on a front, having a beard, going down the red carpet with some chick who is posing as my girlfriend. That's not cool, that's not being a rock star. I can't do that.
On making his sexuality public:There are so many old-fashioned ways of looking at things, and if we want to be a progressive society, we have to start thinking in a different way. There's the old industry idea that you should just make sexuality a non-issue, just say your private life's your private life, and not talk about it. But that's bullshit, because private lives don't exist anymore for celebrities: they just don't. I don't want to be looking over my shoulder all the time, thinking I have to hide, being scared of being found out, putting on a front, having a beard, going down the red carpet with some chick who is posing as my girlfriend. That's not cool, that's not being a rock star. I can't do that.
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Kelly McGillis star of Top Gun comes out.
Kelly McGillis is coming out of the closet and confirming that she is, in fact, a lesbian.
The 51-year-old actress was the object of many men’s desires after she starred in the hit 1986 film Top Gun with Tom Cruise.
Kelly confirmed the news on the internet show, Girl Rock!, where she said she is single and seeking a partner. When asked if she was interested in men or women she answered point blank,
“Definitely a woman. I’m done with the man thing. You need to move on in life.”
She added that she had struggled with her sexuality since the time she was 12-years-old. “I had a lot of things happen that convinced me that God was punishing me because I was gay.”
One of those things included getting raped in 1982.
She says that these days she is attempting to resurrect her acting career - but refuses to dye her gray hair to land a role. “Whenever I get an offer, they ask me to dye my hair. And I just won’t.”
McGillis has been married and divorced twice and has two grown daughters.
[FN]
.
The 51-year-old actress was the object of many men’s desires after she starred in the hit 1986 film Top Gun with Tom Cruise.
Kelly confirmed the news on the internet show, Girl Rock!, where she said she is single and seeking a partner. When asked if she was interested in men or women she answered point blank,
“Definitely a woman. I’m done with the man thing. You need to move on in life.”
She added that she had struggled with her sexuality since the time she was 12-years-old. “I had a lot of things happen that convinced me that God was punishing me because I was gay.”
One of those things included getting raped in 1982.
She says that these days she is attempting to resurrect her acting career - but refuses to dye her gray hair to land a role. “Whenever I get an offer, they ask me to dye my hair. And I just won’t.”
McGillis has been married and divorced twice and has two grown daughters.
[FN]
.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Clay comes out. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things".
NEW YORK — Clay Aiken appears on the cover of the latest People magazine holding his infant son, Parker Foster Aiken, with the headline: "Yes, I'm Gay."
The 29-year-old former "American Idol" runner-up, multiplatinum recording artist and Broadway star credits his son, conceived by in-vitro fertilization with friend and producer Jaymes Foster, with making him realize that he could no longer hide his homosexuality from the world.
"It was the first decision I made as a father," Aiken told the magazine, which arrives on newsstands Friday. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn't raised that way, and I'm not going to raise a child to do that."
Aiken, who rose to fame on "Idol" in 2003, has long been subject of rumors and tabloid fodder that he was gay, but usually refused to acknowledge them. In an interview with The Associated Press two years ago, he said of the talk: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."
Aiken said he only told his family that he was gay four years ago. He recalled a tearful discussion with his mother in a car after dropping off his brother, who was being sent to Iraq, at a military base.
/**/
"It was dark. I was sitting there, thinking to myself. I don't know why I started thinking about it ... I just started bawling. She made me pull over the car and it just came out," he said. "She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting."
Aiken said his mother "still struggles with things quite a bit, but she's come a long way."
The magazine cover features Aiken holding his son, born in August. Aiken, who considers himself a born-again Christian, said he knows he may turn off some fans -- known as Claymates -- with his admission and his decision to have a child outside traditional marriage.
"I've never intended to lie to anybody at all," he said. "But if they leave, I don't want them to leave hating me."
Gay groups applauded Aiken's public admission.
"We congratulate Clay for making this decision and for setting an example for others and his family," said Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. As we're seeing, more and more gay people, including celebrities, are living openly and honestly, and this has tremendous impact in terms of creating awareness, understanding and acceptance."
Aiken recently released the CD "On My Way Here" and made his Broadway debut this spring in "Monty Python's Spamalot."
The 29-year-old former "American Idol" runner-up, multiplatinum recording artist and Broadway star credits his son, conceived by in-vitro fertilization with friend and producer Jaymes Foster, with making him realize that he could no longer hide his homosexuality from the world.
"It was the first decision I made as a father," Aiken told the magazine, which arrives on newsstands Friday. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn't raised that way, and I'm not going to raise a child to do that."
Aiken, who rose to fame on "Idol" in 2003, has long been subject of rumors and tabloid fodder that he was gay, but usually refused to acknowledge them. In an interview with The Associated Press two years ago, he said of the talk: "I don't really feel like I have anybody to answer to but myself and God and the people I love."
Aiken said he only told his family that he was gay four years ago. He recalled a tearful discussion with his mother in a car after dropping off his brother, who was being sent to Iraq, at a military base.
/**/
"It was dark. I was sitting there, thinking to myself. I don't know why I started thinking about it ... I just started bawling. She made me pull over the car and it just came out," he said. "She started crying. She was obviously somewhat stunned. But she was very supportive and very comforting."
Aiken said his mother "still struggles with things quite a bit, but she's come a long way."
The magazine cover features Aiken holding his son, born in August. Aiken, who considers himself a born-again Christian, said he knows he may turn off some fans -- known as Claymates -- with his admission and his decision to have a child outside traditional marriage.
"I've never intended to lie to anybody at all," he said. "But if they leave, I don't want them to leave hating me."
Gay groups applauded Aiken's public admission.
"We congratulate Clay for making this decision and for setting an example for others and his family," said Neil Giuliano, president of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. As we're seeing, more and more gay people, including celebrities, are living openly and honestly, and this has tremendous impact in terms of creating awareness, understanding and acceptance."
Aiken recently released the CD "On My Way Here" and made his Broadway debut this spring in "Monty Python's Spamalot."
Rachel Maddow to host on MSNBC
Rachel Maddow Becomes First Out Lesbian to Host Prime-Time News Show
by
Sarah Warn, Editor in ChiefAugust 20, 2008
Openly gay political commentator Rachel Maddow, 35, is getting her own prime-time show on MSNBC, the cable news channel confirmed on Tuesday.
"This just completes our prime-time lineup," MSNBC President Phil Griffin told the New York Times.
Beginning Sept. 8, Maddow will replace commentator Dan Abrams in the 9 p.m. time slot. Her show will initially focus on the presidential race but will become more of a general news program after the election.
"This is great," Maddow told the Times. "Getting a regular cable show is something I’ve wanted."
Maddow will be the first out lesbian to host a prime-time news or political commentary show on American television, and one of the very few women ever to do so. MSNBC does not have any other news or political commentary shows hosted by women.
Maddow currently divides her time between Manhattan and western Massachusetts, where she lives with her partner of 10 years, artist Susan Mikula.
Maddow has hosted a popular liberal talk radio show on Air America since 2004. She has also been a frequent guest commentator on political talk shows like MSNBC's Tucker and CNN's Paula Zahn Now, and is currently a regular panelist on MSNBC's Race for the White House With David Gregory.
Last year, Maddow told PageOne Q she believed her career in television hadn't taken off, "not only because I am gay, but because of what I look like. I am not a Barbie girl with Barbie doll-like looks. Because in television, what you look like is a huge deal."
But if the events of Maddow's career since then are any indication, perhaps America is warming up to women who are not "Barbie girls."
In April, Maddow began filling in occasionally as the guest host on the cable network's popular show Countdown With Keith Olbermann, and her episodes quickly became the show's most-watched by viewers ages 25 to 54, a highly desirable advertising demographic. Shortly thereafter, she became Olbermann's official fill-in host.
Maddow on Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Aug. 14
Last month, MSNBC's Griffin hinted that Maddow was at the top of "a very short list" to headline her own show, and he made it official this week.
"We’re hiring Rachel because she’s a smart person," Griffin explained to the Times. "Rachel goes far beyond politics. She’s an expert on military affairs. She was a Rhodes scholar.” Maddow was the first openly gay American to win a Rhodes scholarship.
When asked in a 2005 interview with Velvet Park magazine what it's like to debate men like Pat Buchanan, Maddow responded:
They see me as a novelty. I've slipped through the cracks, this butch dyke. They always try to bring up gay marriage with me. We're talking about Syria, Bosnia, Rwanda refugees on CNN and they're like "Rachel, now how does this relate to gay marriage?" It's also an interesting challenge to have to be so concise on TV, using language to bring people along with you and also to provoke them. People say, "Isn't it hard to only have three minutes to argue against the death penalty?" But, don't you rebel against the restraints, you work within them.
She also chalks up her debating skill to coming out at an early age. "You have to learn to survive and prosper in a hostile environment," she said in an interview with AfterEllen.com last year. "It's kind of a talent that gay people bring to everything we do."
by
Sarah Warn, Editor in ChiefAugust 20, 2008
Openly gay political commentator Rachel Maddow, 35, is getting her own prime-time show on MSNBC, the cable news channel confirmed on Tuesday.
"This just completes our prime-time lineup," MSNBC President Phil Griffin told the New York Times.
Beginning Sept. 8, Maddow will replace commentator Dan Abrams in the 9 p.m. time slot. Her show will initially focus on the presidential race but will become more of a general news program after the election.
"This is great," Maddow told the Times. "Getting a regular cable show is something I’ve wanted."
Maddow will be the first out lesbian to host a prime-time news or political commentary show on American television, and one of the very few women ever to do so. MSNBC does not have any other news or political commentary shows hosted by women.
Maddow currently divides her time between Manhattan and western Massachusetts, where she lives with her partner of 10 years, artist Susan Mikula.
Maddow has hosted a popular liberal talk radio show on Air America since 2004. She has also been a frequent guest commentator on political talk shows like MSNBC's Tucker and CNN's Paula Zahn Now, and is currently a regular panelist on MSNBC's Race for the White House With David Gregory.
Last year, Maddow told PageOne Q she believed her career in television hadn't taken off, "not only because I am gay, but because of what I look like. I am not a Barbie girl with Barbie doll-like looks. Because in television, what you look like is a huge deal."
But if the events of Maddow's career since then are any indication, perhaps America is warming up to women who are not "Barbie girls."
In April, Maddow began filling in occasionally as the guest host on the cable network's popular show Countdown With Keith Olbermann, and her episodes quickly became the show's most-watched by viewers ages 25 to 54, a highly desirable advertising demographic. Shortly thereafter, she became Olbermann's official fill-in host.
Maddow on Countdown With Keith Olbermann, Aug. 14
Last month, MSNBC's Griffin hinted that Maddow was at the top of "a very short list" to headline her own show, and he made it official this week.
"We’re hiring Rachel because she’s a smart person," Griffin explained to the Times. "Rachel goes far beyond politics. She’s an expert on military affairs. She was a Rhodes scholar.” Maddow was the first openly gay American to win a Rhodes scholarship.
When asked in a 2005 interview with Velvet Park magazine what it's like to debate men like Pat Buchanan, Maddow responded:
They see me as a novelty. I've slipped through the cracks, this butch dyke. They always try to bring up gay marriage with me. We're talking about Syria, Bosnia, Rwanda refugees on CNN and they're like "Rachel, now how does this relate to gay marriage?" It's also an interesting challenge to have to be so concise on TV, using language to bring people along with you and also to provoke them. People say, "Isn't it hard to only have three minutes to argue against the death penalty?" But, don't you rebel against the restraints, you work within them.
She also chalks up her debating skill to coming out at an early age. "You have to learn to survive and prosper in a hostile environment," she said in an interview with AfterEllen.com last year. "It's kind of a talent that gay people bring to everything we do."
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Golden Boy comes out.
This medal favourite is taking a historic and courageous step: he's the first Australian to go to the Olympics declaring his homosexuality, writes Jessica Halloran.
Matthew Mitcham at the Sydney Aquatic Centre and in action, above right, at the Commonwealth Games in 2006.Photo: Steve Christo
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MATTHEW MITCHAM is brave enough to dive from a 10-metre platform for Olympic gold and courageous enough to do what no Australian athlete has done.
When Mitcham balances on the Beijing diving tower this August, like all Australian Olympians, he will be hoping the ones he loves will be there to watch him.
The gold medal hopeful's journey has not been easy. Those close to him have seen Mitcham, 20, battle depression, retire in his teenage years after physical and emotional burn-out, then nine months later resume his sport and build himself into the champion he is today.
One person who has been by his side for the entire tumultuous journey is his partner, Lachlan.
Months out from the Games, Mitcham has taken the courageous step of revealing his sexuality to the media for the first time, in an exclusive interview with the Herald. He has also applied for a grant through a Johnson & Johnson Athlete Family Support Program to have Lachlan near him in Beijing.
Matthew Mitcham at the Sydney Aquatic Centre and in action, above right, at the Commonwealth Games in 2006.Photo: Steve Christo
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MATTHEW MITCHAM is brave enough to dive from a 10-metre platform for Olympic gold and courageous enough to do what no Australian athlete has done.
When Mitcham balances on the Beijing diving tower this August, like all Australian Olympians, he will be hoping the ones he loves will be there to watch him.
The gold medal hopeful's journey has not been easy. Those close to him have seen Mitcham, 20, battle depression, retire in his teenage years after physical and emotional burn-out, then nine months later resume his sport and build himself into the champion he is today.
One person who has been by his side for the entire tumultuous journey is his partner, Lachlan.
Months out from the Games, Mitcham has taken the courageous step of revealing his sexuality to the media for the first time, in an exclusive interview with the Herald. He has also applied for a grant through a Johnson & Johnson Athlete Family Support Program to have Lachlan near him in Beijing.
Thursday, August 16, 2007
People Exclusive
Lance Bass, the former 'N Sync heartthrob, reveals that he is gay in an exclusive interview with PEOPLE. "I knew that I was in this popular band and I had four other guys' careers in my hand, and I knew that if I ever acted on it or even said (that I was gay), it would overpower everything," says Bass, referring to bandmates Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez and Justin Timberlake. "I didn’t know: Could that be the end of ’N Sync? So I had that weight on me of like, ‘Wow, if I ever let anyone know, it's bad.' So I just never did," he says speaking about his sexual orientation for the first time with PEOPLE. Now, after years of keeping his personal life private, the Mississippi-bred, Southern Baptist-reared Bass, 27, is publicly revealing what he first shared with his friends, then his shocked family.
"He took years to really think about how he was going to tell everyone," says his close buddy Fatone, 29, who was the first 'N Sync bandmate to find out Bass is gay. "I back him up 100 percent." Adds Bass’s longtime pal, actress Christina Applegate: "I've always accepted him as who he is. It's about his own serenity at this point." Having pursued acting, producing and – most memorably – space flight after ’N Sync went on hiatus in 2002, Bass now is looking ahead to new beginnings. He is in a "very stable" relationship with model-actor-Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl, 32, and is developing an Odd Couple-inspired sitcom pilot with Fatone in which his character will be gay. Mostly, though, he’s just enjoying the relief that comes with the culmination of a long, at times emotionally fraught journey. "The thing is, I’m not ashamed – that’s the one thing I want to say," he explains of his decision to come out. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I’ve been my whole life. I'm just happy."
Timberlake, Kirkpatrick, Fatone, Bass and Chasez in 1997 Photo by: Andre Csillag / Rex
As for why he's talking about this now, Bass says, "The main reason I wanted to speak my mind was that (the rumors) really were starting to affect my daily life. Now it feels like it's on my terms. I'm at peace with my family, my friends, myself and God so there's really nothing else that I worry about." .
"He took years to really think about how he was going to tell everyone," says his close buddy Fatone, 29, who was the first 'N Sync bandmate to find out Bass is gay. "I back him up 100 percent." Adds Bass’s longtime pal, actress Christina Applegate: "I've always accepted him as who he is. It's about his own serenity at this point." Having pursued acting, producing and – most memorably – space flight after ’N Sync went on hiatus in 2002, Bass now is looking ahead to new beginnings. He is in a "very stable" relationship with model-actor-Amazing Race winner Reichen Lehmkuhl, 32, and is developing an Odd Couple-inspired sitcom pilot with Fatone in which his character will be gay. Mostly, though, he’s just enjoying the relief that comes with the culmination of a long, at times emotionally fraught journey. "The thing is, I’m not ashamed – that’s the one thing I want to say," he explains of his decision to come out. "I don't think it's wrong, I'm not devastated going through this. I'm more liberated and happy than I’ve been my whole life. I'm just happy."
Timberlake, Kirkpatrick, Fatone, Bass and Chasez in 1997 Photo by: Andre Csillag / Rex
As for why he's talking about this now, Bass says, "The main reason I wanted to speak my mind was that (the rumors) really were starting to affect my daily life. Now it feels like it's on my terms. I'm at peace with my family, my friends, myself and God so there's really nothing else that I worry about." .
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