Teen Comes Out at Disneyland and Her Story Goes Viral

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Sometimes a family trip to the amusement park can be really special and in the case of 16-year-old Gina sometimes that trip can become a global sensation. Gina visited Disneyland in California earlier this summer. Before their trip, Gina created a rainbow-colored sign which read, “I’m Gay!” and smuggled it into the theme park. She held the sign until the perfect moment and that moment came when the duo was riding Splash Mountain. As the log ride plunged to its watery finale, Gina held up her sign to be captured by cameras. Mom got the message as they perused the souvenir shop monitors. Posting the photo on Twitter, she wrote: “this is how I came out yesterday lolol”. The post now has nearly 10,000 likes.

In an interview with Huffington Post, Gina said, “I couldn’t have ever asked for a better response from my family. I’m truly so lucky to have such amazing support from all of my friends and family. It made this process go much smoother than I could’ve ever imagined!” She told others in the closet: “It’s an overwhelming process, so just make sure you’re comfortable with who you are and make sure you’re prepared for questions or reactions people may have. I also know it’s sometimes hard to tell if you’re ready or not, so just be sure to give yourself time to really think about if you’re prepared.” Gina told Buzzfeed the reaction to her photo has been “amazing but overwhelming.” “I never expected it to blow up like this,” she said. “This Twitter account was just my spam account where I posted random fangirl stuff but I decided it couldn’t hurt to post it and the result was absolutely amazing.”
She said she has been very touched at all the nice comments she has received. “People have responded saying I’ve inspired them to do the same thing, which I think is the coolest part of it all,” she said.

Actor Colton Haynes Comes Out

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly published yesterday, 27 year-old actor Colton Haynes officially came out. The announcement comes after months of social media speculation about the former Arrow and Teen Wolf star. Per EW,

A Tumblr post in January sparked an Internet firestorm after a fan commented on Haynes’ “secret gay past,”regarding racy modeling photos Haynes took while underage. Without giving it much thought, Haynes offered a coy reply: “Was it a secret?” The comment was picked up by bloggers as his coming out – but it wasn’t. Not yet.

“It was a complete shock. I wasn’t ready to be back in the headlines,” says Haynes, who is in fact gay but has never publicly addressed his sexuality (and, like many others on his path, took advice early in his career to subdue it). “I should have made a comment or a statement, but I just wasn’t ready. I didn’t feel like I owed anyone anything. I think in due time, everyone has to make those decisions when they’re ready, and I wasn’t yet. But I felt like I was letting people down by not coming forward with the rest of what I should have said.”

The article also talks Haynes’ struggle with anxiety, a main reason why he left the hit series Arrow in 2015. “I asked to step away because I cared more about my mental and physical health than my career at the time,” Haynes told EW. “I’ve had terminal anxiety my entire life. Physically ill, fainting. I’m 27 years old, and I have an ulcer. I had to step back.” Haynes said keeping his sexuality under wraps didn’t exactly help with his anxiety. “People want you to be that GQ image that you put out, but people don’t realize what it’s like to act 24 hours a day. I’d go home and I was still acting,” he says gently. “People who are so judgmental about those who are gay or different don’t realize that acting 24 hours a day is the most exhausting thing in the world.” After months off, the star says, ““I’m happier than I’ve ever been, and healthier than I’ve ever been, and that’s what I care about.”

Out Figure Skater Adam Rippon Wins National Championship

Last Sunday, 26 year-old out figure skater Adam Rippon won the gold at the U.S. Figure Skating Championship! www.usnews

Rippon’s career has been full of ups and downs and the last time he medal at this competition was at age 16. In an interview with TeamUsa.org, Rippon says he went into the long program with a different plan of attack.

“I talked with my coach before I came here, Rafael Arutunian, and he told me that I had one goal: It was to skate clean and to perform,” said Rippon, who scored 270.75 points skating to a Beatles medley. “I knew after I made the opening mistake that I needed to skate clean and perform, and I was really glad that I was able to do that today and come out on top and finally be national champion.”

Adam came out last October and in the youth driven world of skating, his recent win is somewhat of an anomaly. Watch him adorably explain his success to NBC Sports as well as his short program below!

https://youtu.be/gBC2185vjoQ

CBS President Glen Geller Comes Out

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Earlier this week at the Television Critics Association’s Winter Press Tour, CBS president Glenn Geller came out as gay. “We’re always evolving, changing,” Geller said in response to tough questions about the network’s lack of diversity. ““I’m just a gay guy from Indiana who doesn’t play basketball. There is diversity at CBS. It exists in front and behind the camera. Can we do better? I think we are.I mentioned my husband earlier, because I want to normalize my diversity. CBS will always reflect what America looks like,” Geller says. As for LGBT content, CBS still has room for improvement. GLAAD’s 2015 Responsibility Index which rates the networks LGBT content gave CBS a score of “adequate” while ABC Family and Fox scored “excellent.”

NBA referee comes out of the closet

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Earlier this week, NBA referee Bill Kennedy revealed he is gay. “I am proud to be an NBA referee and I am proud to be a gay man,” Kennedy told Yahoo Sports on Sunday night. “I am following in the footsteps of others who have self-identified in the hopes that will send a message to young men and women in sports that you must allow no one to make you feel ashamed of who you are.” Kennedy’s coming out comes on the heels of the explosive suspension of Sacramento Kings guard Rajon Rondo. Rondo unleashed a firestorm of anti-gay slurs directed towards Kennedy following his ejection from a game in Mexico City earlier this month. Kennedy along with two other referees heard Rondo’s tirade, leading to his league suspension announced last Friday.

The NBA has thrown their support behind Kennedy and denounced Rando’s behavior. NBA commissioner said in a statement, “”I wholeheartedly support Bill’s decision to live his life proudly and openly. Throughout his 18-year career with the league, Bill has excelled as a referee because of his passion, dedication and courage. Those qualities will continue to serve him well both as a game official and as a positive influence for others. While our league has made great progress, our work continues to ensure that everyone is treated with respect and dignity.”

Rajon Rondo is the third player suspended for using anti-gay slurs. Kobe Bryant of the Los Angeles Lakers and Chicago Bulls center were both separately fined by the NBA during the 2011 season.

Olympian Gus Kenworthy Comes Out

Olympic freeskier and X Games star Gus Kenworthy became the first openly gay action sports athlete when he came out of the closet in a new interview with ESPN magazine this week.

With a slew of athletes from a variety of sports coming out over the last year or two, Kenworthy is the first of his field to come out as openly gay. In addition to winning 3 AFP World Championship titles, Kenworthy won the silver medal at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Given the culture of his sport, Kenworthy says the decision to come out was not an easy one. Per ESPN:

“They say it’s a community of individuals and everyone is doing their own thing and it’s not a team sport, so you get to be yourself,” Kenworthy says. “But you don’t, really.” Unlike team sports, athletes never leave the locker room.  They turn pro as children and become immediately indoctrinated by the culture. “Between the contests and the shoots, everyone’s always skiing and training together,” Kenworthy says. “But it is the same, it’s totally like that: Be creative, be yourself, be all this stuff, but also literally just be everybody else.”

Kenworthy, despite professionally being in the closet, says he knew he was gay from about age 5. Now he’s determined to serve as a role model for other gay athletes and continue his stellar career. “I want to be the guy who comes out, wins s— and is like, I’m taking names,” he says.

800,000 People Came Out This Year On Facebook

Amidst status updates about what folks had for lunch or who they’re voting for, something big is happening on Facebook in 2015. The company reports over 6 million people have come out on the social media site as LGBT including 800,000 over the past year.

Facebook released a statement on National Coming Out Day:

Over the past year, approximately 800,000 Americans updated their profile to express a same-gender attraction or custom gender. Further, not only has the total number of Americans who have come out on Facebook risen dramatically, but so has the number coming out each day. As the chart demonstrates, the number of people on Facebook coming out per day is on track to be three times what it was a year ago.

The company also notes that, “Additionally, in the days following the June 26 Supreme Court decision, we saw more than 26 million people display a rainbow filter on their profile picture.”

Gay Rugby Star Says Support Has Been “Overwhelming”

The world of professional sports has been slower to embrace openly gay athletes but thanks to courageous folks like rugby player Keegan Hirst, that might be changing. Hirst, the Batley Bulldogs captain recently became “the first professional rugby league player to come out publicly as gay, is speaking out about the positive reactions he’s received from teammates and those on social media since his revelation,” according to Towleroad News.

In an interview with BBC 2’s Naga Munchetty, Hirst said:

I told two of my close teammates first and they were both fantastic and took it really well. One of them said he knew all along. Really supportive. Got behind me 100%. And then of course when it got filtered out to the rest of the team and coaching staff, nothing but positive messages. It’s really, really overwhelming.

In the interview, Hirst shared why he decided to come out now, how his wife took the news, when he realized he was gay, and whether he sees himself as a crusader for a cause.

“I suppose it’ll break down stereotypes. And that can only be a good thing. I’m just trying to get that message across. It’s okay.”

Out High School Student Gives Rejected Graduation Speech

Last month, Longmont, CO high school senior and class valedictorian at Twin Peaks Academy Evan Young was told by school administrators that he would not be allowed to give a graduation speech where he planned to reveal he was gay. Instead, Young gave his speech last weekend to a wildly supportive crowd at Out Boulder’s garden party and award ceremony. Per the Daily Camera:

A nervous and somewhat reluctant Young donned a cape and gave the speech at an Out Boulder awards ceremony at a private home in Boulder. “I’m gay,” he said to enthusiastic cheers. “That’s what I am.” He went on to say that he shouldn’t have to apologize for who he is, but instead expected his classmates to continue to overlook differences, just as they had in the past with other issues.
“We can still be friends, even if we seriously disagree with each other,” he said before ending his speech with exhortations to hug someone who’s different than you.

Twin Peaks Charter Academy had planned on honoring Young for being class valedictorian and achieving a 4.5 GPA but once the school got wind of the planned content, he was denied the opportunity to give the speech or be honored in any way. The school says Young failed to resubmit his speech with the required edits and was later nixed entirely from the May 16 graduation ceremony. Young’s father, however, claims that his son did make the changes and submitted by the deadline.

The audience’s overwhelming response on Sunday was proof that Young’s story of coming out in high school is still an important one. Twin Peaks physics teacher Dallin Witt, who introduced Young at the event, said that the school’s response shows how rampant homophobia still is. “Evan Young’s story has truly resonated with people,” said Witt, who is leaving the school. “He was not honored before, but now is our chance to do just that.”

Member of the X-Men Comes Out of the Closet

Even superheroes have to bust the closet door down. This week, one of the original members of Marvel’s X-Men officially came out! Per The Advocate:

The current storyline, written by Brian Michael Bendis, follows young versions of the original five X-Men (Iceman, Cyclops, Beast, Angel, and Jean Grey) displaced in time and fighting the never-ending battle in present day. The reveal of Ice Man’s sexuality – long speculated by fans – unfolds in a scene where Jean Grey calls the frosty mutant out for hiding who he is by overcompensating with flirtatious comments aimed at his female teammates. When he denies it, she reminds him she’s a psychic and can read his mind, before he finally lets his guard down and admits he’s got a thing for one of his fellow male mutants.

While a fictional character like Iceman coming out might not seem like a big deal, consider this: according to Comichron, Americans bought a whopping $540.4 million in comic books in 2014. So the presence of an openly gay character in a top-selling series like X-Men is something worth-celebrating.

And speaking of celebrating, pick up the X-Men or Wonder Woman in your life a card here!