Actor Colton Haynes Comes Out

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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.”

Obama to name Stonewall Inn National Monument

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The legendary Stonewall Inn, the Greenwich Village bar at the center of the gay-rights movement, was granted landmark status last year but according to the Associated Press the Obama administration plans on naming the bar the country’s first national monument for gay rights. Per the New Yorker, Obama is, “considering proposals that would involve cordoning off Christopher Park, a small sliver of land near Stonewall Inn, and surrounding areas.” Federal officials are travelling to NYC next week to discuss the proposal while city officials iron out the details of the land’s title. If no complications arise, the Stonewall Inn should be declared a national monument in June, just in time for Pride month and the city’s famous parade.

New Yorkers and  lawmakers alike “have long pushed for the national-park designation, and last year, Congressman Jerrold Nadler and Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer introduced legislation that said as much,” wrote the New Yorker.  “It’s time for the Stonewall Inn to take its place in the panoply of sites and events that were sparks in the march to the kind of freedom and equality that is the very wellspring of the American Dream,” Schumer said. “Making the Stonewall Inn site a unit of the National Park system is the right thing to do.”

Monday Meme: Colors

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Born on this day in 1895, lyricist Lorenz Hart is responsible for some of the world’s most loved songs. “Blue Moon,” “The Lady Is a Tramp,” “Manhattan,” “Where or When,” “Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered,” “My Funny Valentine,” “I Could Write a Book”, “This Can’t Be Love”  “It Never Entered My Mind”, and “Isn’t It Romantic?” are just a few of the songs Hart provided lyrics for in his brief but brilliant career. Hart’s own life was as haunting and sad as some of his best known songs. As a closeted gay man and alcoholic, Hart struggled to fit in the homophobic times of the 1930’s and 40’s and died at the age of 48. Nevertheless, today he is remembered as one of the world’s top lyricists and a man who shaped popular music. Recordings by singers like Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald, Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett are still enjoyed today and insure that Hart’s incredible work will never be forgotten.

 

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Marriage Equality Comes to Colombia

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More good marriage equality news from across the globe!

According to NewNowNext, “The Colombian Constitutional Court declared that banning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional in a 6-3 decision issued Friday, fully legalizing same-sex marriage and restoring benefits to same-sex couples who are already married. The rights of married same-sex couples in Colombia have been in limbo for years as the Constitutional Court and Congress fought over which should make the decision.” Colombia is now the fourth South American country,  right behind Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, to make same-sex marriage legal. Colombia has slowly since 2007 passed laws to protect same sex-couples. Adoption, healthcare, pension and social security rights have been granted to LGBT couples but only as common-law marriages.

“The right to marry and to form a family are fundamental rights that States must protect. Limiting marriage to heterosexual couples violates the right to nondiscrimination and equality,” said José Miguel Vivanco, Executive Director of the Human Rights Watch Americas Division, in an impassioned speech before the court. “The court’s decision to grant all Colombians, regardless of their sexual orientation, the right to marry the people they love is a landmark move for human rights in the country.”

Have friends tying the knot here or abroad? A Proudly Yours card looks great on every gift! 

Openly Gay Wrestler Wins Championship Titles and Does it In Drag

cassandro_london_school_of_lucha_libre_resistance_gallery_2Viva individualidad!

Mexican wrestler Cassandro El Exotico is reinventing Mexico’s idea of a professional lucha libre wrestler. This must-see video from Great Big Story profiles a showman and athlete turning a beloved a national pastime on its ear. The twist? Mexico loves it! From sparkly capes to fake eyelashes, Cassandro bends genders while making jaws drop on his way to the ring. Inside the ring however, he kicks ass. Cassandro is a championship title holder and has been in sport for over 20 years. Of himself and other gay lucha wrestlers (referred to as “exoticos”) Cassandro told the Guardian, “Nowadays a lot of the fans that really know about lucha libre, they know that some of us – not all of us – have really dignified, with our skills and talent, our gender, the exoticos. Yeah, we are gay, but we do know how to wrestle.” Watch Cassandro’s  incredible story here!