Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, could transform the court into the most conservative since the 1930s. Alex Brandon/AP hide caption
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Alex Brandon/AP
Judge Amy Coney Barrett, President Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, could transform the court into the most conservative since the 1930s.
Alex Brandon/AP
President Trump’s nomination of Judge Amy Coney Barrett to fill the Supreme Court seat made vacant by the death of Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen as a home run for conservatives. It is a chance to move the high court in a far more aggressively conservative direction for generations.
In political terms, Barrett is the dream candidate for conservative Republicans and the nightmare candidate for Democrats.
For Republicans, the 48-year-old is a young and personally unassailable nominee.
A devout Catholic, she is the mother of seven, including a child with Down syndrome and two children she and her husband, Jesse Barrett, adopted from Haiti. She is beloved in her community and by her students at Notre Dame Law School, where she taught for 15 years; she was voted best professor three times and still teaches part time at the school.
“If you talk to students, the thing that stands out to them is that she really makes an effort to get to know them, understand them, and help them,” says G. Marcus Cole, dean of the law school.
It’s more than that, though. Barrett is willing to go the extra mile when necessary — for instance, going to bat for Laura Wolk, a blind student who upon entering the law school, found the school computer software didn’t allow her to access law books and other legal material in a format she needed to read for her classes. As Wolk recounts, when she told Barrett about it, Barrett replied, “This is one I absolutely can take off your plate.”
And she did, getting the law school to quickly purchase the needed software, says Wolk, who would go on to graduate second in her class and serve as a law clerk for Justice Clarence Thomas.
Barrett’s busy schedule and her many roles leave people in South Bend, Ind., scratching their heads and asking this question: How does she do it?
She starts most days at the gym at 4 a.m., according to friends. Because the appeals court she sits on meets in Chicago, she commutes regularly, driving 1 hour and 45 minutes to get there from South Bend.
Nobody seriously disputes Barrett’s sparkling intellect and qualifications to serve on the Supreme Court. Rather, it is her work on the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals and her scholarly writing and commentary that have drawn such fervent opposition from the left and support from the right.
It is the positions that she has taken over the years, from the anti-abortion, anti-gay-marriage letter from Catholic women that she signed in 2015, to her judicial decisions since then.
A sea change for the Supreme Court
Barrett has criticized the Supreme Court’s 5-4 and 6-3 decisions upholding key sections of Obamacare. Both were written by conservative Chief Justice John Roberts, but in a 2015 interview on NPR, Barrett opined that in her view “the dissenters had the better of the argument.”
In a lecture at Jacksonville University in 2016 just days before the election, Barrett warned that if Hillary Clinton were elected, the court would experience a “sea change” in ideology. But as Nan Aron, president of the liberal Alliance for Justice puts it, it is Barrett’s ideology that now presents a potential sea change.
Aron says President Trump has “made clear his two qualifications” for a Supreme Court justice: She must be “opposed to Roe v. Wade,” and “the candidate has to, like Trump, do whatever she can to overturn the Affordable Care Act.” Aron, and others, contend that Barrett’s record fits the bill on both counts, and much more.
Barrett, in her Jacksonville lecture, said she expected that the Supreme Court’s Roe v. Wade decision would be hollowed out, but not reversed.
“I think the question is how much freedom the court is willing to let states have in regulating abortion,” she said.
Just months after that speech, Barrett was named to the 7th Circuit, where she dissented in an abortion case involving an Indiana law barring abortions based on fetal disability or gender. While the dissenters technically did not decide the issue, they made clear their view that what they referred to as an “anti-eugenics law” should be upheld by the Supreme Court. Had that view prevailed, it would have been illegal to get an abortion in Indiana because of fetal disability.
A potential vote to overturn crucial cases
Now, in 2020, if she is confirmed, Barrett would likely be a sixth conservative vote on the court, making it plausible that there will be a majority to overturn Roe v. Wade outright.
University of Texas law professor Stephen Vladeck says he expects that with Barrett’s confirmation, the court would be transformed into the most conservative court since the 1930s, a court that is much more aggressive in its conservative agenda.
“When it comes to big picture cases, running the spectrum from abortion to religion to campaign finance to everything, there is no longer going to be … any concern about a squishy median when you have six solid conservatives from which to find five” justices to form a majority, Vladeck said.
Barrett closely identifies with the justice she once clerked for, the late Antonin Scalia, who more than any other justice popularized the idea of originalism, meaning that the court should interpret the Constitution as it was originally intended by the Founders. But Scalia, at the same time, often referred to himself as a “faint-hearted originalist” because he also embraced one of the other building blocks of legal interpretation, namely, adhering to precedent, even when, in his view, some of those precedents conflicted with what the Founding Fathers thought when they ratified the Constitution.
Judge Barrett’s views on precedent, however, appear to be closer to those of Justice Clarence Thomas, who has little regard for precedent and has urged overturning many long-established decisions.
Barrett’s critics, for instance, point to her judicial writing in a major gun case. In 2008, the Supreme Court ruled for the first time that the Constitution guarantees the right to own a gun. But Justice Scalia, writing for the court, listed some exceptions, among them laws barring felons from owning guns. When one of those felon laws came before Judge Barrett, she dissented, maintaining that the Supreme Court didn’t really mean to exclude gun ownership for felons who aren’t dangerous.
NEW YORK (Thomson Reuters Foundation) – Lesbian, gay and bisexual people are much more likely than straight people to get migraines, U.S. research showed on Monday, indicating sexual orientation may be a risk factor for the painful and disabling headaches.
Nearly one third of lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) participants experienced migraines, 58% more than did heterosexual participants, in a survey by the University of California – San Francisco (UCSF) published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Neurology.
Overall, more than one in six people in the United States experience migraine headaches, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Severe headache pain from migraines, one of the most common reasons for a hospital emergency room visit, can be accompanied by sensitivity to light and sound as well as blurred vision, nausea and vomiting.
The researchers said while their work shows LGB Americans are at greater risk for migraines, they could not pinpoint the reasons why.
“There might be a higher rate of migraines in LGB people because of discrimination, stigma or prejudice, which may lead to stress and trigger a migraine,” the study’s lead author Dr. Jason Nagata, an assistant professor of pediatrics at UCSF, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
“Physicians should be aware that migraines are quite common in LGB individuals and assess for migraine symptoms,” Nagata said.
Hate crimes against LGBT+ people have slightly risen in recent years, according to the most recent data from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.
There was a total of 1,130 reported crimes based on sexual orientation in the United States from 2014 to 2017. The majority of the incidents targeted gay men.
LGB people may be at higher risk for migraines also due to barriers of receiving health care, Nagata added.
Migraines can be disabling and result in missed work and frequent doctor visits.
Other studies have shown disparities in migraine prevalence by gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status.
As many as 85% of Americans who suffer from migraines are women, according to the Migraine Research Foundation, a U.S. based nonprofit that researches migraine treatments.
Migraines appear to be more common among Black Americans and Americans with lower socioeconomic status, according to the National Headache Foundation, a U.S. based nonprofit that raises awareness about headache and migraine pain.
The new study surveyed nearly 10,000 Americans ages 31 to 42 from 2016 to 2018.
Reporting by Matthew Lavietes; Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst. Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers the lives of people around the world who struggle to live freely or fairly. Visit news.trust.org
The last decade has seen a period of transition towards what could be considered the most genderless era in the history of fashion. Although browsing through books and magazines it is possible to identify garments and looks from the past totally dissociated from today’s gender expectations, it would be anachronistic to attribute them genderless status, as certain garments that today we read as feminine, belonged in that time to the male wardrobe.
One of the phenomenons that paved the way to this genderless presentation is primarily the growing interest of men in fashion – a trend captured early by the houses of the industry that invested in the development of men’s collections to make sure that they are as well cared for as the women’s. Meanwhile, streetwear rose as the trend of the decade bringing men closer to fashion.
Historically, the LGBTQ+ community has never limited itself to the gender expectations imposed by society. However, people who decided to live their gender identity or sexuality freely were often cut off and marginalised, which served as a catalyst for the emergence of trends often covered by a camp aesthetic that has become a hallmark of LGBTQ+ culture.
The conquest of LGBTQ+ rights in the West freed gender dissident people from the ghettos who began to be part of civil society and influencing the mainstream style. Once they began to star in powerful campaigns it generated two effects: on the one hand, liberation of the society of binary clothing expectations and, on the other, empowering the LGBTQ+ community that identified with these identities and felt freer to express themselves.
That said, what we can affirm is that currently genderless fashion represents a hallmark of the era, since it is the first time that men and women consciously flee from dressing in accordance with social norms that only limit the possibilities of expression. There is a general reversal of the factors that have long determined the masculine or feminine character of clothing. Now women seek mostly comfort and men resort to as many devices as they can to express themselves.
The best of all this is what is found in the middle: designers and brands that had already emerged without gender markers and that were born in a period in which these differentiations simply serve as a reference to create garments that do not understand masculine or feminine.
Spain is one of the most fertile territories for the cultivation of a genderless aesthetic. Palomo Spain is one of the main references of the movement at a global level. The Cordoba based designer revolutionized the world of fashion with his Chicos Palomo and won over global celebrities such as Beyoncé and Rita Ora.
Another prominent designer is the creative director of the Spanish brand Loewe, Jonathan Anderson, who has produced exquisite work for the brand over the past few years through the valorisation of craftsmanship and genderless aesthetics, as well as through the many tributes he makes to icons of the LGTBQ+ movement past.
Below we present some young Spanish fashion designers who have developed their collections beyond binary concepts, explaining what masculinity and femininity represent for them in their creative processes:
A man holds a sign depicting the Spanish flag and calling for nonreligious education during the 2013 Madrid Gay Pride Parade. (Gonzalo Arroyo via Getty Images)
Most people around the world identify with a religion or religious group. The rest, an estimated 16% of the global population in 2020, are religiously unaffiliated, meaning they identify as atheists, agnostics or describe their religion as “nothing in particular.”
In many countries, being religiously unaffiliated is linked to certain social and political views. For example, in some countries, religiously unaffiliated adults – a group also known as religious “nones” – are more likely to express accepting views of homosexuality, less likely to prefer traditional gender roles in marriages, and more likely to identify with the political left than are adults who identify with a religion, according to a 2019 Pew Research Center survey.
The survey included 34 countries, 18 of which had samples of religiously unaffiliated adults that were large enough to be analyzed.
In most of these 18 countries, religiously unaffiliated adults were more likely than those who identify with a religion to say homosexuality should be accepted by society.
For example, in South Korea, 60% of religious “nones” say homosexuality should be accepted by society, compared with 30% of religiously affiliated adults who say the same. Significant gaps also occur in Slovakia (34 percentage points), the United States (22 points), the Czech Republic (19 points) and even Russia (15 points), where acceptance of homosexuality is far less widespread across society.
Pew Research Center has long tracked demographic trends among the religiously affiliated and unaffiliated as well as the behaviors and beliefs associated with people in those groups. This post draws on data from a Pew Research Center survey conducted across 34 countries from May 13 to Oct. 2, 2019, among 38,426 respondents. The survey was conducted face to face across Africa, Latin America, the Middle East and South Asia, and on the phone in North America and in the Asia-Pacific region. Across Europe, the survey was conducted over the phone in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and the UK, but face to face in Central and Eastern Europe, Italy, Ukraine and Russia. In 18 of the 34 countries surveyed, there were a sufficient number of respondents who identified as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular” for additional subgroup analysis.
The questions used for this report can be found here, here, and here, along with responses, and its methodology.
Religiously unaffiliated people also tend to differ from those who identify with a religion when it comes to how they view gender roles in families. When asked what kind of marriage is a more satisfying way of life, religious “nones” in some countries analyzed are more likely than those who identify with a religion to prefer one where both the husband and wife have jobs and together take care of the household. And unaffiliated adults in 11 countries are less likely to say a marriage where the husband provides for the family and the wife takes care of the house and children is more satisfying.
In addition, religiously unaffiliated people in many countries analyzed are more likely than those who identify with a religion to place themselves on the political left. This difference is most pronounced in Spain, where 47% of unaffiliated people put themselves on the ideological left, compared with just 19% of those identifying with a religion. Double-digit differences also appear in the U.S., Canada, France, the UK, Italy, Australia, Germany and Sweden.
These patterns are not universal. For example, in Sweden, about equal shares among the religiously unaffiliated and those who identify with a religion say homosexuality should be accepted by society (96% vs. 93%, respectively). Additionally, affiliated and unaffiliated adults are about equally likely to place themselves on the ideological left in several countries, including Argentina and Mexico.
When it comes to views about the importance of freedom of religion, there is no clear national pattern of differences between religiously affiliated and unaffiliated people. In seven of the countries analyzed – Argentina, Australia, Hungary, Mexico, the Czech Republic, South Korea and Slovakia – religious “nones” are less likely than religiously affiliated people to say it is very important that people in their country can practice their religion freely. In the other countries analyzed, there are no significant differences between the religiously unaffiliated and those who identify with a religion on this question.
Across the complete set of 34 countries surveyed in 2019, the share of religious “nones” varies, from less than 1% of the population in six countries (India, Indonesia, Lebanon, Nigeria, the Philippines and Tunisia), to around three-in-ten in the United States (27%), Germany (30%), Spain (31%) and Canada (32%), to roughly half the populations in South Korea (49%), Japan (51%) and the Czech Republic (53%) (these numbers can be quite sensitive to interviewer effects and question wording).
The absolute number of religious “nones” worldwide is expected to increase slightly from 1.17 billion in 2015 to 1.2 billion in 2060, according to Pew Research Center projections. However, since other religious groups are projected to grow much faster, the global share of religiously unaffiliated people is expected to fall from 16% to 13% of the global population over the same time period.
Note: The questions used for this report can be found here, here, and here, along with responses, and its methodology.
Aidan Connaughtonis a research assistant focusing on global attitudes research at Pew Research Center.
Here is a sampling of the week’s events and how to tune in (all times are Eastern). Note that events are subject to change after publication.
Monday
Follow a virtual service for Yom Kippur. Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, a synagogue in Manhattan that grew out of the L.G.B.T. community, live-streams through the blowing of the shofar, the ram’s horn trumpet, in the evening.
See Cindy Sherman’s latest transformations, courtesy of Metro Pictures gallery. In 10 new photographs, the artist — known for turning her lens on herself — created a series of distinct, androgynous characters clad in designer get-ups.
Step into the Poster House museum as it presents a discussion on its latest exhibition, “The Sleeping Giant,” which explores the Chinese economy over the decades through poster design. Tickets are $3.
Sweat to the beat with the dance fitness instructor Deja Riley. Ms. Riley spent a decade as a professional dancer for stars like Beyoncé and Lady Gaga, and now runs her own YouTube fitness channel, which offers a variety of workouts.
Be mesmerized as the last of three performances of “Our Labyrinth” — conceived by the Taiwanese-American artist Lee Mingwei and reprised in collaboration with the choreographer Bill T. Jones — unfolds inside the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Today’s lineup features the New York City Ballet principal Sara Mearns; Linda LaBeija, a transgender artist and activist; and DeAngelo Blanchard, a dance educator. With a stylized broom in hand, each person sweeps a pile of rice along a meandering path for 90 minutes to vocals provided by the mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran.
Listen to the photographer Martine Gutierrez discuss her project “Indigenous Woman,” a 124-page exploration of what it means to be Indigenous in the contemporary world. Joining her in conversation is Nadiah Rivera Fellah, a curator at the Cleveland Museum of Art. This free event is presented by the Aperture Foundation and Parsons School of Design at the New School.
Sip afternoon tea with the singer and songwriter Tashera Robertson as part of a monthly series produced by the National Museum of Women in the Arts. An interview with Ms. Robertson follows her live performance.
Tag along to Misty’s very first ballet class, as illustrated by Setor Fiadzigbey and reimagined by Misty Copeland herself to involve a devious toymaker. At a virtual event for Politics and Prose bookstore, the prima ballerina discusses her new picture book, “Bunheads.”
Tuck in for a movie night, thanks to the New York Film Festival, which has plenty of online offerings. Don’t miss “Lovers Rock” from the director Steve McQueen, in particular; it focuses on a single night in London’s West Indian community in 1980.
Lead your children in a science experiment with Science Fun for Everyone, an educational nonprofit. Have shaving cream and cornstarch? Then you have the makings of snow fluff. This recipe turns these two everyday items into their own playdough.
Get literary all day long. The annualweeklong Brooklyn Book Festival hosts dozens of virtual, mostly free events today, stacked with some of the biggest names in the book world. Listen to the authors Tayari Jones and Brit Bennett talk about their latest works and race and love in America. Or tune in to readings by Colson Whitehead and Arundhati Roy.
Owned by Gloria Noto, NOTO Botanics is a sustainable, vegan, gender-neutral cosmetics line. The company raises money for dozens of LGBTQ+ organizations while offering natural, simple beauty products that don’t exploit animals.
Yeah Dawg is run by the wonderful nonbinary vegan chef Marino Benedetto, who aimed to turn fast-food favorite hot dogs into healthy, animal-friendly snacks. Rather than biting into a mix of miscellaneous animal parts filled with carcinogens, patrons will enjoy these delectable veggie-based dogs, which are perfect for a vegan barbecue.
BEETxBEET is a woman- and LGBTQ+-owned lifestyle brand with epic shirts, keychains, art, stickers, and pins all promoting a vegan message. Founded by Jacky Wasserman, the brand offers fun, stylish ways to show off your commitment to animal rights activism.
With more than 3.6 million subscribers and counting, YouTuber Nikita Dragun created Dragun Beauty to empower makeup-lovers to express their authentic selves. This first-ever trans-owned beauty brand is 100% vegan and 100% glamorous.
W3LL PEOPLE is a clean cosmetics brand offering cruelty-free, plant-based makeup and skin-care products. Founded by Shirley Pinkson, the brand encourages equality and kindness to animals.
Lagusta’s Luscious’ delightfully decadent artisanal chocolates are wonderful for any occasion. The company’s owner, Lagusta Yearwood, emphasizes ethical labor and justice for animals while creating her delicacies.
Sauce and Destroy, Alana Reali’s brainchild, offers marinara sauce that’s packed full of flavor and just the right amount of spice. The secret ingredient? Kindness to animals.
*****
These are just some of the LGBTQ+-owned companies that are working hard to help animals. Share some of your own favorite vegan LGBTQ+-owned brands by tagging us on Twitter @peta!
Over 200 individuals and 100+ organisations connected to LGBTQ+ inclusion in football respond to recent media coverage about gay and bi male professional footballers…
This letter was first published on Monday 21 September, 2020.
Dear friends,
Football stories are part of the fabric of our global game. We recall memories of our greatest goals, the team-mates we played with, the fellow fans we cheered alongside, the victories and the defeats.
Some stories are harder to share – they are deeply personal, perhaps complicated, related to experiences that are talked about much less often in sport. Holding on to these in secret can be a heavy burden, impacting upon a person’s mental wellbeing, as well as that of their friends and family.
Since May, a series of reports in sections of the national media have reminded the public of this…
On Monday, another article in this series has been published in a tabloid newspaper…
Article on page 9 of The Sun, 21 September 2020
As a group of LGBTQ+ people and allies with roles in football, we know there are moments when the game can be unwelcoming for members of our community. The culture of the men’s professional set-up can make it a particularly challenging environment for anyone who is gay or bi – the pressure on players from academy level to first team, the sense of needing to conform to progress, and the intense interest from fans and the media, are just some of the influences that might cause a footballer to struggle.
Understanding this only increases our respect for gay and bi male players, and the reasons why the majority decide to keep that part of who they are private, even after hanging up their boots. Some confide in close friends and team-mates, but still wrestle with the question of whether to come out publicly.
Yet these narratives are not owned solely by hidden figures, anonymous individuals, or silhouettes in tabloid newspapers. There are stories too of visible, active players, match officials, and managers who are providing representation, such as…
In addition, ex-Premier League star Thomas Hitzlsperger continues to work in football as Stuttgart’s sporting director, while former players Robbie Rogers, Thomas Beattie and Anton Hysén have also spoken about the benefits of being their authentic selves.
Media coverage has extended the reach of their stories, helping to give confidence to those who need it and sometimes convincing other sportspeople to be more open too. The focus on each of the individuals named above may not compare to what a current gay or bi Premier League, EFL or even National League player might encounter when coming out. However, the feelings that brings – of a weight being lifted, a lightening of spirits – is universal.
Further reassurances of the positive reception that awaits can be found in the commitments made to LGBT+ inclusion by the PFA and its Equalities team; the messages sent out by the Premier League, EFL and their member clubs through their shared backing of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces message; the activity of Player Care and inclusion teams working within clubs; the extensive education work carried out by Kick It Out, Football v Homophobia, and other organisations and campaigns; and the Football Association’s support with its ‘In Pursuit of Progress’ equality plan, its partnership with the Heads Together mental health campaign, and the awareness it raises during both LGBT+ History Month and Pride season.
As tangible as these actions are, the football authorities have the capacity to do more – such as addressing LGBTQ+ mental wellbeing specifically, and the challenges faced by closeted gay and bi male players; and delivering education for all stakeholders around how homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language and behaviour can make people feel unwelcome and unsafe. We acknowledge that the FA has recently introduced stricter charging policies and sanctioning guidelines for discriminatory chanting in the domestic game. We urge UEFA and FIFA, with their respective #EqualGame and Fair Play campaigns, to set an example at the highest levels of the game for member associations to follow and to be bolder in their visible support for LGBT+ inclusion.
This is our open letter; we sign it as individuals with diverse roles in football, and on behalf of the organisations we represent. If we are to help LGBTQ+ people in our sport who are struggling to arrive at their own sense of Pride, while also avoid fuelling speculation about who is and isn’t gay or bi, then greater transparency and a more constructive approach is required from the game’s critics. Sensationalised accounts in the media of agony and anguish give the perception that complacency has set in on homophobia in football. The truth is that there has never been a more concerted team effort to tackle prejudice, but its progress is hampered by such accounts and makes gay and bi people across the men’s game feel less safe and less likely to feel they can be honest and open about their identity.
Hitzlsperger told ARD Radio in Germany last year that the game will struggle to move on if the LGBT+ people within it are perpetually warned off or advised to hold back. “Don’t always play on people’s fears and tell them the bad things that could happen – that’s exactly the wrong signal to send out,” he said. We offer this letter collectively, as a beacon of hope; together, we form a strong support network of shared experience and allyship.
Our goal is to inspire all the storytellers like us who are out there to have a little faith in football.
Signed by
Azeem Ahmed, United With Pride Nicole Allison, Founder, NA Sport Paul Amann, Founder, Kop Outs Carole Anderson, Ibrox Pride Anita Asante Ryan Atkin, referee Apna Albion (West Bromwich Albion FC supporters group) Carl Austin-Behan, LGBTQ+ Advisor to the Mayor of Greater Manchester Harley Bagnall-Taylor Alexander Baker, Chair, Stonewall FC James Baker, Stonewall FC Chris Basiurski, former chair, GFSN Neil Basterfield, Proud Baggies Frank Beattie, CUOSC (Carlisle United Supporters Trust) Thomas Beattie, Ovvy App Hayley Bennett, Co-Founder, Nutmegs Mark Betham Sanjay Bhandari, Kick It Out Black and Azul Podcast Howard Borrington, Pride With MBDA Liam Bowering Craig Bratt, Media Officer, Exeter City FC Liam Braisdell, St Martin’s FC Sarah Breslin, Villa & Proud Staynton Brown Tracy Brown, Co-Chair of Chelsea Pride Nigel Bryson Davidson, Vice-Chair, CUOSC Mark Bullingham, CEO, The FA Group David Byrne, Chair, Rover&Out! Richard Cann, LGBT Sport Cymru James Cardall, President, Pride Football Australia Tom Carr, Founder, Argyle Pride Vicki Carter, Co-Chair, Out For Sport JP Casey Rhys Chapman, Director, WONDERKID Andrew Charles, ProudSwans Nilesh J Chauhan, Villans Together Lucy Clark, Trans Radio UK; TRUK Listens Sam Clarke, Comms Officer, FvH Youth Panel Louise Clarke, Founder, Proud Cherries Simon Clarkson, Carlisle United Supporters Groups Ben Cohen Cristian Colas Mike Conlon, Cork Rebels FC Edward Connell Terry Connolly, Chair, London Titans FC Sophie Cook, Manager, Rainbow Rovers / Equality & Diversity Officer, Whitehawk FC Daniel Cookes Tom Cowley, Social Media Officer, Villa & Proud Anthony Crocker, Chair, InterMedia UK Nina Crombie Daniel Crump, Charlton Invicta FC Di Cunningham, Proud Canaries and Proud Canaries FC Michelle Daltry, LGBT+ Sport Cymru Josh Day, London Titans FC Robbie de Santos, Head of Communications and Campaigns, Stonewall Chris Devine Mark Doidge, Whitehawk FC Jim Dolan, Pride of Irons Paul Elliott CBE Martin Endemann, Football Supporters Europe Lou Englefield, Pride Sports / Football v Homophobia Joanie Evans, Co-President, Federation of Gay Games Abbie Fairbairn Jamie Feldman Beth Fisher Aaron Flanagan Andy Garden Luke Gardener Darin Gardiner, freelance TV producer Kevin George, LGBT Trickies Chris Gibbons, Director of Inside Inclusion Gary Ginnaw, Player Manager, Charlton Invicta FC Dario Giovannelli, Executive Director – Legal Services, International Tennis Federation Nikki Girvan, Director, Auteur Media Ltd Garry Greenaway, Birmingham Blaze FC Steven Grocock, LGBT+ Pies Jacob Hardwick Rob Harris, Chair, Proud Valiants Andrew Harrison, Marching Out Together Max Harvey, LGBT+ Sport Cymru Jim Hearson, London Titans FC Nick Heath, Ambassador, Harlequins Foundation Andrew Henderson, Pride of the Terraces Pippa Henry Andi Herring, Interim CEO, LCR Pride Foundation Matt Hill, Co-Chair, Out For Sport Malcolm Hirst, Love Football Hate Racism Joanna Hoffman, Director of Communications, Athlete Ally Jon Holmes, Sports Media LGBT+ Mike Homfray, Rainbow Toffees Sam Hopkins, Birmingham Blaze FC Ross Hunter Lee Hurley, Daily Cannon Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett, Sports Media LGBT+ Kristopher Irwin, The PFA Ollie James-Parr, Logistics & Social Officer, London Titans FC Jamie Jaxon Lee Johnson, Proud Lilywhites Mark Johnson, Rainbow Devils Esther Jones Russell, Head of Policy: Social Inclusion at Fare Network; Co-Chair, The Festival of Football Edward Kandel, Co-Founder, LGBTQ+ In Sport Lucy Keeling Nancy Kelley, Chief Executive, Stonewall Jellina Keulen, Project Support Officer, Show Racism The Red Card Danyal Khan, University of Gloucestershire Cameron Kirton Paul Kirton, Grassroots Football UK Will Knight, United With Pride LaGolda and Sound of Gol James Laley, Founder and Chair, Rainbow Blades; Organiser, Sheffield Rainbow Laces Ivan Lara, ANADE LGBT+ Marc Leckie, CEO, Harlequins Foundation Laura Lee, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, World After Sport Jehmeil Lemonius Carl Lerigo, Manager, Leftfooters FC Amazin LeThi John Lochland, Director, JL2 Productions Jamie Lockey Cllr Rishi Madlani, Pride in Football Rory Magrath, Associate Professor of Equality and Diversity, Solent University John Maher, Birmingham Blaze FC Angus Malcolm, Chair, Sport Allies; Founder, Worldwide Roar Paul Malley, Treasurer, Foxes Pride Ryan Mather, Proud Terriers Stuart Matthews, Founder and Chair, Proud Seagulls Adam McCabe Andrew McKay Callum McKay, Events Officer, Rainbow Blades Craig McKissock Greg McLean, Business Support Manager, Cheshire County FA James McNaught, Chair, Village Manchester FC Andrew McNee, Canal Street Blues Nicky Metcalfe, Chair of Turfed Out Kevin Miles Adam Miller Emma Miller-McCaffrey, Founder of QPR Rainbow Rangers David Mooney, Blue Moon Podcast Chloe Morgan Matt Morton, Manager, Thetford Town FC Connor Moseley, Balls The Podcast Ben Moutter, Birmingham Blaze FC Roisin Murray, Editor / Presenter, Gaydio Eric Najib, Rainbow Devils; Stonewall FC Mogi Natsagdorj, Proud Lilywhites Kelly Neilson, Proud Hornets Stuart Neilson, Co-Founder, Proud Hornets Carl Nunnerley, Rainbow Devils Katie O’Brien, Rainbow Devils Paul O’Regan, Treasurer, London Titans FC Chris Paouros, Proud Lilywhites – Tottenham Hotspur LGBTQ+ Supporters Association; Kick It Out Bhavisha Patel, Proud Valiants Shiv Paul, Federation of Gay Games Ian Pearson-Brown, United With Pride Juliette Pedram, Project Support Officer, Show Racism The Red Card Simone Pound, The PFA Piara Powar, Fare Network Richard Prescott, Cardiff Dragons FC Theo Price, Birmingham Blaze FC Richie Pugh, The Coolgang Foxtrots Tim Purcell, Tim Purcell Associates Alan Quick, Co-Ordinator, Proud Grecians Peter Quinn, Proud Hornets Claire Rafferty, Commercial Manager, Chelsea FC Jaime Randall, Club Secretary, AFC Muswell Hill Naomi Reid Callum Richardson, Heart of the Holte Lee Rotherham, CUOSC Kevin Rowe, Villa & Proud; HotScots FC Hubert Rovers, Project Co-ordinator, Show Racism The Red Card Europe Maria Ryder Debbie Saddington, United With Pride Saint Anthony’s FC Hugo Scheckter Brian Silk, London Unity League Connor Shine, Volunteer, Teach Solais Tribes FC Aaron Sholl Jason Sholl, President and CEO, ProReferee Bikramjit Singh, Blues4All Ashley Slaughter David Smith Emma Smith Graeme Smith, Chair of Foxes Pride Thomas Smith Verity Smith, Mermaids UK Marvin Sordell, Co-Founder, Oneighty Productions Kyle Sproat Jack Spruce Phil Steer, Manager, London Titans FC Joe Stephenson, CUOSC Dr Ryan Storr, Proud 2 Play (Australia) Darren Styles OBE, Managing Director, Attitude Magazine Mike Symmonds Darryl Telles Beatrice Thirkettle, Pride Sports / Football v Homophobia Daniel Thomas Samuel Timms, Villa & Proud Hugh Torrance, Executive Director, LEAP Sports Scotland Sarah Townsend, General Secretary, EGLSF Troy Townsend Luke Tuffs, 1st Team Manager, Ashford Town Mx FC Jordan Tyms, Head of Inclusion at Altrincham FC Liron Velleman, Fans for Diversity Guidance Group Zoë Vicarage, spokesperson, West Ham United Women Supporters Group Malou Micola von Fürstenrecht, United Glasgow FC Sammy Walker Steve Wardlaw, Chairman, Emerald Life Carol Ward, Foxes Pride Natalie Washington Ben Watkiss, First Team Sport Scientist, Burton Albion FC Jason Webber, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Integrity Manager, Football Association of Wales Joe White, Arsenal GayGooners John Whitney Ali Wightman, Rainbow Devils David Williams Leon Williams, Secretary, Stonewall FC Charles Wollin, Commentator and Broadcaster, Oakland Roots SC and San Francisco City FC Alastair Woodcock, Secretary, CUOSC Hannah Wright, Founder and Chair, The Festival of Football Emma Wright, Proud and Palace Cyd Zeigler Piero Zizzi, Founder and Chair of Proud Baggies; director, Brightspot International
Thank you too all who signed this open letter. If you are interested in this initiative and would like further information, please email info@sportsmedialgbt.com.
Sports-specific information and support for people from LGBTQ+ communities and their allies is available from:
Sports Media LGBT+ is a network, advocacy and consultancy group that is helping to build a community of LGBT+ people and allies in sport. We’re here to help. Learn more about us on our About page; to get in touch, Contact Us here.
For all of its hustle and bustle, Shinjuku is still one of the best places in the city to get some fresh air as it’s home to some of Tokyo’s finest parks. Shinjuku Central Park, in particular, now boasts a brand new wellness centre with a stunning yoga studio and bouldering gym for Tokyoites to incorporate into their fitness routines.
Photo: fb.com/parkerstokyo
The new facility, called Parkers Tokyo, is a two-storey building surrounded by the park’s greenery. It was established to serve as a community centre for urbanites looking to adopt an active lifestyle. Aside from yoga and bouldering, Parkers Tokyo also offers a restaurant and a Starbucks for those keen to fuel up while spending time at the park.
Parker Tokyo’s indoor yoga studio is easily one of its best features as the space boasts a wide picture window overlooking the park’s scenery. There is also an adjoining terrace where classes can be held outdoors when the weather’s right.
Photo: fb.com/parkerstokyo
As for the bouldering gym, there are different walls of different heights catering to both adults and kids with varying levels of experience. You can borrow everything you need from yoga mats to climbing shoes so you need only arrive in comfortable clothes. Aside from yoga and bouldering, there is a team of instructors who regularly lead guided sessions in the park for slacklining, jogging and Nordic walking.
The best part is, you can either sign up for a membership or pay per use. If you see yourself swinging by regularly, membership plans are ¥8,800 a month for unlimited weekday sessions or ¥9,900 for unlimited sessions all day, any day. Alternatively, you can opt to pay a fee for each session, starting from¥1,000 for bouldering and ¥3,000 for yoga.
Owned by Gloria Noto, NOTO Botanics is a sustainable, vegan, gender-neutral cosmetics line. The company raises money for dozens of LGBTQ+ organizations while offering natural, simple beauty products that don’t exploit animals.
Yeah Dawg is run by the wonderful nonbinary vegan chef Marino Benedetto, who aimed to turn fast-food favorite hot dogs into healthy, animal-friendly snacks. Rather than biting into a mix of miscellaneous animal parts filled with carcinogens, patrons will enjoy these delectable veggie-based dogs, which are perfect for a vegan barbecue.
BEETxBEET is a woman- and LGBTQ+-owned lifestyle brand with epic shirts, keychains, art, stickers, and pins all promoting a vegan message. Founded by Jacky Wasserman, the brand offers fun, stylish ways to show off your commitment to animal rights activism.
With more than 3.6 million subscribers and counting, YouTuber Nikita Dragun created Dragun Beauty to empower makeup-lovers to express their authentic selves. This first-ever trans-owned beauty brand is 100% vegan and 100% glamorous.
W3LL PEOPLE is a clean cosmetics brand offering cruelty-free, plant-based makeup and skin-care products. Founded by Shirley Pinkson, the brand encourages equality and kindness to animals.
Lagusta’s Luscious’ delightfully decadent artisanal chocolates are wonderful for any occasion. The company’s owner, Lagusta Yearwood, emphasizes ethical labor and justice for animals while creating her delicacies.
Sauce and Destroy, Alana Reali’s brainchild, offers marinara sauce that’s packed full of flavor and just the right amount of spice. The secret ingredient? Kindness to animals.
*****
These are just some of the LGBTQ+-owned companies that are working hard to help animals. Share some of your own favorite vegan LGBTQ+-owned brands by tagging us on Twitter @peta!
Over 200 individuals and 100+ organisations connected to LGBTQ+ inclusion in football respond to recent media coverage about gay and bi male professional footballers…
This letter was first published on Monday 21 September, 2020.
Dear friends,
Football stories are part of the fabric of our global game. We recall memories of our greatest goals, the team-mates we played with, the fellow fans we cheered alongside, the victories and the defeats.
Some stories are harder to share – they are deeply personal, perhaps complicated, related to experiences that are talked about much less often in sport. Holding on to these in secret can be a heavy burden, impacting upon a person’s mental wellbeing, as well as that of their friends and family.
Since May, a series of reports in sections of the national media have reminded the public of this…
On Monday, another article in this series has been published in a tabloid newspaper…
Article on page 9 of The Sun, 21 September 2020
As a group of LGBTQ+ people and allies with roles in football, we know there are moments when the game can be unwelcoming for members of our community. The culture of the men’s professional set-up can make it a particularly challenging environment for anyone who is gay or bi – the pressure on players from academy level to first team, the sense of needing to conform to progress, and the intense interest from fans and the media, are just some of the influences that might cause a footballer to struggle.
Understanding this only increases our respect for gay and bi male players, and the reasons why the majority decide to keep that part of who they are private, even after hanging up their boots. Some confide in close friends and team-mates, but still wrestle with the question of whether to come out publicly.
Yet these narratives are not owned solely by hidden figures, anonymous individuals, or silhouettes in tabloid newspapers. There are stories too of visible, active players, match officials, and managers who are providing representation, such as…
In addition, ex-Premier League star Thomas Hitzlsperger continues to work in football as Stuttgart’s sporting director, while former players Robbie Rogers, Thomas Beattie and Anton Hysén have also spoken about the benefits of being their authentic selves.
Media coverage has extended the reach of their stories, helping to give confidence to those who need it and sometimes convincing other sportspeople to be more open too. The focus on each of the individuals named above may not compare to what a current gay or bi Premier League, EFL or even National League player might encounter when coming out. However, the feelings that brings – of a weight being lifted, a lightening of spirits – is universal.
Further reassurances of the positive reception that awaits can be found in the commitments made to LGBT+ inclusion by the PFA and its Equalities team; the messages sent out by the Premier League, EFL and their member clubs through their shared backing of Stonewall’s Rainbow Laces message; the activity of Player Care and inclusion teams working within clubs; the extensive education work carried out by Kick It Out, Football v Homophobia, and other organisations and campaigns; and the Football Association’s support with its ‘In Pursuit of Progress’ equality plan, its partnership with the Heads Together mental health campaign, and the awareness it raises during both LGBT+ History Month and Pride season.
As tangible as these actions are, the football authorities have the capacity to do more – such as addressing LGBTQ+ mental wellbeing specifically, and the challenges faced by closeted gay and bi male players; and delivering education for all stakeholders around how homophobic, biphobic and transphobic language and behaviour can make people feel unwelcome and unsafe. We acknowledge that the FA has recently introduced stricter charging policies and sanctioning guidelines for discriminatory chanting in the domestic game. We urge UEFA and FIFA, with their respective #EqualGame and Fair Play campaigns, to set an example at the highest levels of the game for member associations to follow and to be bolder in their visible support for LGBT+ inclusion.
This is our open letter; we sign it as individuals with diverse roles in football, and on behalf of the organisations we represent. If we are to help LGBTQ+ people in our sport who are struggling to arrive at their own sense of Pride, while also avoid fuelling speculation about who is and isn’t gay or bi, then greater transparency and a more constructive approach is required from the game’s critics. Sensationalised accounts in the media of agony and anguish give the perception that complacency has set in on homophobia in football. The truth is that there has never been a more concerted team effort to tackle prejudice, but its progress is hampered by such accounts and makes gay and bi people across the men’s game feel less safe and less likely to feel they can be honest and open about their identity.
Hitzlsperger told ARD Radio in Germany last year that the game will struggle to move on if the LGBT+ people within it are perpetually warned off or advised to hold back. “Don’t always play on people’s fears and tell them the bad things that could happen – that’s exactly the wrong signal to send out,” he said. We offer this letter collectively, as a beacon of hope; together, we form a strong support network of shared experience and allyship.
Our goal is to inspire all the storytellers like us who are out there to have a little faith in football.
Signed by
Azeem Ahmed, United With Pride Nicole Allison, Founder, NA Sport Paul Amann, Founder, Kop Outs Carole Anderson, Ibrox Pride Anita Asante Ryan Atkin, referee Apna Albion (West Bromwich Albion FC supporters group) Carl Austin-Behan, LGBTQ+ Advisor to the Mayor of Greater Manchester Harley Bagnall-Taylor Alexander Baker, Chair, Stonewall FC James Baker, Stonewall FC Chris Basiurski, former chair, GFSN Neil Basterfield, Proud Baggies Frank Beattie, CUOSC (Carlisle United Supporters Trust) Thomas Beattie, Ovvy App Hayley Bennett, Co-Founder, Nutmegs Mark Betham Sanjay Bhandari, Kick It Out Black and Azul Podcast Howard Borrington, Pride With MBDA Liam Bowering Craig Bratt, Media Officer, Exeter City FC Liam Braisdell, St Martin’s FC Sarah Breslin, Villa & Proud Staynton Brown Tracy Brown, Co-Chair of Chelsea Pride Nigel Bryson Davidson, Vice-Chair, CUOSC Mark Bullingham, CEO, The FA Group David Byrne, Chair, Rover&Out! Richard Cann, LGBT Sport Cymru James Cardall, President, Pride Football Australia Tom Carr, Founder, Argyle Pride Vicki Carter, Co-Chair, Out For Sport JP Casey Rhys Chapman, Director, WONDERKID Andrew Charles, ProudSwans Nilesh J Chauhan, Villans Together Lucy Clark, Trans Radio UK; TRUK Listens Sam Clarke, Comms Officer, FvH Youth Panel Louise Clarke, Founder, Proud Cherries Simon Clarkson, Carlisle United Supporters Groups Ben Cohen Cristian Colas Mike Conlon, Cork Rebels FC Edward Connell Terry Connolly, Chair, London Titans FC Sophie Cook, Manager, Rainbow Rovers / Equality & Diversity Officer, Whitehawk FC Daniel Cookes Tom Cowley, Social Media Officer, Villa & Proud Anthony Crocker, Chair, InterMedia UK Nina Crombie Daniel Crump, Charlton Invicta FC Di Cunningham, Proud Canaries and Proud Canaries FC Michelle Daltry, LGBT+ Sport Cymru Josh Day, London Titans FC Robbie de Santos, Head of Communications and Campaigns, Stonewall Chris Devine Mark Doidge, Whitehawk FC Jim Dolan, Pride of Irons Paul Elliott CBE Martin Endemann, Football Supporters Europe Lou Englefield, Pride Sports / Football v Homophobia Joanie Evans, Co-President, Federation of Gay Games Abbie Fairbairn Jamie Feldman Beth Fisher Aaron Flanagan Andy Garden Luke Gardener Darin Gardiner, freelance TV producer Kevin George, LGBT Trickies Chris Gibbons, Director of Inside Inclusion Gary Ginnaw, Player Manager, Charlton Invicta FC Dario Giovannelli, Executive Director – Legal Services, International Tennis Federation Nikki Girvan, Director, Auteur Media Ltd Garry Greenaway, Birmingham Blaze FC Steven Grocock, LGBT+ Pies Jacob Hardwick Rob Harris, Chair, Proud Valiants Andrew Harrison, Marching Out Together Max Harvey, LGBT+ Sport Cymru Jim Hearson, London Titans FC Nick Heath, Ambassador, Harlequins Foundation Andrew Henderson, Pride of the Terraces Pippa Henry Andi Herring, Interim CEO, LCR Pride Foundation Matt Hill, Co-Chair, Out For Sport Malcolm Hirst, Love Football Hate Racism Joanna Hoffman, Director of Communications, Athlete Ally Jon Holmes, Sports Media LGBT+ Mike Homfray, Rainbow Toffees Sam Hopkins, Birmingham Blaze FC Ross Hunter Lee Hurley, Daily Cannon Adrian Hyyrylainen-Trett, Sports Media LGBT+ Kristopher Irwin, The PFA Ollie James-Parr, Logistics & Social Officer, London Titans FC Jamie Jaxon Lee Johnson, Proud Lilywhites Mark Johnson, Rainbow Devils Esther Jones Russell, Head of Policy: Social Inclusion at Fare Network; Co-Chair, The Festival of Football Edward Kandel, Co-Founder, LGBTQ+ In Sport Lucy Keeling Nancy Kelley, Chief Executive, Stonewall Jellina Keulen, Project Support Officer, Show Racism The Red Card Danyal Khan, University of Gloucestershire Cameron Kirton Paul Kirton, Grassroots Football UK Will Knight, United With Pride LaGolda and Sound of Gol James Laley, Founder and Chair, Rainbow Blades; Organiser, Sheffield Rainbow Laces Ivan Lara, ANADE LGBT+ Marc Leckie, CEO, Harlequins Foundation Laura Lee, Head of Diversity & Inclusion, World After Sport Jehmeil Lemonius Carl Lerigo, Manager, Leftfooters FC Amazin LeThi John Lochland, Director, JL2 Productions Jamie Lockey Cllr Rishi Madlani, Pride in Football Rory Magrath, Associate Professor of Equality and Diversity, Solent University John Maher, Birmingham Blaze FC Angus Malcolm, Chair, Sport Allies; Founder, Worldwide Roar Paul Malley, Treasurer, Foxes Pride Ryan Mather, Proud Terriers Stuart Matthews, Founder and Chair, Proud Seagulls Adam McCabe Andrew McKay Callum McKay, Events Officer, Rainbow Blades Craig McKissock Greg McLean, Business Support Manager, Cheshire County FA James McNaught, Chair, Village Manchester FC Andrew McNee, Canal Street Blues Nicky Metcalfe, Chair of Turfed Out Kevin Miles Adam Miller Emma Miller-McCaffrey, Founder of QPR Rainbow Rangers David Mooney, Blue Moon Podcast Chloe Morgan Matt Morton, Manager, Thetford Town FC Connor Moseley, Balls The Podcast Ben Moutter, Birmingham Blaze FC Roisin Murray, Editor / Presenter, Gaydio Eric Najib, Rainbow Devils; Stonewall FC Mogi Natsagdorj, Proud Lilywhites Kelly Neilson, Proud Hornets Stuart Neilson, Co-Founder, Proud Hornets Carl Nunnerley, Rainbow Devils Katie O’Brien, Rainbow Devils Paul O’Regan, Treasurer, London Titans FC Chris Paouros, Proud Lilywhites – Tottenham Hotspur LGBTQ+ Supporters Association; Kick It Out Bhavisha Patel, Proud Valiants Shiv Paul, Federation of Gay Games Ian Pearson-Brown, United With Pride Juliette Pedram, Project Support Officer, Show Racism The Red Card Simone Pound, The PFA Piara Powar, Fare Network Richard Prescott, Cardiff Dragons FC Theo Price, Birmingham Blaze FC Richie Pugh, The Coolgang Foxtrots Tim Purcell, Tim Purcell Associates Alan Quick, Co-Ordinator, Proud Grecians Peter Quinn, Proud Hornets Claire Rafferty, Commercial Manager, Chelsea FC Jaime Randall, Club Secretary, AFC Muswell Hill Naomi Reid Callum Richardson, Heart of the Holte Lee Rotherham, CUOSC Kevin Rowe, Villa & Proud; HotScots FC Hubert Rovers, Project Co-ordinator, Show Racism The Red Card Europe Maria Ryder Debbie Saddington, United With Pride Saint Anthony’s FC Hugo Scheckter Brian Silk, London Unity League Connor Shine, Volunteer, Teach Solais Tribes FC Aaron Sholl Jason Sholl, President and CEO, ProReferee Bikramjit Singh, Blues4All Ashley Slaughter David Smith Emma Smith Graeme Smith, Chair of Foxes Pride Thomas Smith Verity Smith, Mermaids UK Marvin Sordell, Co-Founder, Oneighty Productions Kyle Sproat Jack Spruce Phil Steer, Manager, London Titans FC Joe Stephenson, CUOSC Dr Ryan Storr, Proud 2 Play (Australia) Darren Styles OBE, Managing Director, Attitude Magazine Mike Symmonds Darryl Telles Beatrice Thirkettle, Pride Sports / Football v Homophobia Daniel Thomas Samuel Timms, Villa & Proud Hugh Torrance, Executive Director, LEAP Sports Scotland Sarah Townsend, General Secretary, EGLSF Troy Townsend Luke Tuffs, 1st Team Manager, Ashford Town Mx FC Jordan Tyms, Head of Inclusion at Altrincham FC Liron Velleman, Fans for Diversity Guidance Group Zoë Vicarage, spokesperson, West Ham United Women Supporters Group Malou Micola von Fürstenrecht, United Glasgow FC Sammy Walker Steve Wardlaw, Chairman, Emerald Life Carol Ward, Foxes Pride Natalie Washington Ben Watkiss, First Team Sport Scientist, Burton Albion FC Jason Webber, Equality, Diversity, Inclusion & Integrity Manager, Football Association of Wales Joe White, Arsenal GayGooners John Whitney Ali Wightman, Rainbow Devils David Williams Leon Williams, Secretary, Stonewall FC Charles Wollin, Commentator and Broadcaster, Oakland Roots SC and San Francisco City FC Alastair Woodcock, Secretary, CUOSC Hannah Wright, Founder and Chair, The Festival of Football Emma Wright, Proud and Palace Cyd Zeigler Piero Zizzi, Founder and Chair of Proud Baggies; director, Brightspot International
Thank you too all who signed this open letter. If you are interested in this initiative and would like further information, please email info@sportsmedialgbt.com.
Sports-specific information and support for people from LGBTQ+ communities and their allies is available from:
Sports Media LGBT+ is a network, advocacy and consultancy group that is helping to build a community of LGBT+ people and allies in sport. We’re here to help. Learn more about us on our About page; to get in touch, Contact Us here.
If Halloween is approaching, that means it’s practically Christmas at Hallmark Channel, which released its 2020 slate of holiday-centric movies and special TV episodes on Wednesday.
On one hand, the slate of films for Hallmark’s “Countdown to Christmas” and Hallmark Movies & Mysteries “Miracles of Christmas” is full of familiar faces, including Candace Cameron Bure, Lacey Chabert and Danica McKellar. On the other hand, there’s at least one big addition this year: an LGBTQ holiday film for the channel.
“Mean Girls” actor Jonathan Bennett will star in “The Christmas House,” his third Hallmark Channel original movie, alongside Robert Buckley, Ana Ayora, Treat Williams and Sharon Lawrence. The film focuses on a gay couple looking to adopt their first child and airs on Sunday, Nov. 22.
“Our holiday table is bigger and more welcoming than ever,” said Michelle Vicary, EVP, programming for Hallmark in a statement. “Our movies are rooted in warmth and positivity, meaningful connections, family gatherings, and seasonal traditions — a winning formula we hope will bring our millions of viewers much-needed levity and holiday cheer at the end of a tough year.”
In real life, Bennett is also in a committed same-sex partnership; he recently posted on Instagram that he bought a house with his partner, Jaymes Vaughan.
Jonathan Bennett (R) and Jaymes Vaughan (L) attend an afterparty of the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Jan. 5, 2020 in Los Angeles.Presley Ann / Getty Images for Icelandic Glacial
This appears to be the first time Hallmark has made a same-sex couple the main characters in a Christmas film, however, not everyone is happy about the inclusion. One Million Moms, a Christian fundamentalist group, has a petition online decrying the network.
“The once conservative network has recently caved to LGBTQ pressure and has done a one-eighty from the wholesome content the channel once aired, and the network is now catering to the Left,” the petition reads.
The same group petitioned Hallmark in 2019 to pull an ad from wedding-planning site Zola showing a lesbian couple kissing. The company initially pulled the ad, but then reversed course less than a week later amid mounting pressure from the LGBTQ+ community and allies.
“The Christmas House” will be in good LGBTQ-friendly company this holiday season; earlier in September Lifetime announced “The Christmas Set-Up,” a holiday movie starring real-life same-sex couple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee.
The rest of the Hallmark Christmas lineup seems par for the holiday course.
Several well-known stars are returning to the network this holiday season, including Candace Cameron Bure, appearing in her ninth Hallmark Channel Christmas movie, “If I Only Had Christmas” (Nov. 29). Lacey Chabert — also of “Mean Girls” fame — is appearing in two holiday films this year: “Time for Us to Come Home for Christmas” (Dec. 5) and “Christmas Waltz” (Nov. 28), which will reunite her with “Love, Romance & Chocolate” co-star Will Kemp.
If “Time for Us to Come Home” sounds familiar, it should; it’s a sequel to 2018’s “Time for Me to Come Home for Christmas,” which was based on a Blake Shelton song from 2012, “Time for Me to Come Home.” Shelton is an executive producer.
Meanwhile, Holly Robinson Peete also stars in two movies this season: “The Christmas Doctor” (Nov. 15) and the fourth installment of her movie series “Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing” (Dec. 5). “Days of Our Lives” star Alison Sweeney returns to the channel in “A Bright and Merry Christmas” (Nov. 25), while “Wonder Years” actress Danica McKellar appears in her sixth Hallmark original Christmas movie, “Christmas She Wrote” (Dec. 6).
The channel is also planning for all-new, holiday-focused episodes of “Home & Family” and a slew of holiday-related gift items, like the Hallmark Channel Holiday Edition of Monopoly, Christmas-themed tea tins, apparel, glassware and home décor.
“For more than a decade, Hallmark holiday movies have represented the gold standard that many aspire to replicate,” Crown Media’s President and CEO, Wonya Lucas, said in a statement. “From our signature movies, to food and wine, to games and decorations, to clothing, music, books, and more, we have created a destination that evokes the spirit and feeling of the season in a way that is uniquely Hallmark.”
Randee Dawn (she/her) is a veteran entertainment journalist and author based in Brooklyn. In addition to writing for outlets including TODAY.com, Variety and The Los Angeles Times, she’s the co-author of “The Law & Order: SVU Unofficial Companion” and co-editor of “Across the Universe: Tales of Alternative Beatles.” When not interviewing the stars or dabbling in speculative fiction, she nurses her sourdough starter and dreams of the day she can travel again.
The route you choose to add a child to your family will be unique to you and your circumstances.
You may be entering parenthood on your own. Sometimes one partner desires to be a biological parent, while other times both partners desire to eventually conceive and carry, which can increase your chances of a successful pregnancy. Alternatively, sometimes neither partner wants to be pregnant, instead preferring to adopt, foster, or find a surrogate.
There’s no right or wrong way to make a family, so what you choose boils down to your personal preferences and other factors like cost.
IUI
Intrauterine insemination (IUI) involves one partner choosing to become pregnant using her own eggs. The process uses donor sperm that’s inserted into the uterus using a long, skinny catheter. Sometimes doctors use fertility medications to support ovulation and implantation.
Either way, the hope is that the sperm reaches the egg after the procedure and results in a pregnancy.
Things to consider include the following:
IUI may not be covered by your health insurance. According to a fertility clinic estimator, costs can range from a few hundred dollars to over $4,000 for a single cycle.
Costs will also depend on whether the procedure includes the use of donor sperm, extra monitoring, fertility medications, and other necessities, so contact your local fertility clinic for more information.
Your fertility, which takes into account your age and ovarian reserve, among other factors, will affect the procedure’s success rate.
You may use a known or unknown sperm donor.
Multiples are a possibility when using fertility medications to stimulate egg production.
The overall success rate of IUI varies depending on many factors, including any underlying fertility issues, the type of sperm used, and other considerations like your age and overall health.
That said, a 2014 study found that success rates among lesbians using fertility treatments were comparable to those of heterosexual women.
There’s also the option of at-home insemination, which can allow you to use IUI for conception in a less clinical setting and for a lower cost. While that may sound appealing, it’s important to know that this method comes with its own challenges and concerns, and it’s not subject to the same health regulations as insemination conducted in a clinic.
IVF
In vitro fertilization (IVF) involves fertilizing an egg or eggs in a lab setting with fresh or frozen donor sperm. As with IUI, you may choose to use a known or unknown sperm donor. With IVF, there’s also the option to use donor eggs, if desired.
To embark on an IVF cycle, one partner injects medications to stimulate her ovaries to produce mature follicles (eggs). Your doctor will retrieve the eggs from the ovaries and then fertilize them with sperm in a lab.
From there, another round of meds will help prepare the uterus for implantation. One or several embryos are then transferred to the uterus to hopefully implant and result in pregnancy.
Things to consider:
The entire process takes around 3 weeks to complete.
According to a fertility clinic calculator, IVF costs between $4,700 to $30,000 per cycle. It may not be covered by your insurance.
IVF success rates vary depending on your age, health status, fertility, and other factors. Your clinic may have specific numbers to share with you regarding its success rates.
Multiples are a possibility when transferring more than one embryo.
Another possibility is something called reciprocal IVF. With this process, one partner donates the egg for the procedure, while the other partner carries the pregnancy.
This way, both partners are able to participate in the pregnancy in some way. The process is similar to traditional IVF, except both partners will need to take oral contraceptive pills to synchronize their cycles before the subsequent procedures take place.
Surrogacy
If neither partner wants to be pregnant, or one or both has fertility issues, you might consider surrogacy, which can involve hiring either a gestational carrier or traditional surrogate.
These options involve contracting a woman to undergo IVF using either your egg, hers, or a donor’s, as well as donor sperm, to create one or more embryos. She’ll carry the pregnancy, deliver the child, and then you’ll obtain parental rights as written out in the legal agreement.
Surrogates contracted through an agency must meet certain criteria. They must have a healthy body mass index (BMI) and be between the ages of 21 and 40.
In addition, they have to have carried at least 1 pregnancy to term, and their pregnancy history must be free of complications. Surrogates also go through medical and psychological screenings to ensure they’re fit for the task.
As you can imagine, the cost of surrogacy can get quite steep. For example, West Coast Surrogacy shares that total costs may range between $90,000 and $130,000. The money you pay will cover things like the surrogate fee, medical fees, legal fees, and other areas up to your discretion, such as a maternity clothing stipend.
You can also use a friend or family member as a surrogate. However, she should meet basic health requirements and undergo screenings as well. And be sure to draft up a contract and work with lawyers to protect yourself from sticky legal situations later on.
The cost varies — if your friend/family member is doing this as a favor, you’ll still need to pay medical bills and other fees.
Adoption or fostering
Many children worldwide need homes. If you don’t feel that biological relation is necessary for your family, you might give adoption a closer look.
There are several types of adoption to consider, including the following:
Public. This involves adopting a child through the United States child welfare system, which includes children as young as infants and up to teenagers. You may also notice children with special needs or older children who may be more difficult to place than healthy babies. There’s very little expense involved with adopting this way, and you may even be eligible for certain subsidies or deductions.
Private. This involves adopting a child through a private agency. It may cost $20,000 to $45,000, but this will vary depending on your specific agency. There may also be other costs, such as home study fees, added on top of the overall cost. While this option is more expensive, you may have more control over the type of child (age, race, etc.) you adopt, if that’s important to you.
International. This involves adopting a child from another country. Keep in mind that not all countries allow lesbians to adopt, so do your research. There may be less information about the physical and mental health of children adopted from other countries. Costs range between $20,000 and $50,000. Again, these will vary and may be higher or lower depending on certain fees, travel expenses, etc.
On the other hand, fostering involves taking in a child in the foster care system, with the goal that the child eventually be reunited with his or her family. This happened in roughly half of the cases in 2018.
This is a temporary placement, and the length of time will vary on a case-by-case basis. Your role involves less of being a primary parent and more of being a support parent to the birth family and child when they’re separated from each other.
While this isn’t what every person has in mind when considering growing their family, even temporary care is a valuable way to provide structure and love for a child —and it can be very rewarding.
Furthermore, there are some cases in which parental rights are terminated and children in the foster care system need adoptive families.
You’ll want to check your state laws regarding both adoption or fostering. Not all states have explicit laws protecting against discrimination based on sexual orientation. You can plot your state on this map to see whether there are protective laws in place where you live.
Intercourse with a partner with a penis
While it may not exactly sound appealing to have penetrative sex with a partner with a penis, you might be surprised to learn that some lesbian couples choose this route to pregnancy.
For one, it takes out doctor visits, monitoring, and other medical stuff you may not be comfortable with. In short: It makes the process less clinical. Plus, it costs less.
Still, you aren’t any more likely to get pregnant the “old-fashioned” way. And it may not be something you’re comfortable doing, and that’s OK.
If you’re interested in this method, know that timing is everything. What ups the odds of conceiving is knowing your menstrual cycle and when to time intercourse. This means having sex in your fertile window, which is from a few days before you ovulate through ovulation day. Using ovulation predictor kits (OPKs) may help you best determine the days to have sex.
Your head may be a bit dizzy with all this information. Still, it’s important to mention that there are concerns to keep in mind with all these routes. Weighing the pros and cons can help you decide which one is right for your family.
Overall cost
The fees range broadly with these options, and some can get quite expensive, especially if you have to do several procedures to achieve pregnancy. Take a frank look at your bank account and discuss what you can realistically afford with your partner.
If you don’t have all the money upfront, you might consider taking out a loan, applying for a grant, or fundraising.
Legal issues
Laws for gay and lesbian parents vary depending on where you live. When you embark on an adoption, second-parent adoption (for the non-biological parent with procedures like IUI and IVF), or surrogacy journey, you’ll want to be aware of your state’s laws as they apply to your unique situation.
Contact an adoption or surrogacy agency near you for more information specific to where you live. Whatever the case, you’ll want to hire a lawyer with experience in adoption or reproductive law to help guide you through the process.
As you delve deeper into your journey, you may learn that having a baby isn’t as simple as introducing egg to sperm. Even if an embryo is directly placed in the uterus, it still has to implant and grow. There’s a bit of magic to it all — despite all that doctors can do using science.
What’s more, a lot of factors are at play during the conception process. Anything from age to fertility to pure luck may affect any given cycle. That may feel especially hard if you’re spending a lot of money and getting your hopes up. Try your best to accept that it make take several attempted cycles to get a positive pregnancy test.
Your emotions
Of course, dealing with unknowns means you may be in for an emotional rollercoaster — excitement one minute, anxiety the next, sadness the next, elation when it finally works out. Phew! Buckle up for the ride and be sure to check in with your partner about her emotions, too.
Remember that you’re in this together. No matter how things work out, you’ll have each other in the end. You might consider seeing a couples therapist or — at the very least — surrounding yourself with a strong support network of family and friends during this time.
Native Son is hosting the inaugural “Black Gay Men in Fashion: Designing Our Future and Reimagining Our Brave New World” event on Wednesday.
The virtual gathering, sponsored by P&G and Gucci Changemakers, will bring together 100 Black gay leaders in fashion, including executives, designers, stylists, entrepreneurs, influencers and social activists, to discuss having a voice, visibility and agency in the fashion industry during the age of COVID-19 and racial equality protests.
The event is the brainchild of Native Son founder Emil Wilbekin, who was previously editor at large of Essence magazine and editor in chief of Vibe magazine. He founded the advocacy and networking group in 2016 to inspire and empower Black gay men to foster new relationships and celebrate each other.
While this particular event is centered around fashion, Native Son focuses on Black gay men from all different walks of life and industries. Since its inception, it has hosted a number of panels and events with companies such as Google and last year established the Native Son Awards.
“Native Son harnesses the collective power of Black gay men to ensure that our voices, visibility and lived experiences are elevated, and never again disregarded, wherever we exist. I also wanted to show the different facets of Native Son and how a community such as ours deserves a seat at the corporate table in fashion,” Wilbekin said.
“As we continue to expand the narrative and shape the vision of the Native Son platform, having partners such as P&G and Gucci Changemakers as well as many leaders in the industry helps raise awareness of our mission and provide a proverbial microphone for our voices so Black gay men in fashion are represented and recognized for their meaningful contributions to the industry,” he continued.
Speakers include influencer and designer Jerome LaMaar; ballet dancer Harper Watters; Next Models president Kyle Hagler; i-D global fashion director Carlos Nazario; Highsnobiety fashion director Corey Stokes; Gucci vice president of brand and culture engagement Antoine Phillips; stylist Freddie Leiba, and stylist Gabriel Garmon. The speakers will discuss topics such as leadership, equity, cultural influence, creative currency and representation.
Anthony Catanzaro rose to the top as a fitness model. He appeared in Playgirl and on the covers of countless fitness magazines
What do you do when you reach the peak then the mountain turns to quicksand? What do you do when you work and work, and sweat, and toil, and the rules of the game change? What do you do when you’ve spent your life building your body into the epitome of the developed male physique, you’re crouched inside a cake on live television, waiting to pop out to celebrate Betty White’s 91st birthday, and the whole left side of your body goes stiff?
Fitness model Anthony Catanzaro on the beach
Anthony Catanzaro rose to the top of his career as a fitness model. He brought his body to a gleaming, muscular, Greek-statue, close-to-perfection nonpareil. He appeared in Playgirl and on the covers of countless fitness magazines. Then he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease.
This game-changer ironically works tirelessly to grind the body machine to a halt. It starves the brain of dopamine, the chemical that allows the body to move and movement is the very thing that builds the gleaming muscles that propel a bodybuilder to fame. Symptoms can include tremors, bradykinesia or slowness of movement, limb rigidity, and dyskinesia or abnormal movement.
So what did Catanzaro do? To this day, seven years after his diagnosis, he relies on an energetic, positive attitude to keep active, stay as healthy as possible, and continue to be a role model of health. As he said in a phone interview, “Fill the well. Drink from the well. Then everyone will drink from you.” He is convinced that his positive attitude, and doing what he loves, putting self first will allow him to be as healthy as possible. Fighting the disease with his mind will allow his body to heal itself.
Fitness model Anthony Catanzaro.
He went through a period of depression and anxiety. That would seem natural after such a diagnosis but what is frustrating about Parkinson’s is that depression and anxiety are also symptoms of the disease. That’s a hard combination to beat. He tried mega-doses of the drugs commonly prescribed for the disease but they brought severe dyskinesia. He then developed a positive, daily routine of home workouts, cardio, sensible amounts of drugs, and surrounding himself with positive people. “You become your environment,” he said. “The comeback is always greater than the setback!”
He recently completed a book with photographer John Falocco filled with steamy pictures and soul baring poetry that chronicle his journey up the mountain and through the quicksand. The book does not disappoint one’s appetite for the developed male physique. His poetry is lucid and genuine. As he said himself, “The most important lesson humanity needs to learn is to appreciate, value, and respect one another.”
Fitness model Anthony Catanzaro on the cover of his book “Heat.”
He chose the title Heat for his book, not only because the pictures are, well, steamy, but, in his words, “It’s important we maintain control of our inner fires because they can burn and destroy, if we’re not careful.”
He adds, “No matter what we face in life, it’s important we stay balanced and in command. You were created by Perfection. Why change?”
