Tag Archives: straight allies

(Via – Towleroad)

Last night I met Ben Cohen at a Chelsea gay bar, where he was raising funds for his anti-homophobia campaign. Also in the house was champion wrestler Hudson Taylor. I’ll post a slideshow later today. PS: Ben is completely sweet.

Read this NYT profile on the two most well-known straight allies in the world of sports. The article begins: Ben Cohen is a world-class English rugby star, and Hudson Taylor is a three-time college all-American wrestler. They live on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean. They barely know each other. But they have something quite unusual in common. They may …

Having never heard his decidedly non-posh accent before, I think I like Ben Cohen even more, if that’s possible. This clip is posted to Cyndi Lauper’s We Give A Damn channel.

Josh Hutcherson starred in The Kids Are Alright. (Via – Boy Culture)

Speaking to a group at Harvard, New York Times columnist Frank Rich explained that he first came to support gay rights when at the height of the AIDS crisis, an editor asked him to write a lengthy essay on how straight people view gays.

“Of course same sex marriage is constitutional! The right to be yourself, to pursue life, liberty, and property, is protected several ways over several amendments. John Boehner should know this. If only he read the Constitution as often as some of us do, he wouldn’t have bothered to lower himself to this time-wasting, pathetic attempt to invigorate his base of …

“As the debate about same-sex marriage continues in Rhode Island and in Washington, I have taken time to reflect carefully on my own position. Based on my own experiences and my firm belief that all Americans should be treated equally under the law, I am now convinced that affording full marriage equality rights to same-sex couples is the only fair …

Longtime JMG reader Calvin writes to brag about his big brother, who has published a full-page pro-same sex marriage ad in New Hampshire’s biggest newspaper.

You just want to hug her and sit down for warm cookies.

Champion collegiate wrestler Hudson Taylor, who is straight, has launched Athlete Ally, a website where players, coaches, fans, and parents can take a pledge to end homophobia in sports. Taylor generated controversy at the University of Maryland when he competed with a Human Rights Campaign sticker on his wrestling headgear. Today he is a coach at Columbia University.

In mid-December a couple staged a flash mob wedding at Boston’s Prudential Center. Stick around for the vows at 4:00 when the pastor includes gay couples as those deserving of marriage and love.

Last July, Claire Buffie was named Miss New York after competing on the platform “Straight For Equality: Let’s Talk.” On January 15th, Buffie will be the first-ever Miss America contestant to compete in the name of LGBT rights. Buffie is a board member of NYC P-FLAG and works at the Genius Bar of the Fifth Avenue Apple store. Do I …

Adele Starr, the co-founder and first president of PFLAG, has died in Los Angeles at the age of 90. In 1976, Starr founded the Los Angeles chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, a gay rights and acceptance organization known then as Parent FLAG, now as PFLAG. In 1979, she spoke on the steps of the U.S. Capitol …

Folks, give it up for our hero of the day, Illinois state Sen. Ricky Hendon! “It’s just fairness, y’all. That’s ALL.”

Father Tony tips us that JMG reader Birdie (real name Betty Greene Salwak) took part in Indianapolis’ Fox News “face-off” to battle the American Family Association over the refusal of a local bakery to fill the order of a campus LGBT rights group. Read our heroine’s statement in full on the Fox 59 website. Note that Fox edits the below …

Irish President Mary McAleese has turned down an offer to be the grand marshal of NYC’s 250th Annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade over the event’s long-running ban on LGBT participation. Efforts at a compromise where President McAleese could attend the gay-organized, all-inclusive St. Patrick’s parade in Queens on the weekend before March 17, and then march in the actual Fifth …