The Friendfactor blog may have been quiet this week, but the world of gay news certainly was not! (We promise, the radio silence will be worth it… keep an ear out in early October… ) Here’s your weekly cheat-sheet to catch you up for the weekend. In this edition: mostly stuff about TV. But lots of different kinds of TV!
Sports fans with gay friends can do a mighty big wave for this story: The NFL has added language to their anti-discrimination policy to protect folks from harassment based on sexual orientation! The league has made the move quietly, slipping the new protection in with the slew of other changes that came at the end of a collective bargaining marathon in the past few weeks. Homophobia in sports is, unfortunately, a pretty widespread problem. So we’re glad to see such an influential group taking steps to say it won’t be tolerated. Did you know there are currently no out, gay professional athletes in football, basketball, hockey or baseball in the US? Maybe this move will change things.
It’s hard to peg him as the comicbook king of controversy, but we’re about to see the third (third!) Archie wedding to make waves in recent news: the series’ gay character, Kevin, will be getting married after returning home as a war hero.
Interestingly, there hasn’t yet been any huge public outcry against the portrayal of a happy, healthy fictional gay character. Most of the news coverage seems to be hedging on the question of whether there will be controversy:
After a pair of straight weddings — both strangely involving Archie, though in his dreams — drew national attention, the publisher behind the popular stories has confirmed that it’s making room for someone else to walk down the aisle: Kevin Keller, the series’ first openly-gay character.
“Kevin followed in his father’s footsteps and is returning to Riverdale as a war hero, but that’s not all – It’s Kevin’s wedding day!” reads a news release from Archie Comic Publications, promoting an upcoming issue of “Life With Archie.”
In this offshoot series, which runs glimpse-into-the-future storylines based on the lives of Archie, Betty and Veronica, readers soon will be able to discover how Kevin met “Mr. Right.”
Archie holds a place of nostalgic Americana for many of us; I’ve seen both my mother and sixteen year-old sister reach for the latest double digest in the check-out line at the supermarket. Keeping in mind the changing attitudes of the country and growing acceptance of gay couples, it only makes sense to include this storyline in the wholesome series.
One could argue the gay character Kevin has a moral leg up on old Archie himself, who just can’t seem to settle down with one girl! Kevin’s will be one Archie wedding without the typical Maryanne/Ginger factious fighting — we can all get behind it. No controversy here, folks: look to every other Archie comic for that.
Take Action: Like this post as a reminder to buy the Archie wedding comic for someone you love! America supports Archie’s gay friend, just like all our other gay friends.
We’re naming Jesse Tyler Ferguson gay best friend of the summer.
If you love Modern Family (and who doesn’t), surely you love Jesse Tyler Ferguson, gay actor playing a gay dad, as much as I do. That’s one ginger who knows how to make anxiety look fun – a skill your humble correspondent would do well to emulate. JTF is a particular star around Friendfactor HQ for headlining our Best. Wedding Gift. Ever. campaign. His short video helped spread the word about marriage inequality in New York and encouraged everyone who has a stake in the issue – meaning everyone with a gay friend or loved one – to get involved. Plus, he is hilarious!
If you haven’t caught the video yet, I’m a little jealous… you’re about to experience something awesome for the first time, friend.
More on Jesse’s adorable awesomeness and the NY marriage victory after the jump!
Dancing With the Stars announced the cast of the lucky 13th season of their “too juicy not to watch” competitive cha-cha program last night! There are plenty of folks to get excited about (my girlfriend insists that Ronnie Artest is a Very Important Athlete about whom I should care), including the ever-provacative personalities Nancy Grace and Ricki Lake. With or without justification, your lesbian friends will likely tune in to catch the U.S. women’s soccer team captain and dreamy goalie Hope Solo*. But in what is probably the most surprising, Chaz Bono will join the troop of two-steppers, bringing his trans activism to perhaps its biggest stage yet.
The big cast reveal (so very worth your seven minutes):
What do frozen yogurt, hurricanes, Kirsten Dunst, Maryland and inspiring activists have in common? Why, we’re glad you asked. They’re all part of this week’s Ffriday Link Roundup, bringing you cocktail party sized bites of news stories that impact your gay friends. So, sit back, contemplate your topping of choice, and settle down for this week’s highlights, after the jump.
You certainly don’t have to have a prime-time standup special to help your friends win full legal freedoms… but it doesn’t hurt! On the two-month anniversary of New York legalizing marriage for gay couples, we wanted to give a shout out of sincere thanks to the comediennes and other inspiring stars who encouraged fans and friends to call legislators in the name of love.
Hey friends hey! Welcome to the first weekly installment of the Friendfactor Ffriday Link Roundup (for Ffriends, obviously). This is the place to come for the very most important stories affecting your gay friends’ lives this week, and a solid dose of just plain awesome info for folks who support gay folks. So without further ado…
Everybody knows if you’re looking for the freshest art, edgiest retail, and an all-around good time, you follow your gay* friends’ lead to the hottest spot in your urban area. But what if you don’t live in Chicago (where you obviously know to get off the red line in Boystown), can’t get to San Fran’s Castro, and aren’t a fabulous stone’s throw from Brooklyn?
You may still be in luck! Check out these five budding hoods where hip stuff is happening for gay and straight folks alike, and think about planning a trip with your best LGBT buddy – all for fun and fun for all!
Far be it from us to objectify anyone: man, woman, gay, straight, or other in any of those categories, but this feature on Out.com really leaves no wiggle room on the matter: athletes who stand up for their gay friends are hot.
People who speak up for their gay friends are attractive.
Pictured: Ben Cohen, Hudson Taylor, Michael Irvin, Mike Chabala, and Nick Youngquest. Click through to read more about what these rad athletes are doing for their gay friends!
The world of sports has unfortunately been notoriously rough territory for LGBT folks — whether it’s Kobe Bryant slinging anti-gay slurs during a Laker’s game or the seemingly never-ending inappropriate public referendum on South African runner Caster Semenya‘s gender, major players both inside and outside the game have a tendency to make big-league competition an uncomfortable space for anyone perceived as outside the “norm” of heterosexuality. Women athletes take a lot of heat in the form of “accusation,” constantly having their sexuality questioned for enjoying traditionally “manly” pursuits in sports, especially if they’re any good. For men, you’ll more often see players throw around derogatory terms for a ref after a bad call or using homophobic language to goad opponents, furthering the linguistic barb that “gay = bad” more than actually trying to out peers.
In any case, the five men profiled by Out Magazine are taking a stand not only for their gay teammates, but to encourage a huge shift in the world of sports to make it a safe and accepting environment for LGBT players and fans. In a universe where those who stand up for gay friends are likely to be labeled gay themselves, which is still a major career liability, these guys are truly going above and beyond to show what friendship means. And Out is buying them sexy outfits and taking nice pictures of’em for their troubles. Right on.
While these guys are high-profile athletes in super dudely realms like wrestling and rugby, it doesn’t take a spot in the limelight to make a difference — even making it clear that your gay friends are welcome on the JV team or after-work kickball league can mean the world. When a straight friend stands up to say it’s stupid to make a fuss over sharing locker-rooms or calls out another player for using anti-gay language, other people listen: you don’t have a stake besides caring about your friends, and that makes your voice incredibly powerful.
And (sorry, we have to say it) what’s more attractive than power, especially when it’s used to be a great friend? We don’t have stats on this, but we would put money on potential dates of whatever gender taking notice of your efforts in the best way.
For goodness sake, look at those five dudes! Think they’re hurting for Saturday night plans??
Have you ever encountered a hostile environment for LGBT friends on the field? Did you do anything about it? Think we’re seeing things get better or worse in the world of professional sports? Have at it in the comments!
If you’ve been following Friendfactor (or, you know, the news) for the past few months, you probably know that New York passed an historic bill last month granting your gay friends the freedom to marry. On Sunday, the law will go into effect, and hundreds of couples around the state will be turning out to exercise their hard-earned right to put a ring on it. But there were a lot of other rings that had to happen first — namely, those made by the phones in NY State Senators’ offices.
What you may not have known was that the tens of thousands of people who called their legislators about this issue were placing themselves at significant personal peril to do so: MSNBC reports that a shocking 19% of smartphone users admit to having dropped their phones in the toilet. So every time you dropped a line to stick up for your gay* friends’ rights, you were putting yourself at even greater risk for dropping something valuable down the great white way.
Sure, not everybody who used our Friend-setter tool to call their State Senator used a smart phone to do it, but assuming the “disastrously dropped call” rates are similar for regular cell phone users, we estimate that since over 8,000 calls were generated through the Friendfactor site, more than 1,500 of you really took one for the team, even if that action wasn’t directly connected with the act of participating in this great democracy. In a way, we must admit, we sort of love these numbers… Friendfactor is all about equality, and T.S. Eliot did famously refer to the water closet as “the place where everyone goes!”
Sports fans with gay friends can do a mighty big wave for this story: The NFL has added language to their anti-discrimination policy to protect folks from harassment based on sexual orientation! The league has made the move quietly, slipping the new protection in with the slew of other changes that came at the end of a collective bargaining marathon in the past few weeks. Homophobia in sports is, unfortunately, a pretty widespread problem. So we’re glad to see such an influential group taking steps to say it won’t be tolerated. Did you know there are currently no out, gay professional athletes in football, basketball, hockey or baseball in the US? Maybe this move will change things.
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