Coach Wright On Gay Player: It Didn't Matter

In an interview, here's what Villanova basketball coach Jay Wright had to say about former player Will Sheridan's revelation that he is gay:

“After I found out, I was like, ‘Did you know?’ And all the guys, [players] they were like, ‘Yeah, Coach, we knew,’ They just didn’t care and I guess I was just oblivious.

"He [Sheridan] was the perfect student, the perfect student-athlete, the perfect teammate. He never gave me an ounce of worry. He was so low maintenance. You could ask him to do anything and he’d do it. I don’t know. It sounds weird, but it never came up.”

One suspects Sheridan's sexual orientation "never came up" in part because Coach Wright treats everyone fairly and equally. He doesn't look at -- or for -- differences. He accepts people as they are. And his players follow his lead.
Wright leads by example. He builds a team; a family. He brings people together. And, he's still one of the classiest guys in sports.

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Former Nova Hoops Star Says 'I'm Gay'

His Villanova teammates knew it while they played alongside him on the basketball court.
And he says his friends knew it as well.
But they all respected his right to deal with it when and how he wanted to.
Now, this former Division I hoops star says he's ready. He's at peace with himself.
So, Will Sheridan tells ESPN: "I'm gay and I'm proud of who I am."

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Did Kobe's Slur Reflect Anti-Gay Bias?

The Christian Science Monitor leads with a revealing article about professional sports and what may be a pervasive anti-gay bias that lurks among top athletes in America.
Kobe used a homophobic slur during a nationally televised basketball game. It's a word we all know. but fortunately one we do not hear quite as much as we used to.
Here's an excerpt from the article:

Bryant was fined $100,000 by the National Basketball Association Wednesday – a decision Bryant says he will appeal – and gay-rights groups challenged him to back up his apology for the slur with actions. But the deeper question is whether this will become a "teachable moment" about the strongly antigay attitudes that pervade professional sports, says Jarred Chin of the Society for the Study of Sport in Society at Northeastern University in Boston.
“A lot of people are condemning Kobe for this, but it is language that a lot of men use in our society without knowing what it really means and how ignorant and hurtful it is,” says Mr. Chin.
On a nationally televised broadcast, a frustrated Bryant clearly called the referee who gave him a foul and a technical foul a "f-----." Bryant later issued a statement saying that this outburst was a product of frustration and did not reflect his feelings toward gays.

One final observation: If Kobe (or any other guy) thinks that using a word like this makes him more of a man, shame on him!

Click here to read the entire article.

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Jesse Jackson Hit With Gay Harassment Charge

NBC Chicago is leading with a bombshell story about a reported lawsuit by a former employee of  Jesse Jackson's Rainbow Push Coalition. Apparently, the gay employee charges (among other things) that Jackson propositioned him.

Here's an excerpt from the story:

A former employee of the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. at the Rainbow Push Coalition has filed a bombshell wrongful termination and discrimination complaint against the civil rights leader with the City of Chicago's Commission on Human Rights.

The complaint, filed sometime last year by Tommy R. Bennett, a regular on the Tom Joyner Radio show and member of Barack Obama's LGBT Leadership Council, includes shocking allegations about Jackson's behavior toward the openly gay staffer including an allegation that the civil rights leader propositioned him.

Jackson has denied the allegations in a legal response that was filed in July 2010 and resurfaced when the Windy City Times published a story Tuesday.

Click here to read the full story.

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Christie On Rutgers Suicide: 'An Unspeakable Tragedy'

New Jersey Governor Chris Christie yesterday spoke out strongly on the suicide death of Rutgers University freshman Tyler Clementi.
Clementi took his own life after his college roommate and another student allegedly taped him having sex with another man without his knowledge or consent and posted the tape on the internet.
Speaking of the perpetrators, Christie said he did not know how they could sleep at night "knowing that they contributed to driving that young man" to suicide.
Christie called Clementi's death an "unspeakable tragedy."
"As the father of a 17-year-old…I can't imagine what those parents are feeling today, I can't. You send your son to school to get an education with great hopes and aspirations, and I can't imagine what those parents are feeling today," he said. The Governor was clearly quite emotional as he discussed the tragedy.
"There might be some people who can take that type of treatment and deal with it, and there might be others, as this young man obviously was, who was much more greatly affected by it," Christie said. "I have to tell you, I don't know how those two folks are going to sleep at night, knowing that they contributed to driving that young man to that alternative."
Click here for more on this story from ABC News.

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