It's interesting though to see how different aspects of this issue have all recently come out (no pun intended)...from outsports to the OUT magazine ongoing soap opera to the play on Broadway...obviously, culturally, something's going on...i think we can safely call it an evolution but while a play is just a play, outsports has real opinions and insiteful articles, there's still something off about this OUT magazine thing... Maybe I'm mistaking the secrecy and anonymonity aspect for being false, maybe not...Perhaps this is the case of an editor letting his personal feelings override journalistic standards, I don't know...hopefully, the truth will emerge in time...

[quote]Originally posted by bryan d.:
It's interesting though to see how different aspects of this issue have all recently come out (no pun intended)...from outsports to the OUT magazine ongoing soap opera to the play on Broadway...obviously, culturally, something's going on...i think we can safely call it an evolution but while a play is just a play, outsports has real opinions and insiteful articles, there's still something off about this OUT magazine thing... Maybe I'm mistaking the secrecy and anonymonity aspect for being false, maybe not...Perhaps this is the case of an editor letting his personal feelings override journalistic standards, I don't know...hopefully, the truth will emerge in time...

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Bryan D.,

The above post is probably one of the best posts I've seen from you in my opinion. I agree with you "something is going on". The social discussion about homosexuality, it's presence, it acceptance, it's value in society at large is a good thing. It gets people to think and question time honored traditions, beliefs, and values. Will homosexuals ever be regarded the same as hetrosexuals and be afforded the same dignity, I do not know. I hope so.

However, I think where you go astray is when you regulate those who are not as "out" as you live. Your criticism sounds very much like a christian fundamentalist bible thumping but coming from the other side of the spectrum. No Offense.

Sexuality is fluid. Every man, homosexual/hetrosexual/ bisexual man must find his place in relation to the mainstream masculine myth. Like it or not, the mainstream masculine myth will always be the benchmark in which we all will gage our relation. Some of us are very comfortable realizing our masculinity through very manistream expressions our entire life, all the while knowing where we truely fall in relation to the myth. Others reject the mainstream myth althogether and express their masculinity in a more alternative manner. Most fall somewhere between in spectrum.

As we live, grow and age, we change. How we see ourselves when we were twenty (20), maybe a jock,maybe just a guy who likes messing around with guys and maybe we rejected any notion of being "gay" and all that is associated with homosexuals. The very same man, can see things much differently twenty years later, at age forty (40)after he has accomplished, lived, experienced, and has "come into his own." All stages are valid. All of us, least I like to think, are in a state of evolution. We all grow differently and we grow at different rates. We can't regulate or devalue anyone's sense of self.

"To thy ownself be true." What that truth is, only the man himself knows and that said truth of his life is the validity of his manhood devoid of anyone else's regulation.


How this applies to the Mr. Lemon's Major Leauge Baseball player jock ex-boyfriend (whew!, that's a long one..) will be how much he reads the risks, and there are risks, of coming out as a gay man who plays in the MLB and where he feels his life is at this point in time and how the two can be reconciled to his appeasement, not anyone else's, epsecially a faceless agenda. Whatever his decison, I wish him well and peace of mind.

As far as Mr. Lemon, like you Bryan, I found the usage very distasteful. A BIG YUK!!!!

Well... there you go... just a thought.

[ September 28, 2002: Message edited by: satxbuddy1 ]

In a duplicate thread, TC posted:

The latest issue of OUT magazine has readers' reactions to the article by the MLB player that is/was Lemon's boyfriend. Most of the letters really nail the guy to the wall for not being out. I'd have thought the guy would have gotten alot of support but I'm glad to see that is not the case. I rarely recommend OUT (way too fluffy for my taste) but these letters are great.

I picked up OUT and the Esera Tuaolo-cover Advocate. Haven't read either yet, but did check the Letters to the Editor in Out.

There were both positive and negative letters. Excerpts:

"Congratulations to Out magazine, Brendan Lemon, and the "virtuous," closeted ballplayer. I applaud your bravery."

"What a gutless wonder. Come out already...."

"Bravo! I don't care who you are or who you play for. Just that you are is sufficient."

"You must accept the consequences of making the decision to keep silent: You need to keep quiet, keep your affairs to yourself, and for heaven's sake, don't date the editor of a national gay magazine."

"Reading your stories about Billy Bean and the editor's ex-boyfriend left me disgusted....What offends me most is that these pampered cowards portray themselves as role models who give hope to you gay athletes. They are not role models. Their actions tell gay kids to stay hidden in the closet--afraid, ashamed, and alone.... And OUT tacitly endorses that message....Those of us who live our noncelebrity lives in an open and honest way don't need to walk in Mr. Boyfriend's shoes to understand the risks. We live it every day."

Just watching Law and Order. Somebody in tv land knows that the boyfriend plays for one of the New York teams.

Don't know that i agree with that Zaac.

i think that since Law and Order takes place in NYC, it was easier for plotting purposes to just make the player and the magazine guy he's dating work/play in the same city. that's what i thought, at least.

Law and Order thrives on it's "ripped from the headlines" allure...in this case, as they do sometimes, they ripped their plot from two different headlines: the first half of the episode was based on the Jason Williams murder case then the second half added a little Brendan Lemon/Gay Baseball player lover story to the mix.

Clever, good episode. They're good about covering gay issues at Law and Order. Most of the time....

[ January 03, 2003: Message edited by: Ump25 ]

I don't get to watch a lot of primetime television these days, working the nightshift. I had no idea they had replaced Dianne Weist. I did like her in the role, but I am very excited about Fred Thompson. I've got to record it next week.

In light of the World Series and buying a copy of OUT last night, what in the world has happened with this story. Anyone know of any updates?