Sidney Franklin in 1932

An exhibit has opened in Israel highlighting Jewish athletes who competed prior to the state’s founding in 1948 and one of the most interesting deals with Sidney Franklin, who became the first American and first Jewish bullfighter in the world in 1923.

“It is no coincidence that very little has been heard up to now about the amazing story of the Jewish bullfighter who captured the Spanish people’s heart,” says the exhibition’s curator, sports journalist Adi Rubinstein. “He just did not fit in with the commonly accepted image of the weak, puny Jew from the ghetto who always gets beaten up by the gentiles.”

The exhibit in Tel Aviv is designed to show that Jews in that era weren’t all weak. Franklin was such an accomplished bullfighter that Ernest Hemingway praised his skill. He was also gay, but was not public about it, according to Rubinstein.

“He was an iconoclast who chose to lead a life that was far removed from what his Orthodox-Jewish parents wanted for him. He captured the entire world as well as the hearts of both women and men.”

Bart Paul, the author of a biography on Franklin, told this to the L.A. Times in 2010:

I think he was never outwardly gay, as we would think of being out today. As Barnaby Conrad said, if they had known, it would have killed him as a bullfighter in Spain. Not that there weren’t bullfighters who were gay. It was just a culture of machismo.

I love history and hearing these kinds of stories, which show us that gays in sports have been around a lot longer than many of us might think.

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Burke marched with P-FLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays), wearing a Maple Leafs jersey with ‘Brendan’ written on the back and the number 88, Brendan’s year of birth.

Because of last weekend’s G-20 summit of world leaders, Toronto’s gay pride celebration was moved back a week, causing today’s parade to fall on the Independence Day holiday here in the United States. I find the timing interesting (or perhaps ironic — time to consult Alanis Morissette again), seeing as how Canada is so far ahead of the USA in equal treatment of the LGBT community.

In the wake of the Stanley Cup’s appearance in the Chicago Pride parade, Burke’s living up to the promise he made to Brendan adds to the school of thought that the first openly gay male player in the major pro sports leagues in North America may indeed come from the NHL.

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A little background: The 24-year-old Ronaldo recently returned from being benched for two months with an injury. His team, Real Madrid, struggled through its 4-2 win and Ronaldo missed a penalty kick. So when he scored during the match, he did a sprint down the end line, stripped off his shirt and screamed in delight. Ronaldo fans across the globe squealed at the results.

“Taking off my shirt was an instinctive reaction. I know that I made a mistake but I’m human. I didn’t want to do it.”

Oh, you know you did, you tease.

Ronaldo has always been a looker and we’ve focused on him while he’s sitting poolside on vacation, wearing small white and very wet trunks, enjoying a massage, looking pretty in pink and getting examined by his new physician.

So while I’m quite familiar with his physique, even I was impressed with Ronaldo 2.0. A little digging showed that the added ripples came from a workout routine that includes a staggering 3,000 sit-ups a day.

Keep up the good work, Ronaldo. You’re an inspiration to us all.

Matt Hennie blogs on Atlanta’s gay sports scene (and other stuff) at Project Q Atlanta.

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His latest cover is the upcoming issue of “Muscle & Fitness,” which bills him as the “NFL’s hardest working quarterback.” Hardest body? Yes. Hardest working? I think Peyton Manning and Tom Brady would disagree. The article is not online, but there is a photo gallery and “making of” video. Quinn is not shirtless, but he still shows a lot of his impressive (not doughy) body.

One of the photos in the gallery below. Check out entire gallery here.

Related: Online Quinn video.

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Outsports Readers can check out the profile of Bayard Rustin that I wrote for Outsports earlier this year, focusing on how he started his own civil-rights activism in the 1930s, while playing high school football in his Pennsylvania home town.

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“In the past, on several separate occasions, I have answered questions about my sexuality openly and honestly with the media … my situation in this regard has not changed,” he said.

And so goes the saga. Thorpe first came out as not gay in 2002, then again in 2007.

Now he’s upset that the new round of speculation is hurting people around him. Yeah, like maybe his man-friend Mendes, who unlike Thorpe, maintains his tight swimming form and looked pretty good on the beaches of Brazil in his square cut.

“I have only commented on this issue at this time because I draw the line when innuendo implicates people like my family and my friends,” Thorpe said.

To bask in the former glory of Thorpe, check out this photo gallery.

Matt Hennie blogs on Atlanta’s gay sports scene (and other stuff) at Project Q Atlanta.

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Sydney Confidential can reveal that Mendes has been living with Thorpe for the past three years as his housemate. According to Thorpe’s manager David Flaskas, the men were introduced through Thorpe’s former coach Tracey Menzies while Thorpe was training for the 2008 Olympics. They became training buddies before their friendship developed.

The photos of the men were taken at the end of a month-long vacation in Brazil. The pair flew over in late December to celebrate Christmas with the Mendes family after first celebrating with Thorpe’s family in Australia.

It was also disclosed that “that Mendes had accompanied Thorpe to two events in the past 18 months – the 2007 Australia’s Next Top Model finale and the 2008 MTV Awards.” Yep, those are two places one takes a “mate.” Any single woman would give her eye-teeth to get an invite to such events from a guy like Thorpe.

The Defamer, Australian version, had a great snarky summation of what we know:

So in conclusion, I can’t really understand why people are making such a big deal about Ian Thorpe being VERY GOOD FRIENDS with Daniel the Hot Brazilian Swimmer. Maybe the Daily Telegraph is trying to send a message to the youth of today that social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are no substitute for real mateship which sees pals going on holidays together/spending time with each other’s families/sometimes sharing a bed when it gets really cold and there’s not enough blankets in the house? That must be it. In which case, I hope we all find a Daniel the Hot Brazilian Swimmer one day.

I don’t care whether Thorpe ever comes out or really is straight, but his denials and awkward language (he called his love “they” last year, then used “she” in another interview) strain logic. He has retired, has made a great living from his championship swim career, so why is he being coy? If he and Mendes are a couple, just say it already. Diver and fellow Aussie Matthew Mitcham never backed down from discussing his partner, Lachlan Fletcher, and Mitcham is still an active Olympian. Based on these photos, Thorpe is a long way from being in shape to compete again.

Update: Ian Thorpe reiterated again he is not gay.

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“Ya’ all heard about that? Oh, that was supposed to be a secret!” Howard said. “Like when I’m at the free throw line I try to keep my mind off everything and I might just up there and start singing like …”

(singing) ‘I’m a single lady, I’m a single lady’ … And sometimes I might make it! It happens. I get up there and I might sing Beyonce. I don’t know why, out of all the artists, I’m supposed to be like, (makes menacing noises), like Jay-Z, or Kanye or Lil Wayne, or someone towards those lines, but I’m singing Beyonce … If I have to sing Beyonce to make a couple of free throws, I’m gonna keep doing it.”

You go, girl! On my gay flag football team, I have an audible call with one of my receivers, where I call out “Beyonce” and he does a fly pattern. Howard would fit in perfectly.

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“If it happened, we’re keeping it in house,” Crennel said. This sounds like it certainly did happen and at least one player, Darnell Dinkins, confirmed there was a fight and that Quinn’s face was marked. The coach did reveal that Smith got into a confrontation with another player at practice recently. Smith was on the Browns’ inactive roster Sunday and Crennell would not say whether the player was hurt or if he sat for other reasons.

Quinn has been inactive since breaking his finger and few weeks ago and he has been wearing a splint ever since (see Quinn with his splint). If Smith did punch Quinn, it was the act of a coward to hit a guy who can’t fight back. No way Smith is a Brown after this season.

I see three possible reasons for Smith whacking Quinn:

1. He is jealous of the player Outsports named the NFL’s hottest in 2007 (and who will be on my 2008 list).
2. He is an Obama supporter upset that Quinn endorsed McCain-Palin.
3. He is a jerk with anger issues who likes hitting people who are injured.

Of course, on every website that has this, the usual Quinn-gay innuendo is all over the place.

Hat tip to Pro Football Talk, where I first saw the item.

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Their popular vote shows how much respect and affection Mitcham stirred up in Australia, not only with his athletic performance but his courage in coming out and the appeal of his personality.

Mitcham’s win was announced at a red-carpet event in Crown Casino in Melbourne.  The award includes a $50,000 check from Colonial First State, sponsor of the awards.  In 2007 the award was given for the first time, and went to Australian cyclist Cadel Evans, who finished second in the Tour de France.  In other categories, U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps took International Performer of the Year.

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