CM Punk tweeted: “Same sex marriage should be legal. The fact that it’s illegal is embarrassing.”

Twitter follower EzeeKay of Walsall in the West Midlands disagreed, writing: “Man was meant for woman, and even the thought of homo’s make me sick.”

Punk retweeted this message and added “Kill yourself” in response.

The wrestler then apologized, saying his emotions got the best of him. He also had told another anti-gay tweeter to “drink bleach.” His apology tweet:

“I apologize. I don’t want you to kill yourself. I want you to better yourself. Just as I want to better myself.”

Punk, whose real name is Philip Brooks, posted these tweets later:

Any gay person, myself included, can totally understand the anger Punk felt, since we’ve all been there with homophobes. But his apology was appropriate since it made him look the better man. People also need to pause 30 seconds before posting a tweet, since once sent, it can’t be taken back and we see this kind of stuff all the time.

Hat tip to Queerty.

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Stephany Lee, right, and her wife, Brigg McDonald

Stephany Lee had an amazing weekend in Iowa. First, she won a berth to the U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling team. She then got married to her partner Brigg McDonald in Cedar Rapids, with Iowa being a state that allows gay marriage. “It was an opportune time,” Lee said in a New York Times article written by our friend John Branch.

What’s great about the story is how routine it all is — Lee thanked her “wife” in comments to reporters after winning her Olympic berth and the comment went unnoticed. The wedding took all of five minutes before McDonald’s two children, a teammate and a friend. Lee, 27,  has been out since high school and her parents are totally supportive. In this case, routine is progress.

“I am who I am, and I’m not going to hide it,” Lee said Monday. “I’m not going to dress like a girl to fit an image. No, I’m me. I’m happy. That’s all that matters.”

She pondered whether such frankness about her sexuality would make her a sports pioneer of sorts among gays — a more influential one, of course, should she win a medal. She is considered a contender, not a favorite.

“I’m not trying to be a spokesperson for lesbians as an athlete,” Lee said. “I’m just being me. Whatever comes of it is fine.”

By just being herself, Lee is a role model since that’s all we can ask of anyone. I loved her reason for getting legally married, the importance of it being sanctioned by society:

“I wear a ring, and I have been wearing a ring,” Lee said before Monday’s ceremony. “I know I want to be with her the rest of my life. This is a validation of that.”

Photo: Stephany Lee (blue) wrestles Kristie Davis (red) in the 72 kg freestyle weight class during the wrestling Olympic trials in Iowa City, Iowa. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.

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David Taylor

We’ve been big fans of the NCAA men’s Division 1 wrestling championships since two wrestlers became news stories for different reasons — Paul Donahoe (for doing gay porn in 2009) and Hudson Taylor (for being an amazing straight ally to end homophobia in 2010). This year’s championships were held in St. Louis and Penn State won for the second straight year.

The winners of their respective classes were Matt McDonough, Iowa; Frank Molinaro, Penn State; David Taylor, Penn State; Ed Ruth, Penn State; Steve Bosak, Cornell,
Cam Simaz, Corner; Kyle Dake, Cornell; Logan Stieber, Ohio State; Kellen Russell, Michigan and Anthony Nelson, Minnesota. Photos from the three-day event:

Photos by Jeff Curry / USPRESSWIRE

Click on image for larger view and on that image for full-sized view.

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No, the producers decided to include Turkish oil wrestling, a prancing soccer referee and a crude sexual “move” from scripted professional wrestling. It’s another overtly stereotypical homage to the same old “Ha, I’m gay, what’s a football?” creed we’ve heard from so much of the gay media for years.

Amused? Offended? Inspired? Disgusted? What do you think of this video that certainly has no interest in undermining stereotypes…

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“If any of that was true, I would admit it, and (if) I was a homosexual I would embrace it. It’s just so crazy to hear, so I have a real problem with it… If you’re going to say I’m something that I’m not to try to ruin my career and my livelihood… I have to answer her back. It’s so ridiculous. I don’t mean to laugh about it, because it’s not funny. But it’s insane. It doesn’t make any sense to me.”

The Hulkster, whose real name is Terry Bollea, filed a defamation suit against his ex,  Linda. From Us Weekly:

In her memoir Wrestling the Hulk: My Life Against the Ropes, Linda writes of harrowing physical, mental and emotional abuse at the hands of her husband during their 24-year marriage.

“[Hulk] tore my clothes, threw lamps, and held me down on the bed with his hands around my throat during arguments,” wrote Linda, who has two grown kids, 23-year-old Brooke and 21-year-old Nick, with the WWE star. “I was always afraid he would kill me in one of his rages.”

Hogan, 58, denies her charges and filed the defamation suit in response. Linda Bollea, with whom Hogan has a daughter, received about 70% of their assets in their divorce. He told Howard Stern in October that had he been gay, his ex-wife would have brought that up in the divorce proceedings:

“First off, I’ve got like four or five people who are gay and lesbian and like my best friends. Believe me … if I was gay or if I had a homosexual encounter one time, I would tell you. … It’s not true and it’s mean-spirited.”

It was cool to see Hogan not slam the idea of being gay and if fact saying he would embrace it if it were true. It’s the allegations of violence and abuse that are the really incendiary charges.

Update: Brutus Beefcake, aka Ed Leslie, says he is also suing Linda Bollea for the gay allegations.

Hogan appeared in October talking to Howard Stern. He addresses the gay part starting at the 1:25 mark:

Hat tip to Ross Forman and Towleroad.

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My life has been told in a nutshell numerous times through various articles. But I never actually sat down and told my life in its entirety. Growing up in small town America is not an easy task. We’re always the last to get the new inventions like the internet, HDTV, and all of the other things.

Growing up in small town America we had backyard football, wiffle ball and baseball. I can’t recall a day we spent inside. When those sports got old, we re-invented new ones like backyard basketball where tackling was allowed, and BB gun wars. Granted, as I think back, BB gun wars was not a bright idea.

I remember it plain as day back in firth grade when he moved into my class. A new boy from Norristown PA, which is right outside of Philly. Mike and I hit it off right off the bat. Come to find out his future step mom and my mom worked together, so our families ended up becoming best of friends as well. Mike and I grew up as close as brothers can be. Where one was, the other was. We hunted, fished, played football and wrestled together.

I will never ever forget when we were both 13, up in his room playing bases loaded on SNEs when our cocky talk turned sexual. We both lost our virginity that day. Mike and I continued our love/brother relationship for over two years until he decided he was going to started doing the straight lifestyle and end all sexual relations between us. Naturally, once that was gone the brother relationship we once had started falling apart. The only time I ever slept with a girl was when Mike’s cousin came over, and I thought/felt like I had something to prove to Mike. That night I slept with a girl for the first and only time.  I knew then I was in deep trouble with my life.

When I got the Internet at the age of 17, I thought, OK this is going to give me access to what I have been seeking for a long time. Instead it backfired for me. What I was seeing was gay couples being happy and being able to be who they are. It had a total reverse effect on me, on what I hoped would open my mind. I knew in my mind I could not be what I saw in the images. Not where I was in life. Depression kept building and building until I could no longer take it. It’s kind of odd, that even after 14 years I can remember the night before, and the night of my suicide attempt, like it happened yesterday.

The night before, the wrestling team, which I quit the beginning of the year, named me honorary captain when we faced our rivals, the Canton Warriors. The following night I was swallowing pill after pill no longer wanting to live the lie that I had built. As I took the pills, one thing that entered my mind was not being able to see the Giants win another Super Bowl. Kind of odd how us jocks think. All I knew is the white picket fence fairytale dream wasn’t for me, and I had to end it.

Unfortunately that night I told some one in California what I was doing and he called 911. Those who know my story already know what happened that night.

Being shipped to a teen psych ward is some thing no one wants to have happen to them. I had one thing working for me though: The other teens woke up that morning to know that a new kid arrived during the night.

I was in survival mode. I had played the part as the perfect jock for way to many years. I could fool these guys as well, I thought. And I did. Donning my letterman jacket, I started flirting with every girl in there. I was not ready to face my biggest fear. But I failed at my attempt to hide whom I was, so it was time to make the best out of it. Most of the staff that worked nights were Penn State college girls. They often flirted with me, and I flirted back. In my mind I was going to make it through this and everything would be fine. Little did I know…

I remember speaking to Mike that first night I got home from the psych ward. He was hesitant to tell me: Kyle had told the whole school about me being gay. Mike also told me that no one cared. He was worried about me: Mike wanted the best for his brother, but he knew my fate was sealed.

You can find Greg Congdon on Facebook.

Part 2 of his story will be published on Outsports next week.

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Before their Tuesday afternoon practice, members of the Harvard varsity wrestling team posed for a picture on the steps in front of the Malkin Athletic Center. But instead of sporting their team uniforms in this photo, the athletes came in gay pride attire and rainbow pins that read “Proud Ally.” … 

According to wrestler David J. Lalo ’13, it was a non-resident tutor in Lowell House, Robert Joseph “R.J.” Jenkins, who inspired the team to participate in National Coming Out Day.

“[R.J.] has made a tremendous impact across our team,” Lalo said. “We wanted to show him we support the LGBT community.”

Read the full story and see more photos at the Harvard Crimson. For some reason they use the acronym BGLTQ for our community. Hadn’t seen that one before.

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Check out the video here.

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Hat tip to Lemonwade.

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Hudson Taylor (photo by Lewis Payton)

Part of Outsports’ series on our 100 most important moments in gay sports history.

Wrestling, 2010: In February 2010 I wrote an article about wrestler Hudson Taylor taking a stand for gay rights. Taylor was then a nationally ranked 198-pounder on the University of Maryland team. The article became our most read of that year and spurred Taylor to a course of activism. From the article:

It’s his outspoken support for gay rights, though, that makes him unique in the athletic world, where straight allies are few and far between. Not many athletes would wear a Human Rights Campaign sticker on their headgear in competition.

“For me and my generation, [LGBT rights] is a pressing issue,” said Taylor, 23, a native of New Jersey. “I believe that whatever history I’m a part of, I’m responsible for. If I feel something is unjust or unequal, I feel a responsibility to do something about it.”

Taylor puts his money where his views are, donating each month to HRC, a leading gay rights organization. But his greatest impact is trying to counteract the aura of homophobia that pervades sports. He does this by bringing up gay rights in media interviews and discussing the issue with teammates, despite the discomfort it might bring.

We have written a lot on Taylor in the past 18 months, which shows the impact he is having on changing the dialogue around gays in sports. He is also a great friend of Outsports and I am honored to have written his “coming out” story, so to speak.

For more information:

• Athlete Ally website
• Athlete Ally Facebook page

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