Soccer has been guiding light for lesbian college soccer player turned business coach

LivingLiving my life authentically and openly has not always been easy. There have been times I was fired for being gay, or I have dealt with my fair share of homophobia over the past 30 years.

But I am proud to have consistently advocated for equal rights for all. I am out in every arena and live my life openly. I have soccer to thank for that. Soccer is my first love, and the people involved helped me love myself.

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Tales Of An Intersex Soccer Mom

My biggest fear? Periods. Not my own — I know I will never experience a visit from Aunt Flo. But I knew someday my daughters probably would, and that fact petrified me for nearly a decade. I mean, how was I supposed to guide them through this mystical female rite of passage when I was so clueless? Sure, together we read the doctrinal American Girl book “The Care and Keeping of You,” and they’d probably learn stuff from their friends, right? I thought I could avoid facing my fear for several more years. Shoot, they had just turned double digits. Surely I was off the hook for at least three or four more years?

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Rainbow Path In Australia Commemorates Legalization Of Same-Sex Marriage

It’s been more than three years since Australia voted to legalize same-sex marriage. To commemorate the historic 2017 decision that gave Aussie LGBTQ couples the right to marry, the country’s largest city commissioned a giant rainbow road in a park as a permanent tribute.

Spanning 90 meters (or about 295 feet), the painting of the rainbow road was completed just in time for Sydney’s annual Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras celebration.

Take a look at the rainbow path in this tweet from the City of Sydney .

The placement of the rainbow path is meaningful. It’s located at the site inside of Sydney’s Prince Albert Park where same-sex marriage supporters gathered together on Nov. 15, 2017, to hear the results of Australia’s marriage equality postal survey. 

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'Society is changing': A record 5.6% of US adults identify as LGBTQ, poll shows. And young people are driving the numbers.

A record number of U.S. adults – 5.6% – identify as LGBTQ, an increase propelled by a younger generation staking out its presence in the world, a poll released Wednesday shows.

The survey by Gallup marks more than a 1 percentage point jump from the last poll in 2017 in which 4.5% of adults identified as LGBTQ.

The estimated 18 million adults who identify as LGBTQ represent a continued upward trajectory since Gallup started tracking identification in 2012, Gallup senior editor Jeff Jones said. 

Is it that LGBT people are overrepresented in these polls becasue they seek them out? Is it that many identify as say, a Kinsey 1-2 so don't consider it worth mentioning outside of polls? What possibly causes this discrepancy that apparently our entire generation is bi?

— Seóirse🔻 (@SeoirseDuffy_) February 24, 2021

“It reflects what we are seeing in society and the way society is changing,” he said.  

One of the biggest headlines in the 2020 poll is the emergence of Generation Z adults, those 18 to 23: 1 in 6, or 15.9%, identify as LGBTQ. In each older generation, LGBTQ identification is lower, including 2% or less of respondents born before 1965.

For the first time, Gallup queried respondents on their precise sexual orientation, rather than a simple yes or no on whether someone identified as LGBTQ, allowing more insight into identity, Jones said.

Among LGBTQ adults, a majority or 54.6% identify as bisexual, the poll shows. About a quarter, or 24.5%, identify as gay; 11.7% as lesbian; 11.3% as transgender. 

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Gay Green Lantern may be seen in a different light

PHILADELPHIA --Green Lantern, one of DC Comics' oldest and enduring heroes no matter what parallel earth he's on, is serving as a beacon for the publisher again, this time as a proud, mighty and openly gay hero. The change is revealed in the pages of the second issue of "Earth 2" out next week, and comes on the heels of what has been an expansive year for gay and lesbian characters in the pages of comic books from Archie to Marvel and others. But purists and fans note: This Green Lantern is not the emerald galactic space cop who was, and is, part of the Justice League and has had a history rich in triumph and tragedy. Instead, said James Robinson, who writes the new series, Alan Scott is the retooled version of the classic Lantern whose first appearance came in the pages of "All-American Comics" No. 16 in July 1940. And his being gay is not part of some wider story line meant to be exploited or undone down the road, either. "This was my idea," Robinson explained this week, noting that before DC relaunched all its titles last summer, Alan Scott had a son who was gay. The thought had occurred to Robinson after DC's relaunch of its entire superhero line last fall removed Alan Scott's gay son Obsidian from the picture. Robinson made the suggestion about Alan Scott to DC co-publisher Dan DiDio, and "there wasn't a moment's hesitation," the writer says. Batwoman is an openly lesbian superhero in the DC Universe, and twice in the last three years the company has won the "Outstanding Comic" award from GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) for stories featuring the character. But having a gay Green Lantern, one of DC's most visible heroes, is a big step. "What I really want to do with this character is make the fact that he's gay to be a part of who he is and not to be the one identifying aspect of him," Robinson says. "And have his humor and his bravery be as much or more a part of him as his sexuality." The Green Lantern most readers know is Hal Jordan, the man with the green power ring in DC's main Green Lantern series and the hero Ryan Reynolds played in the Green Lantern movie. He and Alan Scott will meet one day, Robinson says, but in the meantime the writer's making sure they're completely different characters, both in personality and powers. "When they're firing their rings at the same time, you'll be able to tell which energy is which," he says. "That's a very important thing so that it sets them apart." Artist Nicola Scott's orders were clear, too: Make Alan Scott a big, strapping, handsome man that everyone would instinctively follow and love. "No short order but right up my alley," she says. "Alan strikes me as an incredibly open, honest and warm man, a natural leader and absolutely the right choice to be guardian of the Earth. His sexuality is incidental. Every time I draw him I love him even more." By the time readers get to know Alan Scott more, he will have already come out as a gay man, but it isn't a huge deal for him. Keeping the world safe is higher on his priority list. "He's someone you would want to watch over your children," Robinson says. "Presenting that kind of a heroic role model hopefully will be a good thing and help to show gays in a positive light for people who might be a little more small-minded." The character's sexuality isn't a major issue for Robinson either. He wrote what he believes was comics' first gay kiss, to in an issue of Starman. The writer understands, though, that in some circles a mainstream gay superhero is not all that welcome. DiDio had made an offhand comment a couple of weeks ago at a London comic-book convention that a DC character would be gay, and last week Marvel Comics announced an upcoming X-Men gay wedding. In response, the group One Million Moms prompted readers on its website to send both companies "an email urging them to change and cancel all plans of homosexual superhero characters immediately" and to "ask them to do the right thing."