Orlando Cruz, First Openly Gay Boxer, Goes for Title Tonight, Weighs-In Wearing Rainbow Briefs: VIDEO

(via andres duque)

Orlando "Fenomeno" Cruz, the first openly gay pro boxer, has a shot at the WBO featherweight title Saturday in Las Vegas, USA Today reports:

"For me, it doesn't matter," said Bob Arum, the Top Rank chairman and Hall of Fame promoter who put the fight on the undercard of the Tim Bradley-Juan Manuel Marquez main event Saturday at the Thomas & Mack Center (HBO pay-per-view, 9p.m. ET). "The only thing that matters to me is if he can throw punches. Anybody who makes an issue, 'Oh, he's gay, he shouldn't fight,' is stupid. A guy's or woman's sexual orientation is his or her own business."

Arum points out today's culture of embracing and supporting Cruz is vastly different from when Arum started his career half a century ago.

"If I put on a fight with (Cruz) then, there would be a thousand protesters saying it should be boycotted because it involved a boxer who had a different sexual orientation," Arum said during Thursday's news conference. "The world has changed, and it has changed for the better. Because it has changed for the better, we can all take pride in what is happening now."

Cruz wore rainbow briefs at the weigh-in and will wear rainbow colors in Saturday's fight.

Watch the weigh in, AFTER THE JUMP...

Director Lee Daniels Developing Gay Interracial Action Hero Movie Starring Alex Pettyfer

In an interview with Out magazine, The Butler's Lee Daniels (pictured below) revealed his plans to develop an "interracial love affair action movie" with a gay couple. And the best part? He's already nailed down Alex Pettyfer as one-half of the gay duo.

According to Daniels, think of it as a gay Mr. and Mrs. Smith, but the two good-looking guys as the action heroes." The twist? "We don't find out they're gay until the end of the movie," he explains.

He went on to reveal that, "Alex Pettyfer is in it, [but] I have to find the right black guy opposite him. He's so hot, isn't he? So hot. And so aware of his hotness in a way that's so...I love him to death."

With news of Daniels's plan spreading across the web as we speak, it seems the "secret" of the two characters' sexuality won't be much of a secret after all. And as for the second half of the gay couple, what do you think? Which black actor would you love to see playing opposite the gorgeous Pettyfer? 

Family And Friends Reflect On The Life And Legacy Of Matthew Shepard In New Documentary: VIDEO

For those unaware, tomorrow marks the 15th anniversary of Matthew Shepard's tragic passing. To mark the milestone, a new documentary film titled Matt Shepard is a Friend of Mine has been released, which tells the story of the Wyoming young man through the personal lens of family and friends. We previously reported on the documentary back in 2011 when it was still getting funding.

Check out the powerful trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...

To find out more about the film and showtimes, visit the website HERE.

USOC Amends Non-Discrimination Policy To Include Sexual Orientation

In a show of its disapproval for Russia's anti-gay laws, the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) decided yesterday to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy, the AP reports. Though unwilling to go further and insist upon a change to the anti-gay laws currently in effect in Russia, USOC CEO Scott Blackmun added "The fact that we do not think it is our role to advocate for a change in the Russian law does not mean that we support the law, and we do not." Last week Blackmun stated that he wanted the USOC to "lead by example and advocate internally within the global Olympic community to make sure we, as a family, are doing everything we can to send the message that we don't tolerate discrimination." Given the IOC's silence on this issue, it would seem the USOC's decision to change their policy is in line with their stated intent.

Meanwhile, a new campaign launched yesterday calls on athletes and fans alike to come out in support of Olympic Principle 6 which many believe should protect LGBT people against discrimination. The USOC has also said it would favor revising the Olympic Charter, as they have revised their own non-discrimination policy, to specifically address discrimination based on sexual orientation.

San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus 'I Am Harvey Milk' Original Cast Recording Comes Out: VIDEO

To coincide with National Coming Out Day the San Francisco Gay Men's Chorus released a teaser for their original cast recording CD of I Am Harvey Milk by Andrew Lippa (The Addams Family, Big Fish). Performed this past June at SFGMC's 35th anniversary concert, I Am Harvey Milk is an original work commissioned by the chorus that chronicles the life and legacy of Harvey Milk. The 300-member chorus is accompanied by the Bay Area Rainbow Symphony and features Noah Marlowe as Young Harvey, Andrew Lippa himself as Harvey Milk, and Tony Award-winning soprano Laura Benanti.

The teaser clip samples a few minutes from the finale piece, "Tired of the Silence", which implores gays and lesbians to proudly come out, and displays image after image of victories in the LGBT civil rights movement that were also shown during the live performance. The CD can be purchased on the SFGMC website and should ship later this month with the iTunes version of the album available by the end of October. The video as well as a few lyrics from select songs can be seen AFTER THE JUMP...

"I Am the Bullet"
I.
I am.
I am the bullet.
I am the bullet that went through the brain of Harvey Milk.

I am not a villain.
I am not a hero.
I am just a bullet.
I do what I'm told. 

"Friday Night in the Castro"
Six o'clock and I lock the door
I leave the office far behind.
Join the flock as I meet my weekend crowd (Join my weekend, my weekend crowd!).

I'm spellbound as I hear the sound
Of Donna Summer fill the air. DIVA!
Everything I need is waiting there!

Friday night in the Castro.
Friday night and the weekend saves me.
I'm alright if I get to dance til the break of dawn
With the music on! 

"Tired of the Silence"
Who will stand beside me, who will take my hand?
Whose will is greater than their fear?
Our goal has been sighted, our passions ignited
So now you're invited to appear.

Together is better than alone.
The hate won't vanish on its own!

Come out!
Come out and believe yourself, put faith in those who care.
Come out!
Come out and conceive yourself as something you can share.
Come out!
Come out and the day you do the pain will soon let go of you!

Come out to your friends, to your parents, to your boss. To your neighbors, to your sons. To your daughters, out to all your fellow workers. To your cops. To your doctors, to the shops where you spend money, to your god. To your teachers, to yourselves. Come out to yourselves! Come out!

New Study Finds Polls May Underestimate Anti-Gay Attitudes, Size of LGBT Population

A new study by a team of researchers from Ohio State and Boston Universities found that conventional public opinion surveys tend to underestimate the number of individuals who hold anti-gay views while also under-reporting the proportion of LGBT individuals in the general population. Pew Research Center details the report's findings:

[The researchers] used a novel research method that, in addition to the usual privacy and anonymity afforded by the best practice survey techniques, goes further and makes it virtually impossible to connect individual respondents with their answers to sensitive questions. They call this technique the "Veiled Report" method.

Then they compared their findings with the results obtained as part of the "Veiled Report" experiment with responses from a control group that answered questions posed in a more conventional way. Their goal was to see how social desirability bias- the tendency for people to not reveal behaviors or attitudes that they fear may be viewed as outside the mainstream - may affect reporting on these sensitive topics. 

In the results using the experimental technique, self-reports of non-heterosexual identity amounted to 19% of those surveyed using the Veiled Report methods - 65% higher than the 11% in the control group. The share reporting same-sex experiences also grew from 17% in the control group to 27% in the Veiled Report group, they reported. (Because their experiment did not use a random sample of the adult population, the researchers do not attempt to estimate the actual size of the country's gay and lesbian population.)

The experimental method also increased the rates of anti-gay sentiment. For example, the share who disapproved of having an openly gay manager at work increased from 16% in the control group to 27% in the Veiled Report group. The proportion who thought it should be legal to discriminate when hiring on the basis of sexual orientation also rose form 14% to 25%.

To read the full report, click HERE.