Mob Hit Man at NYC Sentencing: I'm Gay and Regret Life of Crime

NYC organized crime has its very own "gay Vito". Federal Judge Jack Weinstein was stunned at a hearing for Robert Mormando when the hit man-turned-informant, who was being sentenced for the killing of Queens bagel store owner Angelo Mugnolo, renounced his life of crime and said he's gay.

The New York Daily News reports:

"Defense lawyer Nancy Ennis told the judge Mormando was given the contract a month after he was inducted into the crime family in 2002. 'He was summoned to perform an act that he found totally unacceptable afterward,' Ennis said. 'He did follow through, but he found the incident to be so disagreeable shortly after that he started having strong thoughts about leaving the mob. He was living in hiding, not from law enforcement, but from La Cosa Nostra.' Ennis' biggest bombshell was announcing that Mormando is out of the closet.' He has been openly gay since he left the mob,' Ennis said. Mormando's partner has refused to enter the witness protection program, but they have relocated and together they 'live a peaceful working life,' she said. Members of the Mafia do not accept a gay lifestyle within its ranks although there is no specific rule that inductees must accept, like the prohibition from having an affair with another gangster's wife. Former DeCavalcante crime boss John D'Amato was whacked in 1992 for being gay. A burly gay hit man named Vito Arena was a member of the murderous Roy DeMeo crew. He, too, became a mob informant, but he returned to a life of a crime and was shot dead in a botched armed robbery. In any event, Weinstein was more interested in asking Mormando what attracted him to the mob. 'As a young kid growing up in Ozone Park, John Gotti was a hero,' Mormando explained. 'He had cars. Power. I regret that now.'"

Irish Hurler Donal Og Cusack: 'I'm Gay'

Donal Og Cusack, a legendary Irish goalkeeper in the Gaelic sport of hurling, has come out of the closet in a new biography, the Belfast Telegraph reports:

"The player has lifted the lid off his bisexual past in a candid story of his life that makes him the first ever senior GAA star to publicly declare his homosexuality. The Cork hurler from the small village of Cloyne is a legend in GAA circles after winning three All-Ireland finals. Yet in what may shock the sporting establishment, he admits to sleeping with both women and men before accepting his sexuality as a gay man in his autobiography Come What May published by Penguin Ireland and due out this month. In an honest and down-to-earth account of his life as one of the GAA's most high-profile players, he reveals how he tried to date women as a young man even though he knew from the age of 13 or 14 'that I was a bit different'. 'I tried to go out with women to make sure, to see what kind of feeling it gave me,' he writes.' I went out with nice women and good women, but sure, I still knew. I wanted something else. I get more out of men. I just do. Always have. I know I am different but just in this way. Whatever you may feel about me or who I am, I've always been at peace with it,' he said."

Watch a clip of a hurling match, AFTER THE JUMP...

Closeted Gay Politicians Hung Out to Dry in Outrage, Tonight on HBO

 

Not a good night for Florida Governor Charlie Crist tonight. Why? Outrage, the documentary by Kirby Dick about closeted politicians and the way their hypocrisy damages lives — not only their personal lives but the millions of gays and lesbians their homophobic policymaking affects, premieres tonight at 9 on HBO. The documentary spends much time focused on the sex life of Crist as he hides behind his many beards.

Go here for my thoughts on it. Watch the trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...

Mika Labels Himself: 'Call Me Bisexual'

The coy until now pop star Mika tells Dutch magazine Day & Night to call him a bisexual if they feel the need to label him:

"I've never ever labeled myself. But having said that; I've never limited my life, I've never limited who I sleep with. So, whatever. (…) Call me whatever you want. Call me bisexual, if you need a term for me."

He also recommends the label-less route for everyone else:

"There are ways of being a role model without having to always having to establish yourself with a label. Let's say if you're a 16-year-old guy, and you're not sure about your sexuality, you should be as free as you want...Having a role model who makes you feel like it's alright to do whatever you want, without the pressure of a label, I think that's a good thing as well. I think there's a million different ways to do it, there isn't only one. And I hope I'm right."

And guess what? Today, Septbember 23, is Celebrate Bisexuality Day!

SC Lt. Governor Andre Bauer: Gay Talk is Improper, Ridiculous, Silly

South Carolina Lt. Governor Andre Bauer was asked by SCBD Charleston about rumors he is gay.

Said Bauer: “I don’t think it’s a proper question. I think it’s a little bit ridiculous and it’s sad that politics has gotten to that. But if somebody had a question I don't have a problem with going ahead and airing it and getting it out of the way because I don't want that to linger, much like this other problem is lingering. I want to move forward. I want to talk about real issues, how to get improved job growth. How you get education to a better level than it is now, how you fix the budget problem that we've got — not continue to dwell on some silly question in the first place."

Blogger/activist Mike Rogers, who has a long record of accuracy on outing hypocritical politicians, recently said Bauer was gay on Michelangelo Signorile's Sirius radio show. State Senator Jake Knotts claims the rumors are a part of a smear campaign by sitting governor Mark Sanford.

Should Sanford step down in the wake of his extramarital affair scandal, anti-gay Bauer is poised to take his role.

Watch the interview, AFTER THE JUMP...

Danyl Johnson, X-Factor's Overnight Star, Says He's Bisexual

Danyl Johnson, a teacher from Reading, UK, gave what Simon Cowell called, "singlehandedly, the best first audition I have heard" on Britain's X-Factor talent show over the weekend. In the subsequent clamor from the press, Johnson talked to the UK Mirror, and told the tabloid he's bisexual.

The Mirror reports: "The 27-year-old dance and drama teacher gave the two girl judges a cheeky wink during his mind-blowing performance in last night’s live show. But he said he’s a 'free spirit' who dates women AND men, admitting that he thinks all the judges are good-looking...even Louis Walsh. He said: 'I don’t like to conform or be put into one box or another and if I’m honest all the judges are good-looking. If I like someone’s personality it doesn’t really matter what they look like or what sex they are.'"

Watch Danyl's audition, AFTER THE JUMP...