News: Serbia, Caster Semenya, China, Tim Hardaway, Cleveland

Obama appoints law professor, ENDA expert, and former legislative counsel to the AIDS Project of the ACLU Chai R. Feldblum as Commissioner of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Hamburglar chic at Marc Jacobs show.

Orbitz, Bertolli, Cadillac, Subaru, Lifelube, Allstate, Coors Light among nominees for GLAAD  Media Awards in Advertising.

David Beckham looks like a fool trying to golf.

Amnesty International: Serbian gay rights activists under attack. Serbian authorities expect Gay Pride clashes...

Teen sentenced to up to 9 months in juvenile detention for gay bashing of Steven Harmon in Portage, Michigan, after pleading guilty to aggravated assault. More on the crime here. "The 16-year-old was also ordered to obtain anger management counseling, victim restitution and write a letter of apology to the victim, Steven Harmon, said Karen Hayter, division leader for assistant prosecuting attorneys in the Family Court division of Kalamazoo County Circuit Court."

South African runner at center of gender debate,Caster Semenya, on suicide watch: "She is like a raped person. She is afraid of herself and does not want anyone near her. If she commits suicide, it will be on all our heads. The best we can do is protect her and look out for her during this trying time."

Gays take a stand (and a seat) in a public park in Guangzhou, China: "When the police descend on People's Park and shoo away the gay men gathered there, the men usually scatter to avoid trouble. But recently, about 50 or so confronted five officers who began a sweep and finally forced a police retreat after a heated but nonviolent standoff."

Straight spouses stung by closeted exes speak up for same-sex marriage: "If gays and lesbians were more accepted, I wouldn't have married a closeted lesbian."

Tim Hardaway foundation to hold Miami benefit for gay suicide hotline The Trevor Project.

Popular gay radio show Fernando & Greg booted from the air in San Francisco...

Jake Gyllenhaal takes in the Del Potro knockdown at the U.S. Open.

Penn Badgley on Gossip Girl cast: "In certain circles we're treated like royalty. We're treated like the Kennedys."

Mayor Frank Jackson and Cleveland City Council lift city's Gay Games bid to the tune of $700,000: "The money would help defray the costs of holding the games here and would not be spent unless Cleveland is the winning bidder. The city is one of three finalists for the 2014 Gay Olympics. Boston and Washington D.C. are the other contenders."

Former Bush speechwriter reveals how Bush dissed everyone in Washington.

Report cards issued to pharmaceutical companies with HIV drugs on the market.

Finish line: "on Sunday, September 13, 2009, 113 riders and a team of 50 volunteer crew members of Braking the Cycle ended their three-day cycling journey from Boston to New York, at the footsteps of the LGBT Community Center...Together, this small group of dedicated individuals raised $274,682 (Net) for the HIV/AIDS services of the Center."

Peoria, Illinois holds first Gay Pride event.

California Bar Association annual meeting split by protest over Prop 8 supporter Doug Manchester's Grand Hyatt in San Diego: "Most nights there is a noisy picket line in front of the hotel. Whether the State Bar should or could move its annual meeting was a great controversy in legal circles earlier this year. In the end, the State Bar decided that it was not prudent or possible to move their convention. However, the now truly independent Conference of Delegates found itself not bound by the State Bar decision. The Conference of Delegates moved more than a mile away to the new Hilton Bayfront, near Petco Park. Attorneys or judges who want to attend both are left to chose between their walking shoes or taking a pedicab or taxi."

News: Ellen DeGeneres, Volcano, Tim Hardaway, Catapult Bashing

NYT lead editorial on ENDA: "Winning a majority in the House required a painful decision by the bill’s sponsors to jettison language extending the prohibition against employment discrimination to transgender individuals. As a result, some gay rights groups opposed the final bill. We sympathize with the groups’ sense of injustice, but disagree heartily as to strategy. Transgender people should be protected from discrimination, and we hope they soon will be. It would have been regrettable, however, had the sponsors refused to compromise, and as a result, lost the chance to extend basic civil rights to the millions of Americans who would be covered by the current bill."

Magma surge the size of Los Angeles builds under Yellowstone: "The remains of the Yellowstone supervolcano in the US is huffing and puffing and rising by up to 7 centimetres a year, say researchers... But the researchers, led by Wu-Lung Chang of the University of Utah in the US, caution that the movement does not mean an explosion is imminent. Calderas – the massive craters that are left behind when a volcano collapses – all over the world go up and down over decades."

Father of Italy's gay movement, Massimo Consoli, dies at 61 after battle with cancer: "Consoli was a prolific writer, theorist, and self-trained historian with 40 books to his credit, mostly on homosexual subjects, as well as an indefatigable archivist of materials on homosexuality. He was also a tireless and talented lifelong organizer who pioneered the first modern Italian gay organizations."

Catholic church in Italy bans transgender parliamentarian Vladimir Luxuria from being a bridesmaid at her relative's wedding.

Page Six slams Ellen DeGeneres for being a scab: "The TV chat host crossed picket lines to tape her show Tuesday, the day after the union went on strike. 'There's a writers' strike going on, and here in Los Angeles, it's a huge story,' she told her studio audience, defending her strikebreaking. (The episode will air today.) 'I want to say I love my writers. I love them. In honor of them today, I'm not going to do a monologue. I support them and hope that they get everything they're asking for. And I hope it works out soon. In the meantime, people have traveled across the country. They've made plans. They're here. I want to do everything I can to make your trip enjoyable and give you a show.' It's a decision DeGeneres may come to regret."

Personal assistant to famous NYC realtor and punk rock pioneer Linda Stein arrested for her boss' murder: "Formal charges were pending against Natavia Lowery, 26, said police spokesman Paul Browne. She "made statements implicating herself" in the killing, he said."

Britney Spears buys a shiny new Mercedes to continue breaking the law in.

Gay and lesbian film festival Tim Hardaway still working on his gayhab: "I know a lot more now and I'm willing to talk to people and I want to make sure they understand that my words were terrible and I didn't mean them."

Homophobic thugs in England ambush motorist using stones and a catapult! "He said a group used a catapult to fire stones at him and his car before hurling homo-phobic insults at him too. Police say the man immediately phoned for help and officers from the Tandridge neighbourhood team arrived within minutes to sweep the area in search of the suspects. Police believe they were men, but because they were hiding officers were unable to issue a description or confirm an exact number of suspects."

Navy doctor guilty on all counts in case involving secretly taping midshipmen having sex...

Tim Hardaway Turnaround: Becoming an LGBT Youth Advocate

In the months since Tim Hardaway reacted to John Amaechi's coming out by declaring "I hate gay people," comments that reverberated through the media and caused him to lose a place at the NBA's All Star Festivities, the former Heat player has been attending and working with the YES Institute, an advocacy center for LGBT youth.

According to the AP, "The group, founded in 1996, seeks to prevent teen suicides while boosting the self-esteem of children and keeping them free of violence and discrimination."

When he learned of the institute, Hardaway decided to check it out. Says the former pro: "I was scared out of my ... mind. I didn't know how they were going to act toward me. But you know what? They welcomed me with open arms. That eased a lot of my nervousness."

Hardaway says he wanted to take steps following the homophobic incident to change himself. He says he has not given interviews for many months because he did not want people to think his work with YES was a "publicity stunt or a quick fix to an image problem."

Says Hardaway: "I just wanted to go in and get educated, that's all. Get educated on what I said and why I said those things. I'm working on understanding it now. I'm not really trying to make amends. I've been there trying to get help. "I had no idea how much I hurt people. A lot of people."

Martha Fugate, the director of YES, has praised Hardaway in a press release: "Thanks to his honest albeit misguided reaction, Tim did find his way to YES Institute and the education he got was not just about others, but about himself. Because he is a role model, perhaps other people will also learn -- hopefully before bad consequences happen to them."

A contrite Tim Hardaway now embraced by some in gay community [ap via sports illustrated]

Background
Former NBA Star Tim Hardaway: "I Hate Gay People" [tr]

Howard Bragman: Helping Athletes Out...of the Closet

Outsports has a chat with publicist Howard Bragman, who has helped a series of high-profile athletes transition from closeted to openly gay in the public spotlight. This has made Bragman the "go-to" guy for jocks on the way "out". Bragman's clients have included Esera Tuaolo, Rosie Jones, Sheryl Swoopes, and most recently former NBA player John Amaechi. He has also been hired by Isaiah Washington to help the actor clean up after the Grey's Anatomy F-word incident.

Bragman discusses how the John Amaechi story unfolded: "I was working backward from the date of ESPN the magazine and the book coming out. Then Leigh Steinberg calls me a week before the Super Bowl and asks, 'will you go to Florida and do P.R. for my party?' Here you put a publicist at a Super Bowl party, and there are 25 journalists there, and my eyes light up, and I say, 'Guys, I've got a big story. In a couple weeks, I've got a former NBA player coming out of the closet.' And they started writing about it virally. And that Wednesday is one of those days you never forget. His identity was out there, and I had a real fear that the story would go away, but ironically a lot of media outlets who said they weren't sure when I pitched the book, as soon as it went viral, they had to have it. And then it just went ballistic after that."

He also says he doesn't think he could ever rep Tim Hardaway: "I don't think I would. And I say that as the guy who reps Isaiah Washington. Because it's got to be about more than just the money for me. And before I signed Isaiah, we talked for a couple hours. We knew people in common, and I really feel like he screwed up, but I think it was a screw up instead of being a homophobe. I look at the situation where the guy has played gay roles in his career. And I think somebody who's truly homophobic wouldn't do that. But Tim Hardaway's a little different for me. I like to be someplace I'm proud of, in representation. With Isaiah, we have a chance to talk, to have a real dialogue. He's really beautifully positioned to have a real dialogue."

Much more over at Outsports...

Announcer Billy Packer Called on "Fag Out" Comment

In an interview with Charlie Rose on Friday, CBS college basketball announcer Billy Packer casually used the term "fag out" while joking about Rose being a runner for him in this year's Final Four basketball match-up. 'Good As You' has the video of Packer's comments.

"Do you need a runner this Final Four?" Rose asked, "because I could jump on a plane and I could be there." Said Packer: "You always fag out on that one for me, you know. You always say, oh yeah, I'm gonna be the runner, then you never show up. But I’m sure they can find a place for ya. You've got all the connections in the world. You can go ahead and be a runner anyplace you want to."

The term, as defined by Urban Dictionary means "To bail on something, 'pussy out'" while WordWebOnline defines it as "exhaust or get tired through overuse or great strain or stress."

Outsports asked CBS Sports Vice-president of Communications LeslieAnne Wade about the comments. Said Wade: "I know he wasn't meaning to be insensitive at all. While it is a term that is in the dictionary, it was still a poor choice of words. I'm confident that he would agree that it was a bad choice of words."

I'd agree. And while it appears to be a colloquialism left over from the days of the dinosaurs (John Amaechi said "I can honestly say I have never heard that phrase used that way. Not in my entire life."), perhaps Packer deserves to be bent over the knee of Tim Hardaway and spanked until Hardaway "fags out".

Tim Hardaway Looks for a Second Chance

Tim Hardaway tells the Miami Herald's Barry Jackson that he'd rather "go straight to [a gay organization]" than attend "sensitivity training" for his remarks, and notes that the impact his anti-gay comments had on his business dealings ''hurt the most". He says he wants a second chance.

Said Hardaway: ''People have been trying to kick me when I'm down. [The reaction was] very, very shocking. People saying my wife left me -- that's not true. My family is OK and my finances are OK. I'm looking for a second chance and trying to clean up my image. I haven't been in trouble with drugs or guns. I'm an upstanding citizen. Like I told my children, life is not easy. This is a big bump I have to overcome. I'm going to deal with it like a champ. I've got to make sure people know I don't hate gay people.''

Hardaway also said that a meeting he had with NBA commissioner David Stern was "encouraging and very positive." He attended a Heat game last week and is attempting to get back in the good graces of head coach Pat Riley.

Riley says he has left the door open to that possibility: ''We are a country and city that forgives. I'm going to reach out to him, but he's got to admit if there's a problem, he's got to fix it..I think people who know Tim know he's a good person.''

Hardaway made headlines in February when he told a Miami radio host, "Well, you know, I hate gay people. I let it be known, I don't like gay people. I don't like to be around gay people. Yeah, I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world, or in the United States. So, yeah, I don't like it."