Australian Football player Jason Akermanis, who's always been known for his outspokenness, has penned an article wondering why there aren't more openly gay players.

"Coming out" for a player has many potential reactions. Some good, some bad. On the field, players are called "poofters", or words to that effect, all the time.

You could imagine what might happen if there actually was one. I am sure the vilification rules would come into play.

What about the good things that might happen? The person could be the new pin-up boy and the opportunities for business could be massive. And I mean massive."

Akermanis actually did play with an openly gay teammate, and he talks about the reaction it received:

"I also remember playing with a guy at my old club, Mayne, in Brisbane. He was tough, and one of the nicest guys on the team. His partner would come and sit and watch him play.

The guys never treated him any differently - until it was shower time. I was in there after one match and it was full of guys talking and carrying on.

Anyway, I turned around to see everyone grabbing their towels and heading out of the shower area. Then I realised who had walked in. The guy in question laughed and said it happened all the time."

Tennis player Francisco Rodriguez

So why aren't there more openly gay male athletes? A gay player in a team sport (like the AFL) would certainly have a rough time of it, but what about a singular sport, like tennis? There have been rumours about certain players, but unlike their female counterparts, no high profile male player has ever come out.

Last month, Out.com ran a coming-out interview with Francisco Rodriguez, a spanish player who had some interesting things to say about being gay in professional tennis.

Read about Francisco's experiences, and learn why one tennis commentator believes there should be a "don't ask, don't tell" policy in the locker room, after the break. … continue reading

Coming out is hard enough to go through once ... is it really worth going through again with someone you're dating? Gay men who have just come out can be very enticing, and a lot of trouble. In this episode, Daniel Leary helps you weigh the pros and cons, and comes up with some mathematical equations that might help avoid some drama.

Watch it after the break! … continue reading

As the World Turns (CBS) Check local listings
Things hit a hitch with Luke's new foundation guy suggests Luke should, uhm, de-emphasize, his relationship with Noah "for business reasons". Then Noah responds with a "Maybe he's right" which ... hooboy. Yeah, this one's really going to need a liveblog so be sure to check back in starting at 2PM Eastern.

Project Runway (Bravo) 9:00 PM EDT
Yes! Chris March (who was utterly the season four fan favorite in my house) returns as the designers are challenged to outfit some fierce drag performers. Yesterday, Rachel Maddow gets a show and now Chris March returns on Project Runway? This is turning out to be a pretty good week. And to make things even bigger the models are a fabulous team of drag performers including Girls Will Be Girls' Jeffrey Roberson (aka Varla Jean Merman) and this week's guest judge is RuPaul. Check out a video featuring all the guest models, after the break!

Shear Genius (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
Uhm, wha? I want to know what inspired the producers to come up with tonight's challenge where the final four learn their next client is their "identical twin" because that is one special well of inspiration.

Sorid Lives (Logo) 10:00 PM EDT
Brother Boy wakes up from his coma ... which has to mean we're getting a Tammy Wynette tribute soon, right? Ooh, can't wait. Also, it's Sissy versus a goat, which on any other show would sound like reaching for story ideas but here sounds positively inspired. … continue reading

T.R. Knight shnugs with boyfriend Mark Cornelsen yesterday in Los Angeles

In a continued effort to bring you all that is important in the world of gay entertainment and ensure that you are being spoon-fed images of gorgeous, commoditized manflesh, we present the newly-minted AfterElton Briefs. Following the usual assortment of carefully-selected news items, interested readers can find a refreshing pic of a hot man in underwear after the jump. Yes, we're serious.

• The weekend wedding of Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi will be the cover exclusive of this week's People Magazine. Keep 'em comin'!

• But WTF is up with CNN International's coverage of Ellen's getting 'married'? Fearquotes are soooo 2007 ... and isn't it poor etiquette to misspell the name of one of the brides in the headline? 

• On the other hand, here's a cute clip of T.R. Knight, Katherine Heigl, and others wishing Ellen and Portia well on their weekend wedding.

• Above, from our sibs at 365Gay: A look at how how dark clouds over Wall Street are dressing down fashions for next season.

• Comeback of the year Robert Downey Jr. notes in the new Rolling Stone that his rumored bisexuality in the 80's was manufactured. Like everything else in the 80's!

• When is an apology about making offensive comments about an upcoming transgender contestant on America's Next Top Model not an apology? When it's coming from FOX News. ("Because their lips are moving!" ... Wait, did I mess up the joke again? Darn it all!)

And today's Briefs are brought to you by... … continue reading

Today's Forbidden Love clip picks up with Christian and Olli making arrangements to tell their story to a local boxing magazine.

Christian is convinced that once the harassers at the gym see their names in print, they'll feel pressure to back off, and may even be ashamed.

I think Christian is giving this group way too much credit. They look like they answered a cattle call for "toothless scuzz", and I think they're the kind of people who would look at this kind of attention as a badge of honor.

"Hey, wanna catch of matinee of Brideshead Revisited with all of us?"

Christian gives the interview at the the gym, but sees that he's never going to be accepted by this group of jerks, and decides to take his hotness elsewhere (and I love Olli's little head shake towards the idiots at the club as Christian's walking away, but I think I would have preferred him to go whole hog and give them a "talk to the hand").

Back home, they get bad news when the reporter tells them that his editor has nixed the story (which just proves my belief that ALL EDITORS ARE EVIL!), so they decide to try and find another newspaper or magazine to carry their story.

NOOOO! NOTHING IS WORTH STOOPING THAT LOW!

Will Olli and Christian succeed in getting their story told? You'll have to watch and see. What I love about this episode is how supportive Gregor is in wanting to help out his brother, and I'm glad that Christian and Olli aren't backing down from this, the fight of their lives.

You can see today's clip after the break, and thanks to Nanna and the Gays of Daytime for the translations. … continue reading

Team Gay: Glam God edition

Another day, another reality competition, right? Well, this one at least is stocked with gay contestants for us to scrutinize. This Thursday VH1 premieres Glam God with Vivica A. Fox, in which 12 aspiring stylists compete for $100,000, a celebrity spread gig in US Weekly, and representation with a major stlyist agency. I would also say that it earns them the title of "Glam God", but I have a feeling that most of the people competing probably call themselves that already.

Being that styling is a gay-friendly field, it's no surprise that there are three gay men in the group. We don't know too much about the fellas yet, but here are Handry, Bo, and Joachim. Have at 'em.

Stylist Phillip Bloch

The show also features noted out stylist/favorite talking-head Phillip Bloch as one of the judges. As much as he kind of drives me nuts, he can be incredibly funny, so it should make for some fun eliminations.

Side note: Between this (a reality show clearly in the Bravo mold) and The Cho Show (aka Kathy Griffin 2.0), is VH1 finally moving toward more legitimate reality programming and away from Has-beens, Drunks and Pay-Per-View Porn Actors Eating Pig Vaginas in a Rented Mansion? Let's hope so.

Bigger pics of the guys are after the break. Get out your fine-toothed combs and click on through!  … continue reading

Million Dollar Listing (Bravo) 10:00 PM EDT
After a couple weeks of non-drama, it looks like we're going to get a peek at Madison's love life as he goes on a blind date with a "mystery man" this week. Hopefully, this means I'll have more to do this episode than wonder why Chad isn't helping Mario rescue Princess Toadstool.

General Hospital: Nigh Shift (SOAPnet) 11:00 PM EDT
The bad blood between gay doc Kyle (Adam Grimes) and Leo (Dominic Rains) builds. Meanwhile, it sounds like the patient-of-the-week is a woman whose partner is banned by her homophobic family ... I wonder if that'll play in the family tensions between the Julian bros.

After weeks of having to fantasize about their storyline (mine involved the two of them in a remake of Summer Lovers...with me as the mysterious stranger who becomes the trois in their menage), we'll finally see some John Paul and Kieron action on Hollyoaks late next week.

But if you can't wait, we've got some pics (like the one above, with J.P. in an absolutely hideous shirt), and some spoilers, plus news about a return to Hollyoaks for James Sutton!

You can see it all after the break, and thanks to dkellergrl2001 for the heads up. … continue reading

  
Our new favorite bundle of crazy, Deon

Chock-filled with globetrotting, bad advertising, and transgendered drama queens, this episode of the Sean John™ Marketing Hour has everything that you could want from your summer reality fix, including a nice little introduction to our thus-far largely ignored Resident of the Earth Deon. 

After the untimely departure of a certain directionally-challenged cast member, our resident Frat Pack on the uptown team, Mike and Boris, seem to have a lot of time on their hands, ruining our Resident of the Earth’s afternoon nap by making the brilliant decision to stick a pretzel stick in his open mouth.  That’s “comedy“, for those of you not keeping track. 

Hilarity didn’t ensue, but a lot of cursing did, as Deon informed us all via confessional that he was ready to “f****** kill somebody” and leaving us to assume that the “works well with others” box on his application for the assistant position was left unchecked.    

Words of wisdom from Diddy

Soon after, the the assistant wannabes are given notification via their Verizon Wireless™ Blackberry phones that two members from each team are to pack a bag and leave the loft for an unknown destination. 

Kim and Suzanne are paired on the uptown team, Boris and our very own fierce transgender woman Laverne Cox for the downtown team.  The team soon finds out they’re going to Paris, leaving Ms. Cox to compare herself to one Carrie Bradshaw, except, you know, Black and transsexual.  The Verizon Wireless™ graphic tells us that the assignment is to find a model in Paris and convince her to come back to NYC to be featured in an advertisement for Sean John™ Eyewear. … continue reading

Read more after the break!

Luckily, the dead space that is summer TV gives Angy Puppy's Marc & Lee time to catch up on the latest from gay comic artists Brian Andersen (So Super Duper) and Tommy Roddy (Pride High). With all this reading time, Marc's seemingly never-ending foray into the Dune universe and Lee's new-found interest in the Mayfair witches (including the ubiquitous gay and bisexual males found in all of Anne Rice's pre-conversion novels) led to their latest list of 15 favorite witches in geekdom.

Check it out after the break! … continue reading