A softball coach in Memphis says she has been banned from a local church softball league because she is gay.

Jana Jacobson said officials from Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, TN, disqualified her team from competing in their adult women’s softball league because it would send a message to their congregation that they condone her “deviant” lifestyle.

Jacobson said she registered, paid the entry fee and attended an organizational meeting. Later, a church official called her seeking another meeting. At that one, officials began questioning whether she was gay. When she said she was, they told her the team could not play.

Jacobson’s team, which has both gay and straight players, had been playing only one night a week and applied to join Bellevue’s league when they learned they were admitting non-church teams.

Jim Barnwell, Bellevue’s director of communications, has said the church has no plans to comment on Jacobson’s version of events.

Will Batts, Director of the Memphis Gay and Lesbian Community Center, said he’s disappointed but not surprised at Bellevue’s decision, “I get that a private organization needs to have rules but this one seems to be based on fear and ignorance.”

Kanyon

Former WWE and WCW wrestler Chris Kanyon was found dead in his New York apartment Friday night, the victim of an apparent suicide.

Kanyon, whose real name was Christopher Klucsaritis, ended his professional wrestling career in 2004, and was the first openly gay wrestler in the WWE.

Kanyon wanted to base his character on that, but the WWE showed interest; he later claimed the WWE released him due to his coming out.

Kanyon reportedly suffered from depression and bi-polar disorder, and had frequently spoken about committing suicide.

According to reports, a pill bottle and “several notes” were found near his body.

The two communities are the first Olympic hosts to with Pride Houses to welcome gay and lesbian athletes and tourists and educate Olympic visitors about diversity and the LGBTQ community.

Vancouver’s Pride House is an inclusive pavilion for members and allies of the gay community, and the first of its kind in Olympic history.

“What I’m told by Olympic athletes I know is that high performance sports is still very, very deep in the closet,” said Jennifer Breakspear, one of the most formidable human rights activists in British Columbia and the executive director of Qmunity, which hosts the Vancouver Pride House.

Canadian swimmer and former Olympian Mark Tewksbury, visiting Pride House during the Games’ opening weekend, said such a venue would never have been tolerated when he was competing.

Tewksbury, who announced he was gay in 1998, won gold and bronze medals in the 1992 Barcelona Games and a silver medal in Seoul in 1988.

The Whistler Pride House, sitting inside the Pan Pacific Whistler Village Centre Hotel, has a more celebratory attitude, its location considered a popular party venue.

A few other notes from the Olympics:

• A pair of Aussie sports commentators have been given a dressing down for making a series of anti-gay jibes about male figure skaters and their outfits at the Winter Olympics.
• A gay Vancouver man wants to know what the Olympic organizing committee is going to do about the 20-minute verbal and physical homophobic onslaught he endured at the Feb 8 opening ceremonies rehearsal.
• The Vancouver Games may be the first Olympics to have Pride House, but so far, the LGBTQ community has only a few gay heroes to cheer for at the Winter Olympics.

Amaechi

Former NBA basketball player John Amaechi says that a sporting society tolerant of gay would achieve greater results in the competitive arena, but in an interview with London’s Daily Telegraph, he says he doesn’t advise gay athletes to come out.

Amaechi came out as gay in 2007, the first NBA professional ever so to do. And the response to his own decision has made him aware of what it takes publicly to announce homosexuality.

“I personally have spoken to 10, 12 current professional footballers who are gay, they exist, I promise you,” he says. “As it happens none of them have asked me if they should come out. But if they did, I would tell them not to. I’m not a gay rights activist.”

Amaechi said knows about what happens to players the moment they step out of the closet. Throughout his years in the NBA, Amaechi kept his sexuality to himself in the certain knowledge revelation would jeopardize his career.

“If nothing else, three of the States I worked in – Florida, Utah and Texas – were among the 32 where you could be fired for being gay. Gay activists often tell me if I’d come out while playing I’d have made more of a difference. It perhaps suits me not to believe that. But I honestly think I would have lost my job and what good would that have done? We don’t need any more martyrs.”

On the contrary, Amaechi is missing the point that hiding in the closet does nothing to advance LGBTQ rights, and is one of the greatest issues facing gay and lesbian community.

In fact, a 2009 Gallup Poll revealed that Americans who personally know someone who is gay or lesbian less like to oppose gay marriage or other civil rights and protections for gays and lesbians.

Bad advice, Mr. Amaechi. Why did you even bother to come out?

(Image: NBC)

A gay Vancouver man wants to know what the Olympic organizing committee is going to do about the 20-minute verbal and physical homophobic onslaught he endured at the Feb 8 opening ceremonies rehearsal.

Tyler Sheppard says a woman who incorrectly insisted he and his friends were sitting in her seats repeatedly called him and his friends “fucking faggots.”

Sheppard says the abuse continued even after ushers determined Sheppard and his friends were in the right seats.

Sheppard is still waiting for somebody from Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympics (VANOC) to return his calls about the incident.

VANOC has a duty to ameliorate such situations, said David Eby of the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association.

“We are saddened to report that Brendan Burke, the youngest son of Leafs president and general manager Brian Burke, succumbed to injuries he suffered in an auto accident … in Indiana,” the Leafs said in a statement Friday night. “The family asks for privacy at this difficult time.”

Burke, who was an assistant on the University of Miami (Ohio) hockey team, was reportedly driving east on a snow-covered U.S. 35 in a Jeep Grand Cherokee when his vehicle slid sideways into an oncoming 1997 Ford Truck,. Burke’s passenger, 18-year-old Mark Reedy, also died in the accident.

The younger Burke rose to national prominence last year when he told his story of the love and acceptance received from his dad after coming out as gay.

In a profile by ESPN sports columnist John Buccigross, Brendan Burke’s story was told in a poignant second-person narration, inviting the reader to put himself into Brendan’s shoes, while describing the young man’s journey into self discovery.

In an excerpt from the essay:

On this night in 2007, you are petrified of your dad. Because you, Brendan Burke, at 19 years old, are about to tell your dad, Mr. Testosterone, that you are gay.”

In a statement in the article from the elder Burke at the time, “I had a million good reasons to love and admire Brendan. This news didn’t alter any of them.”

Brendan told reporters he hoped his story will give others the confidence to come forward.

“I think it’s important my story is told to people because there are a lot of gay athletes out there and gay people working in pro sports that deserve to know there are safe environments where people are supportive regardless of your sexual orientation,” he said.

Colleagues said Saturday that Penner was found dead at his Los Angeles home and that suicide was the suspected cause of death. He was 52.

“He was one of the most talented writers I’ve ever worked with,” said Times Sports Editor Mike James, adding that Penner covered numerous beats including the National Football League and sports media during his more than two-decade-long career at the paper.

In 2007, Penner made headlines by announcing in a column that he planned to live life as a woman named Christine Daniels.

“I am a transsexual sportswriter. It has taken more than 40 years, a million tears and hundreds of hours of soul-wrenching therapy for me to work up the courage to type those words.”

Penner blogged about his transitioning experience for several months, then took a leave of absence.

Last year, he returned to the newsroom as a man and began using his old byline.

Penner, who was taking female hormones but never had sex change surgery, didn’t publicly explain his decision.

More from the Los Angeles Times.

On his Twitter account two weeks ago, Johnson questioned Chiefs coach Todd Haley’s competence, insulted followers and used a gay slur.

He repeated the gay slur the next day to reporters and subsequently suspended for two weeks.

”We decided it was in the best interests of the Kansas City Chiefs’ organization to move forward at this time,” Haley said.

This latest incident was not the first trouble for Johnson.

The Kansas City Star reported Johnson was accused of aggravated assault in 2003 and misdemeanor domestic battery for waving a gun at his ex-girlfriend, but the charges were dropped because the running back entered a domestic-violence program.

In 2005, Johnson was accused of pushing a woman to the ground at another KC nightspot, but the charges were later dropped.

Full story at the Kansas City Star.

The Chiefs previously suspended Johnson for two weeks until Nov. 9 for what they called conduct “detrimental” to the team.

Johnson posted disparaging remarks Sunday night on his Twitter page, starting with a remark about Coach Todd Haley’s lack of football playing experience. He later posted a gay slur in response to one of his Twitter followers (pictured, below), referring to someones profile picture as a “fag pic.”

The following morning Johnson directed another gay slur, telling a reporter to “get your faggot ass out of here.”

The two-week absence would cost Johnson about $630,000. He might still face punishment from the league.

Johnson posted disparaging remarks Sunday night on his Twitter page, starting with a remark about Coach Todd Haley’s lack of football playing experience. He later posted a gay slur in response to one of his Twitter followers, and Johnson directed another gay slur Monday morning in the Chiefs’ locker room.

He will not be permitted at team headquarters or allowed to participate in team activities before Nov. 9, the day after the Chiefs play at Jacksonville.

Johnson’s agent, Peter Schaffer, said that an appeal would be filed, and would ask for an expedited hearing.

Johnson had already been barred from the team Tuesday for remarks he made earlier in the week, although that was not a suspension. Johnson will not be paid while suspended, saving the Chiefs about $660,000 in total compensation the next two weeks.

The Chiefs issued a statement Wednesday night announcing Johnson’s suspension, and a spokesman said the team wouldn’t comment further.

According to multiple reports, Johnson — in telling reporters to get away from him — used a slur that referred to gays. He used the same slur on his Twitter feed. He has also posted demeaning remarks about Coach Todd Haley.

Hours after Kansas City’s 37-7 loss to San Diego on Sunday, Johnson tweeted several controversial remarks directed toward Haley and the coach’s lack of football experience, followed by later responses directed toward his Twitter followers which contained inflammatory remarks about gays.

In a reference to someones profile picture, Johnson called it a “fag pic” and called the person a “Christopher street boy,” a reference to a predominantly gay section in New York’s Greenwich Village. Johnson’s Twitter profile was later taken private and some posts were deleted.

On Monday in the Chiefs locker room, Johnson used another gay slur after saying he wouldn’t speak to reporters.

Johnson, sitting next to second-year running back Jamaal Charles, told reporters that “I’m not talking till Thursday,” his usual day of speaking with reporters.

“Get your faggot ass out of here,” he said.

Johnson is drawing criticism from the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD).

GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios called on the NFL to punish Johnson for using the gay slur to disparage reporters.

McMackin, who will lose approximately $169,000, will be allowed to coach the team “as a volunteer” during the suspension, and the money from his suspension will be used to fund an intern for a gay/lesbian group as well for other awareness efforts, according to UH athletic director Jim Donovan.

“I just made a big mistake,” McMackin said at a press conference yesterday. “I apologize to everyone and anyone I offended. I’m committed to do whatever I can as a life lesson to learn from my mistake.”

McMackin left the press conference without taking any questions.

McMackin ignited a firestorm of national outrage when he repeatedly used the slur in his press conference with football writers at the Western Athletic Conference Football Media Review in Salt Lake City. before apologizing.

The subject of the speech was the Hawaii Bowl last year, where the Hawaiian players performed a Polynesian haka. Notre Dame had their own version, which attracted the scorn and derision of McMackin and his players.

The full text of the speech as follows:

I’ll never do this again. He had his guys. “We do something special at Notre Dame,” he said, and they get up and they do this little cheerlead like this, you know, this little faggot dance. You remember Jason and Steven. So my guys were looking at me, you know they’re all looking and all trying not to laugh so I gave them the… don’t write that faggot thing. I was misquoted.

Anyway, uh… you know, I gave them the shotgun so our guys get up and it was the best shotgun I’ve ever seen, I mean they’re on their cheer and they had beads on, they’re ripping their beads off. I mean, it was a little scary. But I think Notre Dame watched that and said we’d better have ourselves ready, because they’re gonna play some big D and we can’t take that away. Our quarterback was on fire.

I went out and challenged the last play of the half because there’s no way that guy could have caught it. We had two guys on him and he caught it out of bounds with his toes in. It was just great execution.

So anyway, please, last year you covered for me as far as I recruit, cover for me, oh yeah, say faggot dance. Please cover for me on that too, right Carl? I’ll deny it. Anything else?

In case you weren’t counting, that was 3.