Ron Griswold
Monday, November 3, 2014
Sunday, November 2, 2014
"And The Truth Shall Set You Free..."
The gay sporting star appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show to talk about his life and new autobiography. Ross, who has a gay daughter, personally thanked Thomas for being so open about his sexuality
November 2, 2014
Gareth Thomas, the former rugby player who came out in 2009, has just published his autobiography, Proud.
On Saturday night he appeared on the Jonathan Ross Show on British's ITV channel, to talk about his career and his previous struggles with his sexuality.
Thomas enjoyed a phenomenal rugby career as a player, and was, until September 2011, the most capped Welsh rugby union player, with 100 appearances for his country.
He married his wife, Jenna, in 2001, but they filed for divorce in 2007. Thomas came out in an interview with the Daily Mail in 2009, and has revealed that in his darkest moments, he contemplated suicide. He told Ross that he continues to be bowled over by the reaction that he gets from people to his decision to discuss his sexuality.
‘I have won every trophy that I can ever dream of winning but when you affect somebody’s life, in a way that this person is going to have a life that they never thought they could have because of me, stupid old me, because of that they could do that, it’s amazing.
‘I didn’t come out because I wanted to be the first person to do it and I was going to be a trailblazer, I came out because I came to a crossroads of living or dying and that’s why I decided to come out, I wanted to live.’
In a moment of genuine gratitude, Ross shook Gareth’s hand and told him: ‘One of my children is gay.
‘I do understand the impact it has when someone like you stands up and says what you said and comes out because it is very important.
‘I know there are people and there are kids up and down this country still who are wrestling this and who are feeling lost and alone and frightened by what’s going on and so the fact that you can come up and tell your story this open and clearly in a remarkably honest way - because you are unflinching in the way you judge yourself which I think is very unusual in a book - so I want to say thank you personally for what you’re doing and I think that everybody feels that what you’re doing is an important thing.’
Finally, when asked by Ross if marriage might be on the cards for him and his partner, Ian Baum [pictured with him on the right], Thomas replied:
‘We’ve known each other for two years and we’ve been living together for a year and I am very much in love with Ian, I’m extremely happy and I’m sure one day down the line [we might get married], we’re settling in but I definitely wouldn’t write it off because I really feel I’ve found my soulmate and the person I can spend the rest of my life with, I really do.’
Watch the interview below:
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And so, as you see, the truth does truly set you free and opens up the possibilities
for true happiness and love in your life.
"Fear Eats the Soul"
"The Sunday Truth..."
10/31/2014
According to a new Harris poll released Thursday, two-thirds of Americans support federal legislation that would bar employers from discriminating against workers on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity, and 55 percent reject exemptions for any employers -- even churches.
The online survey, conducted Sept. 10-18 with Out & Equal Workplace Advocates and Witeck Communications, found that only 35 percent of Americans think religious organizations are legally justified to discriminate against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers on faith-based grounds. Slightly fewer respondents, 30 percent, made the same exception for privately held businesses. About 1 in 5 Americans said publicly held businesses should be able to claim a religious exemption as well, according to the survey, which interviewed 2,543 adults in the United States.
In July, President Barack Obama issued an executive order protecting LGBT employees of federal contractors and the federal government from employment discrimination. The provision pertaining to federal contractors, which does not grant any exemptions for religiously affiliated contractors, affects 24,000 companies employing nearly one-fifth of the U.S. workforce. But in 29 states, all other workers can still be legally fired or harassed for being gay, lesbian or bisexual. For transgender employees, that's true in 32 states.
In Congress, legislation to remedy this gap has passed the Senate but stalled in the GOP-controlled House. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act, which would protect all LGBT workers from workplace discrimination, has also lost support from a number of gay rights groups in recent months because of its inclusion of a wide-reaching religious exemption that would give faith-affiliated businesses legal cover to discriminate against LGBT employees.
"I think there's a broad consensus that the rules should apply to everyone, which is why we withdrew our support from ENDA," Jennifer Pizer, senior counsel at Lambda Legal, explained in an Associated Press interview earlier this month. "If you have different standards, then it communicates a message that some kinds of discrimination are not as serious as others."
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"Fear Eats the Soul"
"Same Gender Loving People - No. 1834"
"This Is The Look Of Love..."
Positive images of people like me... The truth of the matter is that we all need to see people like ourselves. So everyday, I'll post a photo, drawing or some other artwork that depicts Same Gender Loving People as what we are... Only Human.
Saturday, November 1, 2014
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