Yesterday the Boston Herald did a lengthy interview with out gay skater Rudy Galindo. Skating fans know Galindo not just for his athleticism and grace on the ice, but the fact that he is the only professional skater to come out while still competing. Galindo, who just underwent surgery for a hip replacement, talks about his friendship with Johnny Weir, the pressure the skating world put on him to "straighten up", and getting dumped by fellow skater Kristi Yamaguchi--professionally, not personally.

Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam apparently thinks gay folks haven't moved much beyond the 70's. Inspired by The New York Times recent article on gay cars, Beam laments how us 'mos have appropriated pretty much every aspect of contemporary culture. To prove his point, Beam cites Judy Garland, Dinah Shore, Gloria Gaynor's "I Will Survive," and, naturally, ABBA. He proceeds on to Superman, Brideshead Revisited, and Smith college as well.

Um, news flash, Mr. Beam. We didn't "appropriate" most popular culture--we invented it. Beam then compiles a list of what isn't gay which includes NASCAR, the NFL, and 24. I guess Beam hasn't noticed all those gay websites devoted to NFL players or just how much flesh those NFL players have been showing these days--thanks to us, no doubt. Even NASCAR has been sexed up pretty gay as of late. Don't believe me? Here is proof.

So sorry, old chap!

On Tuesday we wrote about Indianapolis Colts' coach Tony Dungy's scheduled appearance at the anti-gay Indiana Family Institute's dinner to honor him and raise money for their homophobic activities. Just how homophobic is the IFI? This is from an article on their site:

The proposal being pushed by the gay rights agenda at any given time is not their end goal. Adding 'sexual orientation' and 'gender identity' into discrimination law so that Marion County public schools are forced to hire cross-dressers to provide children with a second rate (I'm being generous) education is not the end game."

Other articles on the site state that LGBT people are "trapped by Satan" in their "homosexual lifestyle," and that "30 percent of all 20-year-old homosexual men will be HIV positive or dead by the age of 30."

NFL spokesperson Greg Aiello previously told AfterElton.com that "I believe I have made it clear that we have no issue with this dinner."

Neither Dungy, nor the Colt's front office would answer questions about Dungy's appearance in promotional materials for the dinner while in his Colt uniform. The Colts' even professed ignorance to having any idea what the IFI was about. This despite the fact we specifically told them. According to Outsports.com and the Indianapolis Star last night Dungy made it clear just how insync he and the IFI are. Said Dungy to the crowd of 700 who helped raise $70,000 for the IFI:

I appreciate the stance they're taking, and I embrace that stance. IFI is saying what the Lord says. You can take that and make your decision on which way you want to be. I'm on the Lord's side.

He may be a football genius, but clearly Dungy is just another sheep following along with fundamentalist bigotry and propaganda. How many times has the name of God been invoked to discriminate against minorities? Heck, that crap has been used against the Black community in Dungy's own lifetime, but I guess Dungy has a direct line to God to know what side God is on in this issue. Twit.

BTW, Dungy, of course, has every right to hold these opinions and to even raise money for them. But the Colts franchise should not be allowed to get away with pretending they don't know what the IFI is about and, frankly, I find it appalling the NFL doesn't have an issue with their logos and team uniform being associated with an organization that says such hateful things. Then again, they couldn't be bothered to speak out when their players appeared on a website and discussed how wrong it was for two men to be together.