Tag Archives: gay

Sam Selection Special, But in a Perfect World it Wouldn’t Be

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By Jason Menard,

Tonight, we were privy to what was, in my opinion, the best seventh-round selection of the NFL draft. And I hope we’ll have more of these moments in the near future so that, eventually, they won’t be special.

The video of Michael Sam receiving a phone call from the St. Louis Rams notifying him that he was their seventh-round selection is powerful, emotional, and uplifting. The image of his boyfriend, holding his hand and comforting Sam as the player struggles to regain his composure, is touching. And the kiss between the two was natural, organic, and will have ultimately no impact on his on-field abilities.

But the Sam situation was unnecessarily different. And it shows how far we have to go in this society until what should be considered normal actually is. Continue reading →

Flying the Rainbow Flag? It’s Not So Black and White

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By Jay Menard

I’m sure there are those who will read this and brand me a homophobe. There are others who will point to my societal privilege, my cishet status, or my general whitey-ness and tell me I don’t have a right to make a comment on issues of gay rights.

I know that to be the case because I’ve read the comments — on both sides. The venom and knuckle-dragging vitriol of the homophobe is being countered by the righteous indignation and instant branding of the pro-gay warrior.

But in the end, the idea of flying a rainbow flag to protest the Sochi Olympics is not so black and white to me. Continue reading →

Sochi Olympics? It’s OK to Have a Gay Old Time

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By Jason Menard

How can anyone who supports gay rights support this year’s Olympics in Sochi? It’s easy – it comes down to remembering the lessons taught by one man:

Jesse Owens Continue reading →

Pride Comes in Many Forms

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By Jason Menard

“Why are they here, Daddy?”

It may seem like a simple question and it would have been easy to give a simple answer: “Because they hate.”

But although that would have been the quickest and easiest answer, it wouldn’t have been fair: not to my 10-year-old daughter and her friends; and not to the people standing on the corner with signs in their hands who prompted this question. Continue reading →

Rainbow Oreo Not About Marketing; It’s About What’s Right – in Black and White

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By Jason Menard

The rationale behind publishing a multi-coloured Oreo in support of gay pride is starkly black and white – it’s the right thing to do, despite the fact that there is little to no chance of positive benefit to the company’s bottom line.

An image of a rainbow-coloured Oreo appeared on the brand’s Facebook fan page on Monday. Since then, the page has been inundated with over 250,000 likes and over 45,000 comments. It’s a simple image with a simple message: “Proudly support love!” – and while the decision to publish it may be simple at its root, from a business point of view it’s much less black and white. Continue reading →