John Amaechi also made an appearnace at the Log Cabin Republican's national convention. While there, the 36-year old former basketball player told the audience he's been pleasantly surprised by the positive support he's received:

I underestimated America. I braced myself for the wrath of a nation under God. I imagined that it would be a firestorm, that it would be some insane number of letters demanding my deportation or my death.

And in fact, 95 percent of the correspondence I've had have been overwhelmingly supportive and positive. But I will say that the 5 percent that I've had have been unbelievably, viscerally, frighteningly negative.

Amaechi also took a second to mention the surprising lack of support from his former jock comrades:

Probably 30 of my former [NBA] teammates have my e-mail and my telephone contacts and probably 16 or so of those I was in regular touch with and there are probably 10 people who I have [on instant messenger]. And zero -- nobody -- who's active in the NBA has been in touch with me since the day I came out, despite the fact that most of them knew I was gay in the first place.

Amaechi also wondered why NBA.com never mentioned his coming out, although he's quick to mention that the sports world is not the bellwether for social change...

CONTINUED »

American athleticism's growing increasingly queer. Former B-Baller John Amaechi cracked open the sportsman's closet when he came out a few months ago, now Los Angeles Times' Mike Penner's filling it up with dresses. The jocko-journo used yesterday's column to announce his plans to become a woman:

Today I leave for a few weeks' vacation, and when I return, I will come back in yet another incarnation.

As Christine.

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. I realize many readers and colleagues and friends will be shocked to read them.

That's OK. I understand that I am not the only one in transition as I move from Mike to Christine. Everyone who knows me and my work will be transitioning as well. That will take time. And that's all right. To borrow a piece of well-worn sports parlance, we will take it one day at a time.

That's the best way to broach the subject, particularly in such a testosterone heavy arena. The transition from man to woman (or woman to man) doesn't occur over night.

CONTINUED »

John Amaechi has become a household name since coming out, but he's hardly the first. Former (American) footballer Esera Tuaolo and baseballer Billy Bean also used their post-game lives to spread the good, gay word. Now the boys have come together for a very special Radar-endorsed sit down with Jack E. Jett.

Here's a snippet:

JJ: John, I read somewhere that you and Tim Hardaway are going to be doing something on TV together?
JA:: There's an enduring rumor out there that we're going to do Oprah together.

JJ: My hope was that it was going to include a no-holds-barred wrestling match.
JA: In terms of basketball, he can beat me soundly, but in terms of wrestling, I think I've got him.
ET: Believe me, dude, you'll have some backing.

A bit of a sporty love connection happening?

Read the entire conversation here.

We think it's pretty tacky when people use our comments to promote their own work, but not when it's Pam Spaulding. She's just a doll. Just look at this picture of her and John Amaechi. Precious!

The shot got snapped at the National Black Justice Coalition's Black Church Summit where Amaechi took on the church's homophobic attitude, setting himself up as the great gay messiah:

I'm going to be a role model of substance, I'm going to stand up and I'm going to address the issues that I see as divisive...bridge the divide between the black community and the gay community and I'm going to talk about those issues at every opportunity I get. And I'm going to talk about real dangers...The black churches where people with powerful voices spill forth rhetoric like rotten fruit from their mouths, and I'm going to challenge those people.

Read what else he had to say by clicking here.

Spaulding also notes that Amaechi told her he reads her blog daily. Lucky bitch. Amaechi, if you're reading this, we'd really appreciate a little note to know that we're not totally bonkers when we say we can feel you undressing us with your eyes. Also, we must warn you: undressing us with your eyes has been known to cause hysterical blindness.

John Amaechi's made quite a name for himself since coming out. Not only has signed with HRC, but he's been tapped as HeadBlade's new spokesperson. The chrome domed former b-baller will appear in adverts with the tag-line, "Against The Grain": a not-so-subtle reference to his faggotry.

Mike Wilke of Commercial Closet describes Amaechi's new gig as a "turning point". He goes on to say, "Society, and sports fans, are becoming more used to gays and advertising is growing more comfortable with gays." And, it seems, companies are growing less tolerant of homo-haters: Tim Hardaway - another former NBA player who made headlines after confessing, "I hate gay people" - has subsequently been dropped from another bald-headed product line: Bald Guyz. Of Hardaway's firing, Bald Guyz chief executive Howard Brauner insisted

Bald Guyz, like baldness, does not discriminate based on lifestyle choice, color, education, financial resources, religion, physical capabilities or any other way.

Too bad for Hardaway, huh?

Rumor has it that former basketball players John Amaechi and Tim Hardaway will be coming face to face one of these days. That is, if Hardaway agrees. For his part, Amaechi's all about it:

I'd agree to it, so it won't be on me. It's certainly something I'd be interested in doing. And I think everybody deserves a chance at redemption.

Amaechi went on to suggest that a little televised reconciliation may be just what Hardaway needs. Or, rather, Hardaway's reputation:

I feel a bit sad for him in that I never thought a legacy of being a great basketball player is a really good one, anyway. He's a thousand times the player I could ever hope to be. That's a fact. But at the same time, my legacy will be more than just putting a ball in a hole - and his legacy will now be even less than that.

Ouch. We never knew our main squeeze Amaechi could get so bitchy. Or so pompous. Discussing the success of his new book - Man in The Middle, which ranked 19th on the NY Times best-seller list - Amaechi admitted, "I wouldn't write a book and imagine that it shouldn't be a New York Times bestseller." Shooting for the stars, indeed.

As for Hardaway sitting down with Amaechi - we're not holding our breath. This is the man, after all, who said he crosses the street when he sees gay people headed his way. Although, perhaps his publicist can persuade him.

Or maybe someone will pay him. He does need the money...

Earlier this morning we posted a video of former NBA player John Amaechi speaking out against conservacunt Ann Coulter. Well, now we're pleased to share a video of his conversation with gay news magazine, In The Life, which airs in April. Take a sneak peek after the jump, including Amaechi's opening explanatory statements on his coming out:

I wanted to open a conversation with people who think there are no problems... I wanted to be at the center of this firestorm and be able to drive an intellectual conversation, not just based on a visceral reactions... I wanted, if nothing else, to make it clear to people that gay people don't just look like Jack from Will and Grace. They can big and black and fat and thin and whatever. They can have jobs that people cannot imagine. They can have every job. Any job. I wanted people to start thinking again.

We've never been more serious than when we say we want to marry Amaechi. So, if any of you kids know him, be sure to spread the word.

For more information, check out the In The Life website.

CONTINUED »

Republican presidential hopefuls have heeded HRC and John Amaechi's mutually beneficial calls for an Ann Coulter apology.

As the "faggot" stink became a stench, John McCain, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney all issued denouncements. McCain and Giuliani's statements sound as if they were prepackaged for such an event. McCain spokesman Brian Jones said simply, "The comments were wildly inappropriate." Giuliani echoed the sentiment, but took the idea to a bit of higher level: "The comments were completely inappropriate and there should be no place for such name-calling in political debate." No way. Politics should be a friendly game of wit and skill.

Meanwhile, Mitt Romney - the former Massachusetts governor known for his politically opportunistic homophobia - and his campaign team had this to say: "It was an offensive remark. Governor Romney believes all people should be treated with dignity and respect." It should have continued, "But not of they're gay and want to marry. That's sinful."

Asked for a reaction to the Republican outcry, Ms. Coulter played down the brouhaha by employing some of her signature flippancy: "C’mon, it was a joke. I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean." Okay, that's pretty funny...

(Image courtesy Pretty On The Outside)

Ann Coulter's got herself a new enemy: John Amaechi.

The recently outed former NBA player and freshly appointed HRC spokesperson has come out with some words against the conservative pundit's use of the word "faggot" while describing presidential hopeful, John Edwards.

We've included the video above (obviously), but would like to highlight one of Amaechi's statements:

Ann Coulter knows better, yet continues to disparage the GLBT community. The people in the room with her yesterday would do well to speak out loudly against her remarks and more importantly her sentiment and send a message that harmful slurs never have a place in the public discourse.

Coulter should know better? Yeah, right - she knows exactly what she's doing.

Previously: Coulter Sort Of Calls Edwards a Faggot, HRC Fires Back

We have to be honest, we'd never heard of John Amaechi until he came out earlier this month. In fact, had you asked us whether or not we thought he sucked dick, we'd probably say "negatory". You know, because he's so big and strapping and all gays are fey creatures of the night. Apparently we're not the only ones to be so stereotypically judgmental. Amaechi tells Popnography's Shana he used to have the hardest time getting into the homo bars:

...In the past my biggest problem wasn't that I didn't want to go places. It was that I'd show up at gay bars and they wouldn't let me in. They'd be like, 'You're not gay. You're obviously not gay.' ...Other places I'd show up and, 'You're absolutely not gay. Kiss -- him!' Kiss some random person in the queue!? Now I'm hoping my reputation will precede me.

Bitch ain't been out a month and already she wants to be treated like a queen. Indeed!

When was the last time you thought about Dennis Rodman? We completely forgot about the former basketball player. That is, until a reader sent us this little tid-bit:

John Amaechi and Dennis Rodman were both hanging out at West Hollywood gay bar, The Abbey on Saturday afternoon. Don't think Rodman realized John was there, but John definitely saw Rodman and tried to stay as far away as possible! Rodman was so out of it that while walking down Santa Monica Boulevard toward the bar, his friends had to keep him from walking in front of on-coming traffic.

Yow! We're glad to hear Rodman's got some homies looking out for him. As for Amaechi avoiding him? He's obviously a wise, wise man.

When Human Rights Campaign announced that freshly-outed John Amaechi would lend his face to their National Coming Out Day, they also revealed the group would sponsor Amaechi's nationwide book tour.

As part of that deal, Amaechi would blog about the "sites he sees, the people he meets and the experiences he has along the way". Well, that book tour kicked off on February 17th and continued with an appearance in San Francisco and one yesterday in Salt Lake City. Well, guess what, Amaechi has yet to write a reflective word.

There are no reports on the sites Amaechi's seen, there are no musings on the masses he meets and there are certainly no reflections on his experiences over the last six-days. Sure, it's possible Amaechi's too overwhelmed to post his own entries, but one would hope HRC has a blogger or two on their pay roll. Although, maybe they got more selective after that whole Lane Hudson debacle.

Regardless, we're waiting. C'mon guys - you can leave us high, but don't even think about leaving us dry.