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.

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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.

Blogger Jon Swift just sent us an email with a link to an article he claims a reader had sent him in response to his piece, the explosively entitled, "Tim Hardaway Makes Homophobia Look Bad". Obviously we read that piece before checking out the aforementioned link, so let's take a few seconds to work it over.

First and foremost, it's worth mentioning that Swift describes himself as "reasonable conservative" whose only news comes from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno. He must have gotten his lines crossed, though, because in this particular piece, he references CNN's Wolf Blitzer. While covering the Tim Hardaway scandal, Wolfe apparently likened queers in the locker room to queers in the military. Like any good conservative sports fan, Swift took the ball and ran.

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So, the world's buzzing over Tim Hardaway's homophobic remarks concerning John Amaechi and the rest of Gayville. While most people, including Amaechi himself, can agree that his words will help launch a much needed discussion, others are ready to forget.

Take, for example, ESPN journalist, Gene Wojciechowski. He doesn't seem to understand the gravity of Hardaway's blatant bigotry, nor does he appreciate the magnitude of Amaechi's coming out. Wojciechowski starts by stating the fact that there are gays in every profession, but this declaration then becomes the crux of a seriously misguided argument. While he concedes Hardaway's words pack a punch, Wojciechowski doesn't seem to think they're newsworthy. He writes:

The news isn't that Amaechi is gay and wrote a book about it. The news isn't that Tim Hardaway is a self-confessed homophobic and told a radio sports talk-show host about it. The news is that it won't be news a week from now. And that's a good thing.

Is it? Because we tend to agree with Amaechi when he says Hardaway's comments should open the way for a more honest, progressive dialogue. But, Wojciechowski doesn't seem to know the meaning of the p-word. Or maybe he just doesn't want it. From the sound of his argument, he'd prefer a little stagnant balance.

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John Amaechi had a little one-on-one with the AP today and, of course, got asked about Tim Hardaway's homophobic comments yesterday. Measured as always, Amaechi said that Hardaway's words highlight our nation's all-pervasive homophobia. He also had this to say:

I don't need Tim's comments to realize there's a problem. People said that I should just shut up and go away - now they have to rethink that.

We can't help but feel that those people want you to go away now more than ever.

Here's some video from Miami Fox affiliate WSVN on former Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway's homophobic reaction to John Amaechi's coming out. It's been a while since we've heard someone sound so unabashedly ignorant - it's refreshing. And by that we mean, disturbing.

Listening to the audio, however, one can't help but wonder if Hardaway's a little touched, if you know what we mean. He can barely even pronounce homophobic. No wonder he didn't have the chops to stay in the NBA…

We're sure you're wondering what John Amaechi has to say about Tim Hardaway's anti-gay admission. He tells The Miami Herald:

I'm actually tempted to laugh. Finally, someone who is honest. It is ridiculous, absurd, petty, bigoted and shows a lack of empathy that is gargantuan and unfathomable. But it is honest. And it illustrates the problem better than any of the fuzzy language other people have used so far.

Of course, he can't laugh, because…well, they were pretty disgusting statements. Although, he's right: it's good to get all this out in the open and clear the air. Even if the air smells like a fifty year old locker room covering in a pile of horse shit. Which, really, is all Hardaway's comments amount to.

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If you ever wondered why it took John Amaechi so long to come out of the closet, consider some comments from professional b-baller Tim Hardaway.

Sitting down for a chat with a Miami radio show, the former Miami Heat guard insists that he would never play on a team with an openly gay man:

First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would really distance myself from him because I don't think that is right. I don't think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room.

Not only does Hardaway not want the homos in the locker room, he doesn't even want them on the planet!

You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States.

No, all gay people should be launched into the sun. All women can be stuck back in the kitchen, too.

Although, we suppose it's nice he came out as a homophobe. It'll certainly make a lot of people's lives easier. Unfortunately, it will probably make a lot of other people's way more difficult. And, of course, earn Hardaway some enemies.

Hardaway's publicist must have been listening, because a few hours after blasting the queers, he called back to apologize, saying he didn't mean it. The NBA, however, ain't buying it, they've barred Hardaway from making public appearances on their behalf. Maybe they'll send him of to rehab next…

HRC either has the reflexes of a cock hungry john or they knew about former NBA player turned author John Amaechi's book/coming-out way before any of us, because they organized this shit right quick.

We got an email this weekend announcing that in addition to publishing Man in the Middle, Amaechi will lend his face to the non-profit's National Coming Out Day. Of his new role as a gay hero, Amaechi had these pearls:

I believe very strongly in the responsibility of people with power and influence to be role models. Living more openly in the later years of my NBA career was one of the things that radically changed my life. It made me happier. I want to spread my influence in the same way that I was able to because I had a basketball in my hand. I hope now to have perhaps a different lectern to stand behind but with an equally important message.

That's nice.

And, of course, it wouldn't be an HRC announcement without a little linguistic love from president Joe Solmonese - actually, the press release put his blurb first.

John is making history this week, becoming the first NBA player to ever come out and talk about his life and experiences as an athlete and a gay man. In sharing his story, our great hope is that John will pave the way for more GLBT and straight athletes to openly support fairness and respect on and off the playing field.

We're sure Amaechi's revelations will give some jocko-homos the courage to come out, but we have to point out that Amaechi didn't come out until after he made money playing professional basketball.

Much like their celebration of Black History Month, HRC's erected an entire John Amaechi website, on which you can read all Amaechi's forthcoming national book tour, which that kicks off at the 11th HRC Philadelphia's Gala Dinner on February 17th. It's worth noting that ESPN Books, which published Man in the Middle, doesn't have as comprehensive a website for Amaechi. Isn't it interesting that the publishing company doesn't seem to be celebrating a ground breaking book? We think it's interesting, especially considering that HRC has all the info on the book tour and has even organized a blog to track the excursion. Maybe ESPN just hasn't updated in a while. Or, of course, maybe HRC's been in cahoots the entire time.

Read all about it, after the jump….

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