National
Dan Savage pulls 49ers ‘It Gets Better’ video
Players denied participating in project


Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo is an ally and vocal LGBT advocate, and hopes to use the Super Bowl to raise awareness of issues important to the LGBT community. His comments differ greatly from some recent comments from players for the San Francisco 49s, some of whom participated in an ‘It Gets Better’ video. (Photo by Thibous via Wikimedia Commons)
Dan Savage, founder of the “It Gets Better” video project, removed from the project’s website the first contribution to the series by a professional football team after two of the four players denied involvement.
We've removed the #49ers #ItGetsBetter video from our website. http://t.co/ZI2Vr6Nt#homophobia #NFL #horseshit
— Dan Savage (@fakedansavage) February 1, 2013
“We’ve removed the #49ers #ItGetsBetter video from our website,” Savage tweeted Thursday after USA Today published an account of the confusing exchange between a reporter and linebacker Ahmad Brooks and nose tackle Isaac Sopoaga, in which they first deny taking part in the project before being shown the video. Both men will face off against the Baltimore Ravens in New Orleans on Sunday with the San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XLVII:
“I didn’t make any video,” Brooks said. “This is America and if someone wants to be gay, they can be gay. It’s their right. But I didn’t make any video.”
When told USA TODAY Sports had seen the video and he was in it, Brooks replied, “I don’t remember that. I think if I made a video, I’d remember it.”
He was shown the video on an iPhone.
“Oh, that. It was an anti-bullying video, not a gay [rights] video,” he said.
When told that studies show that the majority of teens who are bullied are harassed over sexual identity issues, Brooks thought for a second.
“I know that. I know that,” he said. “Okay, you’re right and I’m wrong. Are you from one of those New York newspapers?”
Brooks’ teammate Sopoaga also denied being in the video before backtracking after being shown the video.
“Yeah, you made that video, remember?” [teammate Will] Tukuafu said.
“No,” Sopoaga said. “I never went. And now someone is using my name.”
Sopoaga was shown the video.
“What was that for?” he asked.
To ask teens to stop bullying other teens because of sexual identity, he was told.
“Yeah, OK,” he said.
Would you like to comment on it, he was asked.
“No,” he said.
The controversy comes just days after 49ers cornerback Chris Culliver told radio personality Artie Lange that a gay player would not be welcome in the 49ers locker room, according to Yahoo Sports.
“I don’t do the gay guys man,” said Culliver.
“I don’t do that. No, we don’t got no gay people on the team, they gotta get up out of here if they do.
“Can’t be with that sweet stuff. Nah…can’t be…in the locker room man. Nah.”
Later, when Lange asked if gay football players should stay in the closet while active in the pros, Culliver continued, “Yeah, come out 10 years later after that.”
Culliver has since issued an apology:
“The derogatory comments I made yesterday were a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel,” Culliver said in a statement released by the 49ers. “It has taken me seeing them in print to realize that they are hurtful and ugly. Those discriminating feelings are truly not in my heart. Further, I apologize to those who I have hurt and offended, and I pledge to learn and grow from this experience.”
Former and current 49ers denounce Culliver’s statement
Culliver’s statements were denounced by recently outed former-49er Kwame Harris, who has been charged with domestic violence and assault causing great bodily harm, after allegedly attacking his boyfriend, Dimitri Grier in a restaurant parking lot during an argument.
“It’s surprising that in 2013 Chris Culliver would use his 15 minutes to spread vitriol and hate. I recognize that these are comments that he may come to regret and that he may come to see that gay people are not so different than straight people,” Harris told NBC. Harris’ ex-boyfriend Grier suffered broken bones around his eye sockets after the attack. Harris had not been revealed to be gay before the story came to light.
According to gay sports site Out Sports, the team was also quick to release a statement denouncing Culliver’s words.
“The San Francisco 49ers reject the comments that were made yesterday, and have addressed the matter with Chris,” the statement reads. “There is no place for discrimination within our organization at any level. We have and always will proudly support the LGBT community.”
Culliver’s comments are a far cry from much more supportive remarks made in December by 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh — brother of Ravens coach John Harbaugh — who told the team’s magazine he would welcome a gay player to San Francisco:
“I ask all players to play through their own personality and be who they are. What you ask of a player is to be a great teammate and be a good player. My expectations would be the same.”
Harbaugh went on to say, “Personally, there’s no discrimination in my heart.”
He also said that he believes most of the team would welcome a gay player, and his comments were echoed by 49ers players Larry Grant and Tarell Brown.
“At the end of the day, we are all family in this locker room, and we accept each player for whoever they are,” linebacker and San Francisco native Grant told the magazine.
“Whatever makes you happy, do it,” cornerback Brown said. “I just feel like, you shouldn’t hide it. At the end of the day don’t be embarrassed with what you are, or what you do. If you are that way, that’s you.”
The White House
Trump bars trans women and girls from sports
The administration reversed course on the Biden-Harris policy on Title IX

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued another executive order taking aim at the transgender community, this time focusing on eligibility for sports participation.
In a signing ceremony for “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” in the East Room of the White House, the president proclaimed “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over.”
Despite the insistence by Trump and Republicans that trans women and girls have a biological advantage in sports over cisgender women and girls, the research has been inconclusive, at best.
A study in the peer reviewed Sports Medicine journal found “no direct or consistent research” pointing to this conclusion. A different review in 2023 found that post-pubertal differences are “reduced, if not erased, over time by gender affirming hormone therapy.”
Other critics of efforts to exclude trans student athletes have pointed to the small number of people who are impacted. Charlie Baker, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, testified last year that fewer than 10 of the NCAA’s 522,000+ student athletes identify as trans.
The Trump-Vance administration has reversed course from the Biden-Harris administration’s policy on Title IX rules barring sex-based discrimination.
“If you’re going to have women’s sports, if you’re going to provide opportunities for women, then they have to be equally safe, equally fair, and equally private opportunities, and so that means that you’re going to preserve women’s sports for women,” a White House official said prior to the issuance of the order.
Former President Joe Biden’s Title IX rules, which went into effect last year, clarified that pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The White House official indicated that the administration will consider additional guidance, regulations, and interpretations of Title IX, as well as exploring options to handle noncompliance by threatening federal funding for schools and education programs.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump “does expect the Olympic Committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women’s sports.”
One of the first legislative moves by the new Congress last month was House Republicans’ passage of the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which would ban trans women and girls from participating in competitive athletics.
The bill is now before the U.S. Senate, where Republicans have a three-seat majority but would need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.
California
Los Angeles Blade names new publisher
Alexander Rodriguez brings deep media, business experience to outlet

The Los Angeles Blade, Southern California’s leading LGBTQ news outlet, today announced the appointment of a new publisher, Alexander Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has a long background in queer media, business development, and a deep commitment to the Los Angeles community. He has worked as a lead writer and podcast host for Metrosource Magazine and for GED Magazine; content director for FleshBot Gay; and as host and producer for the “On the Rocks” podcast. On the business side, Rodriguez spent years working in business development in the banking industry throughout Los Angeles. He also has an extensive background in event planning and management and has served on the boards of many LGBTQ non-profits. As a TV and radio personality, he has served as emcee for LGBTQ events around the nation.
“I’m excited to bring my diverse media and business experience to the Los Angeles Blade,” Rodriguez said. “We will continue the Blade’s mission of serving as our community’s news outlet of record during these challenging times and work toward building bridges within our community and beyond.”
Rodriguez starts in his new role on Monday, Feb. 3.
“We are thrilled to welcome Alexander to the Blade team,” said Kevin Naff, one of the owners of the Los Angeles Blade. “His multimedia and business side experience will help us grow the Blade in L.A. and continue our commitment to best-in-class journalism serving the LGBTQ community in Southern California.”
Rodriguez becomes the Los Angeles Blade’s second publisher following the unexpected death of founding publisher Troy Masters in December. Masters served in the role for nearly eight years. The community will come together for a celebration of Masters’s life on Monday, Feb. 10, 7-9 p.m. at the Abbey.
“Troy’s legacy is in good hands with Alexander at the helm alongside our new local news editor, Gisselle Palomera,” Naff added.
The Los Angeles Blade, launched in 2017, celebrates its eighth anniversary in March. It is the sister publication of the Washington Blade, founded in 1969, which offers unmatched coverage of queer political news and is the only LGBTQ outlet in the White House press pool and the White House Correspondents’ Association, and the only LGBTQ outlet with a dedicated seat in the White House briefing room.
Alexander Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected].
National
Board members for LGBTQ foreign affairs group resign amid Trump attacks
GLIFAA vows to keep fighting outside the government

The board of the affinity group Gays and Lesbians in Foreign Affairs Agencies (GLIFAA) announced “extraordinary measures,” including a spate of resignations, on Friday to keep in compliance with President Trump’s “Defending Women” executive order.
GLIFAA, an employee resource group that advocates for LGBTQ inclusion, equality, and workplace protections within U.S. foreign affairs agencies, announced that elected board members who were active U.S. government employees stepped down. The group was forced to take the drastic step amid Trump’s attacks on federal workers and efforts to slash spending. In a letter obtained by the Washington Blade, GLIFAA says that its work within the Executive Office will end because of Trump’s “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” order, but will continue advocating for LGBTQ federal workers through its independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization status outside of its former official government capacity.
Executive Order 14168, also known as the “Defending Women” order, prompted this change within GLIFAA. It mandates that federal agencies recognize only two sexes, prohibits the use of gender identity in federal documents, and stops funding for gender-affirming care and any programs promoting “gender ideology.”
In the letter sent on Friday, the organization explained its board members resigned to comply with the recent executive order on LGBTQ rights, but not before appointing an interim board to help make the shift out of the federal government. It also urged all members of GLIFAA to remove any work email accounts connected with the organization and switch them to personal email addresses to avoid any potential retaliation, as well as to pay membership dues to allow the organization to continue protecting LGBTQ federal workers.
Despite these changes to the organization’s structure and ability to work in an official capacity within the government, the message was clear that GLIFAA will adapt to these changes to continue supporting LGBTQ federal workers, as well as other LGBTQ people facing oppression.
“We recognize the deep challenges this moment poses to both our membership and our mission to advocate for human rights, dignity, and equal access to opportunities for all members of our Community,” the letter reads. “Since 1992, GLIFAA has successfully advocated for policies that reversed discriminatory security clearance denials, secured benefits and accreditation for our spouses and family members, expanded healthcare and insurance coverage to meet the needs of our community, and promoted the advancement of human rights globally. We began this work in 1992 without official Department recognition, and while our activities as an employee organization have ceased for now, our mission to advocate for full legal and social equality for our members and their family members in the U.S. foreign affairs community will continue, albeit under different terms.”
The letter continued, advocating for perseverance amid an administration that has been hostile to the LGBTQ community, especially the trans community.
“In challenging times, the strength and resilience of our community matters more than ever. GLIFAA always has and always will represent all letters of the LGBTQIA rainbow. We are strongest when we stand together. So, we urge you to reach out to other members, uplift your colleagues and friends, and carry forward GLIFAA’s unwavering spirit of resilience, determination, and support for equality — wherever you are.”
This comes days after multiple federal government websites wiped any mention of transgender people, removed mentions of how HIV and other health problems disproportionately impact the LGBTQ community, and information on Civil Rights protections to comply with Trump’s executive order. Some websites affected by this order include formerly non-partisan organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Census Bureau, and National Park Service.
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