Darren coming out as gay is no more than any wrestler who has shared anything about their sexual lives i.e. saying who they're dating and whatnot. It's no one's business that John Cena is dating a Bella but surely you wouldn't mind that as much.
Darren Young comes out as gay
- Thread starter tomthebodz
- Start date
Darren coming out as gay is no more than any wrestler who has shared anything about their sexual lives i.e. saying who they're dating and whatnot. It's no one's business that John Cena is dating a Bella but surely you wouldn't mind that as much.
Danger Burger
Thread Killer
Freddie Ljungberg isn't an openly gay soccer player. He sure gets called it a lot though.
Its not a huge step in todays world, it is compared to when Chris Kanyon was going around (please see my earlier response to you) but it is a positive showing. We are in a world where its ok to be openly gay. But many still don't allow it to be known.
Also, how does courage not merit praise? Courage is one of the few things that definately merits praise. In prety much every context!
I can't wait to read through this thread, but my neutral thoughts first:
Mad respect to Darren Young. Wrestling has been a little bit ahead of the curve compared to some other "sports" in that we've known about several prominent LGBT wrestlers; Terry Garvin, Orlando Jordan, Chris Kanyon, and Pat Patterson. But there's some key differences among all of these guys compared to Darren Young. The first is that while the fight for gay rights has been occurring for as long as all of them have been around, it's never been as prominent in the national consciousness as it is now. Garvin and Patterson have been openly gay for a while, but neither of them have been much of a factor in the WWE's public image for a long time. Kanyon never properly came out until he'd left the WWE; Jordan didn't come out until about 2006 as far as I can tell either, at which point he'd already been released from the WWE. So this makes Darren Young very unique even though he's not the first openly gay wrestler, in that he is arguably the only openly gay wrestler to really affect the WWE's public image in this era of worldwide consciousness of LGBT rights, and that's extremely significant.
Even without the historical significance, this is still something that took a tremendous amount of courage on Darren's part. To come out as a normal person is hard enough; here's a guy who routinely wrestles in front of millions of people on live television on a weekly basis. He'd had to come out to an enormous audience, and an audience that he knows contains some people who aren't going to respect him for it. I'm sure he knows that for the rest of his wrestling career (and maybe the rest of his life) there's going to be people in the audience or on the streets who are going to hate him for this, and probably be extremely rude to him for it. This took a ton of courage for Darren to do, and above all else, I respect him deeply for what's he's chosen to do here.
I'd like to consider the wrestling implications later, but today, I think we should just recognize how hard this had to have been for Darren and support him in whatever way we, as fans, can.
EDIT:
After a brief glossing over of some of the sentiments in this thread, one thing I'd like to add is why it matters that Darren came out. It matters because there is a worldwide fight for LGBT rights, and yes, as personal as Darren or anyone's sexual preferences are, people like Darren are in a position to use their fame to advance the cause of LGBT rights. Darren Young has an audience of millions and a Twitter account that can reach a huge number of people. He's got a powerful voice, and by coming out, he'll be able to use his voice to defend and advance LGBT rights. Furthermore, by coming out, I'm sure he's reached a number of LGBT people who are struggling to come out as well, and seeing a celebrity come out like this just may galvanize them to do the same. While in theory it'd be nice if everyone were able to happily keep their sexual lives personal, we live in a era where we're fighting for the rights of people to have alternative sexualities and still be treated like everyone else. That gives tremendous weight to Darren's decision to come out, as this is an action that brings a new and powerful voice to the cause of LGBT rights, in addition to his act of courage that should inspire everyone.
Mad respect to Darren Young. Wrestling has been a little bit ahead of the curve compared to some other "sports" in that we've known about several prominent LGBT wrestlers; Terry Garvin, Orlando Jordan, Chris Kanyon, and Pat Patterson. But there's some key differences among all of these guys compared to Darren Young. The first is that while the fight for gay rights has been occurring for as long as all of them have been around, it's never been as prominent in the national consciousness as it is now. Garvin and Patterson have been openly gay for a while, but neither of them have been much of a factor in the WWE's public image for a long time. Kanyon never properly came out until he'd left the WWE; Jordan didn't come out until about 2006 as far as I can tell either, at which point he'd already been released from the WWE. So this makes Darren Young very unique even though he's not the first openly gay wrestler, in that he is arguably the only openly gay wrestler to really affect the WWE's public image in this era of worldwide consciousness of LGBT rights, and that's extremely significant.
Even without the historical significance, this is still something that took a tremendous amount of courage on Darren's part. To come out as a normal person is hard enough; here's a guy who routinely wrestles in front of millions of people on live television on a weekly basis. He'd had to come out to an enormous audience, and an audience that he knows contains some people who aren't going to respect him for it. I'm sure he knows that for the rest of his wrestling career (and maybe the rest of his life) there's going to be people in the audience or on the streets who are going to hate him for this, and probably be extremely rude to him for it. This took a ton of courage for Darren to do, and above all else, I respect him deeply for what's he's chosen to do here.
I'd like to consider the wrestling implications later, but today, I think we should just recognize how hard this had to have been for Darren and support him in whatever way we, as fans, can.
EDIT:
After a brief glossing over of some of the sentiments in this thread, one thing I'd like to add is why it matters that Darren came out. It matters because there is a worldwide fight for LGBT rights, and yes, as personal as Darren or anyone's sexual preferences are, people like Darren are in a position to use their fame to advance the cause of LGBT rights. Darren Young has an audience of millions and a Twitter account that can reach a huge number of people. He's got a powerful voice, and by coming out, he'll be able to use his voice to defend and advance LGBT rights. Furthermore, by coming out, I'm sure he's reached a number of LGBT people who are struggling to come out as well, and seeing a celebrity come out like this just may galvanize them to do the same. While in theory it'd be nice if everyone were able to happily keep their sexual lives personal, we live in a era where we're fighting for the rights of people to have alternative sexualities and still be treated like everyone else. That gives tremendous weight to Darren's decision to come out, as this is an action that brings a new and powerful voice to the cause of LGBT rights, in addition to his act of courage that should inspire everyone.
Dysturbed
Under the radar
What is the point of asking a (non rhetorical) question only to tell someone to fuck off for having the nerve to answer it?
Maybe some openly gay posters can answer this since I am ignorant to the "lifestyle" but how many people would purposely choose to be gay knowing how they may be treated for it? They are who they are, just like we are. It can be argued that they "choose" to act on it, but it sure beats living a lie and then being miserable just to please others right?
How often do people get criticized, ripped on, etc based on the concept of being straight? I know that I don't and assume that you and most (if not all) others don't.
I agree that it probably shouldn't be a big deal in modern times, and assume that it won't be too long before with Young it stops being discussed more than an occasional mention. However, if you want people to "get real" then keep in mind that those who are open minded to the rarity of an athlete being open about it are being "real" about why so few are open and why one may consider it to be brave (possibly for lack of a better word). I understand why people may not feel that it is the best word, but also understand why it is the chosen one.
I appreciate that you will possibly disagree and maybe even tell me to fuck off like you did the other poster. To each their own.
WhatAboutRaven
Is a lazy ass
Are you having a stroke? Do you need medical attention?
Fuck you, I'm not reading that jumbled mess. It's good that he came out and he's comfortable with himself, but I stand by the belief that it's really nobody's business what his sexual orientation is, just like it's nobody's business that Cena and Bryin are doing the Bellas. (granted this would be easier to ignore if they didn't have a tv show, but you get my point) People care about the personal live of celebrities..
Personally, I don't care that he came out. I care that he's boring
!!!!
And as an openly gay man, I can say that I wasn't just walking down the street one day and then it hit me... "Become gay!!". That's not how it works. It's a natural instinct in the same way that straight men being attracted to women is considered.
Imo there's nothing wrong with this. It's nice to know that someone similar to yourself can do things that typically aren't done by them. It's the same when women always pulled for Chyna/Lita, because they were doing things only the men could do before them.
Revelations1
Dark Match Winner
Expect him to become a jobber after this. Gays don't last in the business.
The Dragon Saga
Whale in a Teardrop
There is nothing brave about it. He's gay, big whoop. You know why this is really such a big deal? Because WWE are milking it for publicity. The only WWE executive to have not congratulated him on being homosexual is Vince McMahon's twitter which we all know isn't even ran by him.
Once again and I have seen someone openly gay say this in relation to it - there is nothing congratulatory about this. He's gay, so are millions of others and being the "only active" gay WWE performer is like being the only currently active 7'0 WWE performer. There were always ones before you who received no sort of reaction like this for it. See: Pat Patterson.
Kindly say hello to Mr. Pat Patterson, open homosexual, the first ever Intercontinental Champion, and an inductee in the WWE Hall of Fame.
Imagine there was something about you that made you different in such a way that a huge number of people around the world would hate and revile you for it, and would take away a multitude of basic human rights around the world. Now, you could keep it completely secret, or you could choose to let everyone know about it. What's the easier decision? What about if you were a celebrity with access to an audience of millions? Now what's easier?
This is, if nothing else, absolutely objectively an act of extraordinary bravery.
In my opinion there it takes courage to come out when you're in the sports world due to the nature of most of the viewers and how it will cause some harsh comments to come his way. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one.
Zeven_Zion
King Of The Ring
That's good for him. Takes balls to do it and he's got 'em.
Here comes a WWE Championship title reign for him.
Here comes a WWE Championship title reign for him.
The Dragon Saga
Whale in a Teardrop
Certain parts of the world haven't progressed but America is supposed to be one of the most cultural and accepting countries in the world. Of course, we know this is a lie, but there are more open homosexuals in the United States than anywhere in the world. Nearly every month a state is legalizing same sex marraige, more and more people are coming out of the closet, some of those people are being ignored by their families, turned on by their friends, shunned.
Darren Young is a WWE employee, paid damn good money, in a company which has previously employed other openly gay performers. This is not commendable and the fact some view it as such is proof that society isn't as progressive as it believes itself to be.
I am reading openly gay people discuss this, you can find several interactions on Twitter, they are all happy for Darren Young but they like I have some common sense and see no need to congratulate him on coming out of the closet. Thousands do it every day and receive no recognition for it, Young's revelation is being flung about the media like a Zoey Deschanel sex tape and to be frank as someone who has an openly gay relative it's disgusting.
Dysturbed
Under the radar
Additionally, every day thousands of people have babies, get married, die, etc as well and only a limited number of people know.
It stands to reason that actors, athletes, politicians, and in this case a WWE performer who before today was probably unknown to most people who will end up reading about him, are going to get more attention since their situations involve a higher probability of people having reason to pay attention to them in the first place. How many of the other thousands of people who do it daily are in some way in the public eye, on a tv show, or considered someone who has "fans"? Not enough to make certain situations stop being considered a rarity.
Danger Burger
Thread Killer
Except theyve only had one openly gay wrestler in Pat Paterson. and his career began with him wearing red lipstick, pink shorts and carrying a poodle to the ring. Chris Kanyon only came out after his tenure in WWE. (Same as Jordan from what I can tell.) Being gay and a proffessional wrestler ruined his life (see his book) and most likely lead him to commit suicide.
How is it disgusting? In any way? are you saying that after youre relative came out, no one person said "well done pal, glad you felt confident enough to tell us"??
This is being "celebrated" the very same way the passing of laws to allow gay marriage are being celebrated. And its these laws and social changes that are helping hundreds of others come out. As well as gay athlethes coming out. (Not freddie ljungberg though, you were off the mark there). Young is given a minor pat on the back by the folks here for being unafraid of the consequences, which may be more severe when he's wrestling in the heart of the bible belt.
Pat Paterson got through it with only a constant barrage of jokes at his expense (even on bret hart appreciation night)
Justin Fashnu killed himself after his brother abandoned him and his coach mocked him and called him a "poof".
Chris Kanyon killed himself and struggled for years before that.
How you are remaining oblivious to how this can be seen as significant is beyond me.
My$terio_Fan
I can do whatever I want
This is really cool and exciting to hear about. Of course it would have been a bigger deal if it would have been some big superstar ala Cena, Del Rio, Orton, Bryan, ect and not some low card jobber but it's still pretty big news.
Not only for him actually publicly admitting it, but also for the company to take such a public stance and openly congratulate him for it. To some these things aren't big or don't have much of an impact but as an openly gay man, I can tell you it does.
I was a huge wrestling fan as a young boy. If when I was younger I saw/heard that their were gay people in wrestling, and they were actually happy and able to do what they want, I think it would have helped me accept that I was gay, a little sooner/more.
So yeah, I think it's great. Will it change the world? No. Will is make being gay have any less stigma? No. But it's a step in the right direction.
Not only for him actually publicly admitting it, but also for the company to take such a public stance and openly congratulate him for it. To some these things aren't big or don't have much of an impact but as an openly gay man, I can tell you it does.
I was a huge wrestling fan as a young boy. If when I was younger I saw/heard that their were gay people in wrestling, and they were actually happy and able to do what they want, I think it would have helped me accept that I was gay, a little sooner/more.
So yeah, I think it's great. Will it change the world? No. Will is make being gay have any less stigma? No. But it's a step in the right direction.
It is a good thing that Darren Young has done this. Not only for his own personal mindset but for other homosexual wrestlers and athletes who may feel they are unable to pursue a career in wresting or sport. Indeed, the only problem may arise from within the roster but I highly doubt that anyone would make their colleague feel uncomfortable.
Hopefully, the WWE don't treat him differently. There is no doubt in my mind that it won't negatively effect him but they could try and cash in. I'm not saying they will but it seems to be big news globally and those at the top could treat Darren Young differently.
Hopefully, the WWE don't treat him differently. There is no doubt in my mind that it won't negatively effect him but they could try and cash in. I'm not saying they will but it seems to be big news globally and those at the top could treat Darren Young differently.
Mighty NorCal
SHALL WE BEGIN?
All of you are going to much to far to extremes on either side. This wont result in a push, nor are they tetering on the brink of being released. Im not sure were any of you are getting that, PTP has only been around a couple years. Both guys are still very young in their carreers and learning curves.
I understand the appeal they could have with the anti bullying face turn, but I just dont think it would jive enough interest in the character. I also dont see how they coud emphasize his sexuality without also being stereotypical or offensive.
In all likelyhood, things will continue as is/as they would have. Recall that Pat Patterson has been Gay as the day is long, and open about it, for about 100 years now.
I understand the appeal they could have with the anti bullying face turn, but I just dont think it would jive enough interest in the character. I also dont see how they coud emphasize his sexuality without also being stereotypical or offensive.
In all likelyhood, things will continue as is/as they would have. Recall that Pat Patterson has been Gay as the day is long, and open about it, for about 100 years now.
Alex
King Of The Wasteland
I understand its a big deal because he's the first openly gay wrestler in WWE yadda yadda.
it shouldn't be but thats the world we live in where someone comes out as gay its a big deal.
I understand where Dragon Saga's coming from. His orientation shouldn't be seen as anything big. There are thousands of people who come out as gay and while they are praised for being honest after the initial 'coming out' generally people get on with their lives. I know a guy who came out as gay and after the initial surprise everyone just got on with it. Sure there was some adjusting that happened but he was still the same guy, he just liked something else. But WWE are most likely going to make a big deal about it to try and get media attention about how they like all types of people and use Darren Young as a poster boy for it like a 'Be proud of who and what you are'.
Personally I feel they should just congratulate the guy on being honest about his sexuality and move on.
Still sucks as a wrestler mind.
it shouldn't be but thats the world we live in where someone comes out as gay its a big deal.
I understand where Dragon Saga's coming from. His orientation shouldn't be seen as anything big. There are thousands of people who come out as gay and while they are praised for being honest after the initial 'coming out' generally people get on with their lives. I know a guy who came out as gay and after the initial surprise everyone just got on with it. Sure there was some adjusting that happened but he was still the same guy, he just liked something else. But WWE are most likely going to make a big deal about it to try and get media attention about how they like all types of people and use Darren Young as a poster boy for it like a 'Be proud of who and what you are'.
Personally I feel they should just congratulate the guy on being honest about his sexuality and move on.
Still sucks as a wrestler mind.
Good for Darren Young. I'm happy for him.
More importantly, however, I'm happy that the WWE and his peers within the WWE have publicly backed him and congratulated him for coming out. That shows me that the WWE is ahead of the curve and definitely makes me happy to be not only a wrestling fan but a WWE wrestling fan.
Some people are saying that this won't have any effect on his career at all. People let's remember that we're talking about the WWE here. They've made stories out of less. It shouldn't surprise anyone if the WWE decides to push Darren Young because of this and maybe give him a midcard title run or something. As long as they don't give him an offensive gimmick, I don't see a problem with a Darren Young push because of him coming out. It would definitely be interesting to say the absolute least.
More importantly, however, I'm happy that the WWE and his peers within the WWE have publicly backed him and congratulated him for coming out. That shows me that the WWE is ahead of the curve and definitely makes me happy to be not only a wrestling fan but a WWE wrestling fan.
Some people are saying that this won't have any effect on his career at all. People let's remember that we're talking about the WWE here. They've made stories out of less. It shouldn't surprise anyone if the WWE decides to push Darren Young because of this and maybe give him a midcard title run or something. As long as they don't give him an offensive gimmick, I don't see a problem with a Darren Young push because of him coming out. It would definitely be interesting to say the absolute least.
I believe being gay is wrong and refuse to celebrate or congratulate someone on coming out. However, I also believe that a celebrities personal life shouldn't affect their job. I like the PTP and will continue to enjoy them. I like Titus Oneil more but Darren young is also talented. To me he is a wrestler and I really dont care if he is straight, gay, or bi. This isnt going to get him a push or keep him from being fired or anything.
For anyone thinking that WWE won't exploit this, remember Billy & Chuck? They worked so hard to make them look gay they even put them on the Today show to announce and promote their wedding. Now they're gonna have a field day with this one because is a real homosexual.
With all these tolerance laws about gays/gender confused people being able to use what ever restroom/lockroom they feel suits them, does this mean that Darren could go for the Diva's championship if he wanted?
What if WWE told him no? Could he sue? What if he wants to start using the divas locker room?
With all these tolerance laws about gays/gender confused people being able to use what ever restroom/lockroom they feel suits them, does this mean that Darren could go for the Diva's championship if he wanted?
What if WWE told him no? Could he sue? What if he wants to start using the divas locker room?
I accept your beliefs and I'm probably one of the few who won't flame you for voicing them. While I disagree with your view on homosexuality(everyone here things i'm some bigoted fool because I thought he had no reason to announce his sexuality), i agree that NO ONES sexual orientation should be celebrated, but in this SUPER PC world You know DY is gonna get pushed to the moon, he already said he's slated to do some BAStar shit this weekend for SS
Maybe I dont really know, i havent looked into the situation. I only stated my opinion. But if he does get pushed than good for him. Like I said I do believe he is talented
Yes, he is a good talent but if he gets pushed, it's only because he's gay. Because they sure haven't tried throwing him a bone this whole time with PTP.
What? 5 promos? 6 tops?
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