This is why the right has lost the war on gays and the rest of the LGBTQ+. The younger demographics are OK and support the LGBTQ+. This is a “sport”, an event that has an openly gay performer and the crowd is yelling in support of him. Hugs
Fearsome Beard2 days ago edited
Back in my younger days in the mid 1980s one of my regular play buddies was a pro wrestler. Big muscles, handsome face, beautiful blonde hair, blue eyes, nice bushy porn ‘stache…what wasn’t to like? He was in the closet as far as the sport went but was pretty out in our gay community. He was a lot of fun in bed. He claimed there were a number of other gay wrestlers as well. When I had asked him about it he said of corse there were others, adding “we are just actors after all”.
For those who haven’t been following AEW/pro-wrestling in general a few FYIs:
-Despite being openly gay AND Black (technically Mixed,) he hasn’t been stereotyped as either/both as a gimmick, so he hasn’t minced around or creeped on straight guys or the like, nor has there been a “Very Special Episode”-type storyline about being gay and/or Black overcoming the odds. The closest it’s ever come was having Billy Gunn as a manager/teammate who’s infamous for the whole “Billy & Chuck” tag-team whose gimmick WAS being The Ambiguously Gay Duo almost 20 years ago, but none of that’s returned or mentioned.
-Pink has been The Acclaimed’s color (w/o white or black) from the get-go and treated no different than than other tag-team’s colors.
-His (ostensibly) straight tag-partner, “Platinum” Max Caster’s usually the hammier one though as he usually diss raps his way to the ring followed by Bowens yelling, “[Insert City Name]! The Acclaimed! Have Arrived!” followed by their hand gesture of forming “A”s with their fingers then joining them together to “scissor”. After Gunn joined them, Bowens added, “SCISSOR ME, DADDY ASS!” as Gunn’s nickname (not ring name) since his sons are also a tag-team yet Gunn ultimately favors “The Acclaimed” more and said they’re more like his sons than his actual children.
-They literally had a “Scissoring Day” celebration, saying the gesture is one of friendship that can be done with anybody. And the crowd ate. it. up. to the point that besides wearing the shirts, crowd signs/giant fake scissors and the like, the crowd literally chants/sings, “OHHH SCISSOR ME, DADDY!”
-They had a respectably long run as tag-champs though it still felt like it ended too soon.
-AEW has other openly queer wrestlers on its roster such as Nyla Rose (Black-Native bisexual transwoman and former AEW women’s champ,) Sonny Kiss (gay, genderqueer/non-binary, also Black and Native,) Toni Storm (bisexual current women’s champ,) Kiera Hogan (Black queer woman) and Diamante (Latin queer woman) who’re a real-life couple, Abadon (non-binary though once competed for the women’s title) and referee Aubrey Edwards (bisexual woman) who even low-key wore the bisexual colors for Sonny Kiss’s match against Cody Rhodes for the TNT championship (secondary title below AEW World championship) to reflect the historic importance.
The Real Do Something Nice🆕2 days ago
I’ll take positive message wherever they occur. This could be bigger than the Bud-Lite haters.
Yves R. Mektin Franciscan2 days ago
Quite a few wrestlers have posed nude for gay porn publications or websites over the years, and many more (like John Cena, CM Punk, Finn Balor, etc.) have been individually very gay-supportive or have come out as LGBT themselves (especially true among the women wrestlers, most of whom seem very LGBT-supportive).
another_steve Harveyrabbit 🐱2 days ago
The civilized world has to make life unbearable for the Rethug Trumpists. For all rightwing theofascists and their puppets, like Donald Trump.
Make their lives unbearable.
Make the money they rake in from their asshole audiences simply “not worth it.”
Card #ProChoice another_steve2 days ago
If anyone should be forced into a closet away from public perception, it’s them
Scottie's Playtime 
Not on topic, but pertinent. Also nice photos on the page.
https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2023/06/11434832/transgender-latina-beauty-pageant-contestants
These Trans Latinas Are Making Beauty Pageant History
NICOLE FROIO
LAST UPDATED JUNE 27, 2023, 11:30 AM
Across Latin America, beauty pageants represent opportunity. Many women use these competitions as launching pads for new careers that they might not otherwise be able to access. As these competitions become more inclusive and provide room for transgender women to compete, they are also affording more possibilities to a vulnerable group of Latin American women and giving them a platform to advocate for trans rights.
Trans women participating in beauty pageants isn’t that new. Since 2004, Thailand has hosted the Miss International Queen, a pageant to celebrate trans beauty and talent. The competition’s mission is to promote trans equality in society and in the workforce, with the monetary profits donated to the Royal Charity AIDS Foundation of Thailand. However, in 2012, when Jenna Talackova became the first trans woman to participate in the Donald Trump-organized Miss Universe Canada competition, a major beauty pageant, we started to see a shift.
Talackova’s participation started a debate about the inclusion of trans women in beauty pageants around the world. While Miss Universe began to accept trans women competitors in 2012, a U.S. federal court ruled in 2019 that the Miss United States of America pageant could keep trans women from competing. Despite judicial and transphobic obstacles in their paths, many trans women have succeeded in competing in traditional beauty pageants around the globe.
Since Talackova’s appearance on the Miss Universe Canada stage, a few trans women have made history by competing in mainstream beauty pageants. The Philippines-born Kataluna Enriquez, for example, won the Miss Nevada title in 2021 and became the first openly trans woman to compete in the Miss USA pageant. When eliminated, Enriquez said she believed the pageant was simply not ready for a trans Miss USA. This year, Daniela Arroyo González will become the first out trans woman to compete in the Miss Universe Puerto Rico competition. Despite the challenges, one thing is certain: Trans women are fighting for their right to compete in beauty pageants, and their participation is proof of their resilience and resistance.
This is no different in Latin America, where trans women are also taking up space in these competitions. Below, we highlight four trans Latin American beauty queens who are pushing through transphobic barriers to show that Latine trans beauty, grace, smarts, and talent are alive and well and have a rightful place on any pageant stage.
Joanna Cifredo, Puerto Rico (photo on page)
Joanna Cifredo represented Puerto Rico in the Miss International Trans pageant competition in 2022. Cifredo is a community organizer and human rights activist from Bayamón, Puerto Rico, and she joined the Panamá-based competition eager to meet other trans women who were making a difference in their communities. “Where else can I spend a whole week with other empowered trans women,” she tells Refinery29 Somos.
Cifredo’s commitment to advocating for trans rights is remarkable: In 2021, the trans activist walked nearly 115 miles over the course of seven days to raise awareness of injustice and violence against Puerto Rico’s trans community. Walking to remember the case of murdered trans woman Michelle Ramos Vargas, Cifredo’s Walk for Equity ended on September 30 when she arrived in the Capitol of Puerto Rico to demand the approval of a Bill of Rights for LGBTQ+ people living and visiting Puerto Rico.
The trans activist sees her participation in trans beauty pageants as an opportunity to extend the work she does for her community. “I saw it as a platform for my personal and professional development,” Cifredo says. “[It’s also] a great opportunity to bring visibility to the issues impacting trans people in my country and, if crowned, that would [give me] a really amazing platform to raise awareness about these different issues impacting trans people across the globe and to highlight the work that amazing trans activists are doing in their countries to address those issues.”
She adds: “I also hope this inspires a new generation of young trans people to be visible, to speak out, to tell their story.” Cifredo won the Impact award in the pageant, in honor of her activism back home.
Daniela Jiménez, Nicaragua (photo on page)
Daniela Jiménez is a 27-year-old business woman and trans activist from Nicaragua. She started competing in beauty pageants for trans women in her home country when she was 20, and she later participated in the same Miss International Trans pageant that Cifredo did. Jiménez is the first trans woman from the village of Sapoa Rivas to compete in an international beauty pageant.
Speaking to Somos, Jiménez says she believes beauty contests can be gender affirming for trans women: “For trans women, these pageants can show the world we are able to achieve whatever we want to, and our participation demonstrates that we are human beings, like everyone else.”
As a trans activist, Jiménez advocates for the passing of a gender identity law in her country’s congress. The law would allow trans people to self-identify their gender and change their name legally more easily.
For Jiménez, being a part of trans beauty pageants is a way to advocate for trans rights. “Trans women deserve respect like everyone else,” she says. “I hope someday, in my country, a gender identity law will be established. Currently, Nicaragua does not have such a law. This law would be essential for trans women in my country. I would like people to call me by the name I chose for myself.”
Ivanna Cázares, Mexico (p.o.p.)
vana Cázares won the Miss Trans Beauty Mexico pageant in 2019, and this year, she is competing in the Miss International Queen pageant in Thailand. The Miss Trans Beauty Mexico pageant seeks to raise awareness of the violence against trans women that takes place in Mexico, and Cázares took on the role of spokesperson for trans rights after she won the event.
“We want to bring a message to society of respect for the trans girls of Mexico,” Cázares told the Associated Press at the time. (Somos requested an interview with Cázares but received no response.)
Before leaving for the Miss International Queen pageant in Thailand, the contestant posted on Instagram that this is the start of a great dream, which she worked hard to achieve. “I feel very proud to represent my entire country,” Cázares wrote, “especially the trans community, make them visible and empower them before the world.”
Sofía Salomón, Venezuela (p.o.p.)
Sofía Salomón, a 25-year-old Venezuelan model, is the first transgender woman to compete in the Miss Venezuela beauty pageant. Miss Venezuela is one of the biggest beauty pageants in the world, and Venezuela itself is known as a pageant powerhouse, with seven Miss Universe titles and six Miss World victories. Salomón, who placed in the top six queens of the 2022 edition of Miss International Queen, hopes that competing in the national beauty pageant will bring visibility for trans rights in her country.
For Salomón, being loud and proud of her identity through beauty pageants will bring trans issues to the public eye. “I was in a restaurant here in Caracas and a person told me: ‘Hey! Are you Sofía Salomón, the transgender girl who is going to participate in Miss Venezuela?’ That is already echoing and that is what it is about: giving visibility to what nobody talks about,” she said in an interview with AFP. (Somos requested an interview with Salomón but received no response.)
Because Venezuela is a leader in the field of beauty pageants, Salomón’s ambition to become Miss Venezuela might open up these competitions to many trans women across Latin America. Either way, Salomón views herself as a triumphant trans woman already: “Whatever happens, I will continue to be a successful woman. It has always been that way.”
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