World Wrestling Entertainment [WWE] wrestler Darren Young was
walking though LAX last week when a photographer asked if he thought a gay wrestler
would be successful in the WWE.
His answer came as a surprise.
"Absolutely. Look at me. I'm a WWE Superstar and, to be honest with you, I'll tell you right now, I’m gay, and I'm happy. Very happy."
The stunned cameraman told Young he had no idea, to which Young
replied:
"I guess if you want to call it 'coming out,' I really don't know what to say it is. I'm just letting you know that I'm happy [with] who I am, I'm comfortable with myself, and I'm happy to be living the dream ... Some people might not like it. Some people will like it. I'm here to please myself. I'm here to be happy ... I'm hoping to make a difference. It's very important to me to make people understand that someone’s sexual preference shouldn’t really matter. It should be about the person."
Now, Darren Young is the first openly gay wrestler actively participating
in the, well, sport.
A representative for the WWE said the wrestling organization
is proud of Young for coming out.
"WWE is proud of Darren Young for being open about his sexuality, and we will continue to support him as a WWE Superstar. Today, in fact, Darren will be participating in one of our Be A Star anti-bullying rallies in Los Angeles to teach children how to create positive environments for everyone regardless of age, race, religion or sexual orientation."
Naturally, HOMO HQ will b sending Darren a copy of The Gay
Agenda—and, Darren, please take note that begin gay isn’t a ‘preference’ but an
orientation—along with the Coming Out Toaster Oven.
Welcome out, Darren, welcome out.
SIDENOTE: Look, here’s my skeptical side, and I’m hoping I’m
wrong. But, wrestling, while a sport, is also a show, and every wrestler is a
certain type, a certain character. So, skeptical me just hopes that Daren Young
is being honest and that he is actually gay and not just show-boating a new
character to draw attention to the, well, sport.
If he is, then bad on him; if he isn’t, then good on him.
I once worked in a fourth grade classroom for a number of months. Very popular t-shirts for boys were wrestling stars. Of course they all thought it was all real :-)
ReplyDeleteIt'll be interesting to see how his coming out goes over with some of the homophobic wrestlers and fans.
ReplyDelete