LGBT

Ryan Russell says he's been getting nothing but support from NFL circles since announcing he's bisexual ... and the pass rusher is hungry for his next opportunity on the gridiron.

We got Ryan and his boyfriend Friday afternoon in Los Angeles, holding hands and heading for a bite at Urth Caffe ... the day after he made his sexual preferences public.

The former Cowboys draft pick tells us he's been hearing from his former coaches and teammates in Dallas and Tampa Bay ... and the feedback on his sexual identity is all positive.

Acceptance and tolerance are good news for Ryan ... sounds like the NFL free agent would be welcomed into a locker room with open arms, no matter which of the 32 franchises takes a shot on the three-year vet.

As for his next move ... Ryan says the plan is still to play football, even though training camps just broke, and he's working out and staying ready in case his phone rings.

Russell sat out all of last season with a shoulder injury after playing in a combined 23 games with the Cowboys and Buccaneers in his first 3 years in the NFL.

Check out the clip ... Ryan sounds healthy in mind and body as he awaits his next shot.

"My truth is that I'm a talented football player, a damn good writer, a loving son, an overbearing brother, a caring friend, a loyal lover, and a bisexual man."

Former Dallas Cowboys pass rusher Ryan Russell just announced he's bisexual ... and says his motivation for revealing his sexual identity is that he's flat-out tired of hiding it.

The 27-year-old -- who was a Cowboys' fifth-round pick back in 2015 -- is currently an NFL free agent ... and says his last job interview with a team made him realize he needed to make his sexual preferences public.

"Out of love, admiration and respect, I want the next team to sign me valuing me for what I do and knowing who I truly am."

It's all in an ESPN.com article that Russell wrote himself ... where the 6'5", 267-pound defensive end says it's his goal to be an openly LGBTQ player in the NFL.

"I want to live my dream of playing the game I've worked my whole life to play, and being open about the person I've always been."

Russell also went public with his relationship with his boyfriend, who wrote of the NFL player on his Instagram page, "This man is the top headline on @espn this morning for speaking his truth as a player in the NFL and as my boyfriend. I couldn’t be more proud."

Russell -- who sat out the entire 2018 season with a shoulder injury -- had a solid first 3 years in the league ... playing in a combined 23 games with the Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

He logged 3 sacks and 20 combined tackles in those games ... and says he's still confident he can produce at a high level for an NFL team.

John Travolta mistook a famous drag queen for Taylor Swift at the VMAs -- and if you wanna know how he got so confused ... go straight to the queen herself!

We got Jade Jolie -- a former contestant on "RuPaul's Drag Race" -- Monday night after the award show and asked her about the awkward moment onstage right after TS won Video of the Year. John, very awkwardly, tried handing the Moon Man to Jade.

Ooops!! Taylor ... the real one ... wasn't even onstage yet.

As you can see (and as Jade acknowledges) ... she's a dead ringer for Taylor, whom she calls her "goddess" and "queen." But, while talking to us, Jade got all wrapped up in her own Swiftie fandom ... and even started talking 'Game of Thrones.'

You can tell by her mood here that Jade wasn't that offended by the case of mistaken identity -- she's clearly overjoyed to have shared in the glory of a VMAs win. The look-alike -- and a bunch of other notable gay and trans people -- appeared in Taylor's video for "You Need to Calm Down."

A group of 100 or so people marched down the streets in NYC with their tops popped off and their boobs hanging out freely ... all in the name of equality.

The 2019 Go Topless Pride Parade went down Sunday, with several women going completely bare-chested to advocate for the right to be topless in public -- just like men -- without fear of being arrested or shamed.

Along with the topless gals, several fellas joined the cause by either wearing ridiculous bras or simply going topless themselves ... and there was live music too!

The parade came on the eve of Women's Equality Day in the U.S., which is celebrated Monday in honor of the passing of the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote.

The parade participants believe women have the same constitutional right as men to go topless in public, and there's nothing disorderly about the conduct of baring your breasts.

Elizabeth Smart's father had a revelation of his own ... he's gay.

Ed Smart says he and his wife, Lois, are divorcing and he will no longer live a lie, insinuating he contemplated suicide while he kept his secret ... "Living with the pain and guilt I have for so many years, not willing to accept the truth about my orientation has at times brought me to the point where I question whether life was still worth living."

As you know, Elizabeth's kidnapping made national headlines back in 2002, when she was 14. She was held captive for 9 months, raped and drugged.

Ed Smart, once a devout Mormon, is breaking from the Church ...saying he doesn't "find solace any longer" from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The Church has traditionally been draconian over the LGBTQ community, but has softened its views ... somewhat. It has recently reversed course, no longer preaching same-sex relationships are a sin. The Church still considers same-sex relationships "a serious transgression."

Ed says he believes in God ... "In the end, people are free to say what they will, and believe what they want, but there is one voice more important than any other, that of my Savior, who wants each of us to love one another, to be honest and joyful and find a meaningful life."

Elizabeth is not voicing support for her dad's decision, only saying she's "deeply saddened" that her parents are splitting.

The owner of the Florida nightclub where a mass shooter killed 49 people has no issues profiting off other people's pain ... at least according to some of the survivors.

Barbara Poma, the owner of PULSE and founder of the nonprofit onePULSE, is leading an effort to build a museum blocks away from the site of the deadly shooting ... but survivors say her plans are a smack in the face because it puts profit over healing their pain.

Norman Casiano-Mojica tells TMZ ... he and other PULSE survivors are pissed because, to them, Poma's museum plans seem more like a tourist attraction than a tasteful memorial. He says the fact there will be a gift shop and admission fee makes him cringe.

Norman, who was shot twice during the tragedy and now has to walk with the aid of a cane, says he's not against a museum or memorial ... but only under certain conditions.

In his eyes, Poma has already botched the makeshift memorial outside Pulse. He says it's more of a photo op than a place of remembrance, and that's why he doesn't trust her to get the museum right.

The onePULSE Foundation tells TMZ ... they're "following the model of other museums and memorials such as those in Oklahoma City and the National September 11 Memorial & Museum in New York City. As with those sites, the memorial will be free, while the museum will charge a modest admission, which will go to keep up the museum and the memories of those it honors."

The foundation added, "Without a museum, there is no place to tell the story for future generations and we risk the tragedy being erased entirely over time.”

Karamo Brown's willing to forgive Mario Lopez for making comments he believes are harmful to transgender youth and their parents ... but he's not fully letting him off the hook yet.

The "Queer Eye" star was outside 'GMA' in NYC Thursday when we asked what he thought about Lopez issuing an apology, in which he admitted his remarks were "ignorant and insensitive."

Karamo tells us that's a good first step, but thinks the TV host needs to further his education on the topic ... and Brown's willing to be his teacher. In fact, he's already sent an open invite to Mario to hit him up.

Karamo's costar, Jonathan Van Ness, has been way more critical of Lopez since the comments he made in a June interview with Candace Owens went viral. Mario said it was "dangerous” for parents to trust their children when they challenge the gender they’re presumed to be at birth.

Jonathan tweeted ... "If you’re not raising a child who is part of the LGBTQ+ community you should really be quiet. You don’t need to understand what you do not know." He also accused Mario of "casual transphobia" and being small-minded, and said his "lack of understanding and need to judge" is what leads to violence against the community.

Dwight Howard says he's not gay -- despite allegations made against him in a lawsuit -- and claims the whole legal battle made him "never want to come outside again."

The NBA superstar appeared on 'Fair Game' on FS1 where he told Kristine Leahy, "I went through a situation last year that kind of just set me free."

Howard is referring to the lawsuit filed by Masin Elije -- who claimed he had a sexual relationship with Howard and claimed Howard threatened him with violence if he went public about it.  

Dwight has previously denied the allegations across the board -- but told Kristine that the whole case caused him tremendous amounts of emotional pain. 

"I'm not gay," Howard said when asked directly. 

Dwight says he received a lot of hate from people who THOUGHT he was gay -- and says he now understands why people are afraid to come out and be their true selves in public. 

Howard says he spent months reflecting on his life after the allegations went public -- and thought long and hard about how he wants to be remembered ... especially when it comes to his kids. 

As for the allegations, Howard is adamant he NEVER met the accuser and has no idea why the man would go to such lengths to lie about him. 

"It upset me because I didn't even know who the person was. Why would somebody who I've never met, never had any contact with make up a whole story about me?"

Scarlett Johansson appears to be backtracking on her feelings about withdrawing from a movie where she was playing a trans person ... now saying she outta be able to play whoever the hell she wants.

ScarJo opened up about politically correct casting to As If magazine (without directly mentioning her now-debunked role in "Rub and Tug"), saying ... "You know, as an actor I should be allowed to play any person, or any tree, or any animal because that is my job and the requirements of my job."

She added, "I feel like it’s a trend in my business and it needs to happen for various social reasons, yet there are times it does get uncomfortable when it affects the art because I feel art should be free of restrictions," going on to say ... "I think society would be more connected if we just allowed others to have their own feelings and not expect everyone to feel the way we do."

Her thoughts on the issue are catching fire on social media (in a bad way) -- folks are tearing her apart for apparently believing she was perfect for the "Rub and Tug" role, with some folks calling her privileged and tone-deaf.

Interestingly enough, Scarlett's been involved in other casting controversies as well -- including in 2017 when she starred in "Ghost in the Shell," which was originally written with an Asian protagonist when it debuted as a Japanese manga series.

When she was called out for getting involved in that production, she apologized and said and she never wanted to feel like she was playing a character that was offensive to others.

Fast-forward to 2018, when she pulled out of "Rub and Tug" and issued a mea culpa of sorts, implying she'd learned a lot from the trans community about the importance of casting trans actors in trans roles ... contradicting what her rep said earlier about non-trans actors playing trans people to critical acclaim.

Now, it seems like she's flip-flopping again ... and it ain't going well. Tell us how you really feel, ScarJo.

Nicki Minaj says she can't in her right conscience perform in Saudi Arabia later this month, so she's dropping out of the event ... due to personal concerns about human rights violations there.

The rapper made the announcement Tuesday, saying ... "After careful reflection I have decided to no longer move forward with my scheduled concert at Jeddah World Fest."

She added, "While I want nothing more than to bring my show to fans in Saudi Arabia, after better educating myself on the issues, I believe it is important for me to make clear my support for the rights of women, the LGBTQ community and freedom of expression."

Nicki was set to hit the stage there on July 18, but groups like the the Human Rights Foundation and others lobbied her to pull out in protest of the country's restrictive laws.

Women were only recently allowed to drive and attend sporting events in stadiums, but gender segregation is still a thing in Saudi Arabia. Same sex relations are also outlawed there.

Laverne Cox is super impressed Lil Nas X has come out, and she says other closeted gay hip-hop stars should take his cue. 

We got Laverne and actress Angelica Ross in WeHo Friday night leaving Delilah, and at first Laverne seems a little confused ... whether Lil Nas X came out or just insinuated he was gay. Angelica explained and Laverne then launched into how awesome LNX has handled it.  

She also made it clear ... there are closeted hip-hop stars who are afraid to own their truth. She hopes they find the strength to follow in the footsteps of Lil Nas X, but only when they're ready.

50 Cent tried shaming his former label mate, Young Buck, for once posing with Lil Nas X, but Buck's not falling for 50's homophobic antics.

Sources close to the former G-Unit MC tell TMZ ... Buck's photo with LNX -- which was posted back in June, well before Nas X came out -- wasn't meant to be anything more than fan appreciation. We're told Buck wanted to give the young rapper props for his newfound success. It wasn't a tease for a collab or anything. 

However, Fiddy decided to use Lil Nas' coming out as a chance to attack Buck. He reposted Buck's pic with the caption ... "New young Buck (Fresh Out the Barn) ft Little Nas X 🔥Coming July 4."

We're told Buck is unfazed by 50 Cent's attempt to diss and troll. Fact is, it's kinda old at this point, and Buck feels he's simply trying to drag him over a bogus contract from years ago.

Lil Nas X had clearly been thinking about coming out as gay for a long time, and the best evidence of that is the cover of his debut album ... a cover that was in the works for weeks.

Lorenzo Sozzi, who designed the cover with the rapper, tells TMZ ... Lil Nas X had a vision of the art for the album -- the rapper leaving a dystopian world for a futuristic world -- so X actually put out an open call to artists to come up with his vision, and Sozzi is the one who nailed it.

Lil Nas had some edits, though, and sometime during the creative process ... he instructed Sozzi to add a rainbow flourish to one of the buildings on the album cover. Nas never told Sozzi why he wanted to add the rainbow, but he was adamant about it.

Now, here's what's really interesting ... Nas released the album cover art on June 15 -- 2 weeks ago, but he didn't come out until June 30. Looking back, it's clear, at the very least, the cover of X's "7" was a big clue he was gay, but he never explained further until his Glastonbury concert this past Sunday.

TMZ broke the story ... Nas was so moved by the crowd -- 180,000 strong -- showing him so much love, he went back stage, picked up his phone, and told the world he is gay.

Lil Nas X is not going to be ostracized by the rap community simply for coming out ... at least according to record executive and producer Irv Gotti, who says times are a changin'.

We got the Murder Inc. Records honcho in New York City and ask him about the industry's reaction to the rapper announcing he's gay. Irv tells us it ain't that big of a deal ... not these days, anyway. 

As we first reported ... the 20-year-old "Old Town Road" sensation felt inspired to tell the world his truth Sunday night after performing in front of a MASSIVE crowd in England, going on social media on the last day of Pride month to announce he's gay. 

Irv, who's produced tons of hits for hip-hop titans over the past 25 years, says it would've been much harder for Lil Nas X to come out back in the day ... but now, it's not too shocking.

WNBA superstar Brittney Griner says it's "AWESOME" that Lil Nas X has come out as gay -- telling TMZ Sports, "I think it's real big!"

28-year-old Griner is openly gay -- she's engaged to longtime girlfriend Cherelle Watson -- and knows first hand how tough it can be to come out when you're a big star under the microscope. 

But, the 5-time WNBA All-Star says she's especially impressed with the "Old Town Road" artist for not letting homophobes and negative gay stereotypes (especially in the hip-hop world) stop him from going public about his sexuality. 

"I just think it's awesome he did that," Griner says ... "takes a lot of bravery."

Griner says it's 2019 and people should be able to love who they want to love and be who they want to be without fear of a backlash ... and she thinks Lil Nas X is helping to achieve that goal. 

"I think it's real big ... kudos to him."

Lil Nas X coming out is going to have a ripple effect that will save the lives of LGBT youth across the country ... so says Milan Christopher.

We got the ex-"Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood" star in Los Angeles and ask his thoughts on the rapper revealing he's gay. Milan says it's going to be an inspiration for kids and teens who are being bullied because of their sexuality. 

TMZ broke the story ... the 20-year-old "Old Town Road" rapper became inspired to share his truth with the world on Sunday after performing with Billy Ray Cyrus and Miley Cyrus in front of a HUGE crowd in England, hopping on Twitter on the final day of Pride Month to say he's gay. 

Milan -- who is gay -- tells us Nas' surprise announcement is going to be a life saver, because he says the suicide rates for LGBT teens are through the roof, and a successful celeb coming out as gay will send a strong message to kids.