LGBT

President Joe Biden is heaping praise on two high profile athletes who came out this week -- Carl Nassib and Kumi Yokoyama -- hailing them as courageous and inspiring.

Of course, 28-year-old Nassib -- a star defensive end for the Las Vegas Raiders -- became the first active NFL player to come out as gay.

Kumi Yokoyama is a star soccer player for Team Japan and the NWSL's Washington Spirit. The 27-year-old came out as a transgender man on Sunday and uses they/them pronouns.

Both athletes are now getting shout-outs from the White House -- with Biden tweeting late Tuesday evening.

"To Carl Nassib and Kumi Yokoyama -- two prominent, inspiring athletes who came out this week: I’m so proud of your courage," Biden said.

"Because of you, countless kids around the world are seeing themselves in a new light today."

As we previously reported, Nassib's announcement was met with widespread support from top athletes, celebrities and officials. Ditto for Yokoyama.

It's not Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes or Aaron Rodgers ... no, the NFL player with the top-selling jersey over the last 24 hours is none other than Carl Nassib!!!

According to the ultra-popular fan gear website Fanatics, Nassib's #94 Las Vegas Raiders jersey has been flying off the shelves ever since the D-lineman announced Monday he's gay.

It's unclear the total number of Nassib jerseys that have sold so far on Monday and Tuesday (we're working on it) ... but as the #1 jersey seller in America's most popular sport, it's safe to say A LOT of Nassib units have been moved in the last 24 hours!!

Of course, the support for Nassib since he made his announcement has been overwhelming ... everybody from Saquon Barkley to Roger Goodell to even O.J. Simpson has praised the 28-year-old for coming forward.

In fact, the NFL was so moved by Nassib's announcement and simultaneous charitable donation to The Trevor Project -- an org. established to help prevent suicides in the LGBTQ community -- it agreed Tuesday to match the pass rusher's $100k.

As for Nassib's head coach, Jon Gruden also threw his support behind his player Monday evening ... telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal, "I learned a long time ago what makes a man different is what makes him great."

Michael Sam -- the first openly gay football player to be drafted by an NFL team -- is supporting Carl Nassib, saying he can't wait to finally see an openly gay NFL player compete in a regular-season game.

Remember, Sam was selected in the 7th round of the 2014 NFL Draft by the St. Louis Rams after being named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year in 2013.

Despite his talent and potential, Sam didn't make the Rams' regular-season roster -- and was later cut by the Dallas Cowboys. He never played in a regular-season NFL game.

Many have wondered if the roster decisions were more about Sam's sexual orientation than his skill on the football field.

In fact, in 2014 Sam told us straight up he believed he wasn't in the league because he's gay.

"I think I was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year last year," Sam said at the time ... "So, I don't think it had to do with talent."

Now, Sam -- who retired from football in 2015 -- is praising Nassib for coming out publicly and also for his $100,000 donation to The Trevor Project.

FYI, The Trevor Project focuses on suicide prevention in the LGBTQ+ community.

"Carl Nassib thank you for owning your truth and especially your donation to the @TrevorProject," Sam said early Tuesday morning.

"LBGTQ people are more likely to commit suicide than heterosexuals."

Sam continued, "I hope and pray people will take note to this. Thank you again Carl and look forward to seeing you play on the field."

Carl Nassib ain't the first gay man to play in the NFL -- so says Warren Moon who claims he had "several" gay teammates who just never felt comfortable coming out publicly.

"Really proud of Carl Nassib," Moon tweeted late Monday ... "The first active football player to ever do so."

"I played with several guys who never were comfortable enough to go public. They were great teammates, & obviously very talented."

"As long as they helped us win and were great teammates- their sexual preference was never a issue."

64-year-old Moon played 17 seasons in the NFL (plus 6 in the CFL) before retiring in 2001 ... so, he had hundreds of teammates over the years.

"We live in a different time now where diversity is much more accepted. Cheers Carl, and I hope this lets other athletes know, its OK to say who you are."

The reaction to Nassib coming out as gay has been extremely positive from NFL players and league officials ... including NFL commish Roger Goodell, who issued a statement praising the Las Vegas Raiders defensive end.

"I just wanted to take a quick moment to say that I'm gay."

That's Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib opening up about his personal life ... explaining how he finally feels comfortable letting the world know he's an openly gay man in the NFL.

"I've been meaning to do this for a while now," Nassib said in a social media post Monday, "but I finally feel comfortable getting it off my chest."

The 28-year-old -- who's in the middle of a 3-year, $25 MILLION contract with the Raiders -- noted he's "agonized" over this announcement for 15 years ... but said the support of his friends, family, teammates and coaches made his Monday announcement much easier.

"I really have the best life," Nassib said. "I got the best family, friends and job a guy can ask for."

"I'm a pretty private person so I hope you guys know that I'm really not doing this for attention. I just think that representation and visibility are so important."

Nassib continued, "I actually hope that like one day, videos like this and the whole coming out process are just not necessary, but until then I'm gonna do my best and do my part to cultivate a culture that’s accepting, that's compassionate."

Nassib said in order to ensure he takes the proper steps to making that goal a reality ... he's donating $100,000 to The Trevor Project -- an org. created to help prevent suicides in the LGBTQ+ community.

"For someone like me, who has been so lucky and cherishes every day, it brings me incredible sadness to think that our LGBTQ youth are at such an elevated risk for suicide," Nassib said.

"I feel an immense responsibility to help in any way I can -- and you can too."

Nassib was a star at Penn State -- and was selected in the 3rd round of the 2016 NFL Draft by the Cleveland Browns.

During his college career, Nassib was a consensus All-American in 2015, the same year he won Big 10 Defensive Player of the Year. He also won the Ted Hendricks Award for the best defensive end in the country.

Nassib also stood out on the HBO docuseries 'Hard Knocks' for giving financial advice to other players.

He later played for the Tampa Bay Bucs and later signed his big contract with the Raiders in 2020.

So far, Nassib has logged 143 tackles, 20.5 sacks and 1 INT in his pro career.

NFL star Saquon Barkley is throwing his support behind Nassib after his announcement, saying on Twitter, "Much respect brudda."

NFL commish Roger Goodell also released a statement Monday ... saying, "The NFL family is proud of Carl for courageously sharing his truth today."

"Representation matters. We share his hope that someday soon statements like his will no longer be newsworthy as we march toward full equality for the LGBTQ+ community."

For the very first time, a transgender athlete will compete in the summer Olympics ... and shocker, there's already controversy.

43-year-old Laurel Hubbard -- who transitioned from male to female in 2013 -- has been selected to the New Zealand women's weightlifting team to compete in the women's 87-kilogram division.

The issue?? Hubbard competed in men's weightlifting competitions before she transitioned -- and some critics are already blasting the situation as unfair to other athletes.

But, the International Olympic Committee has specific guidelines for transgender athletes to compete -- testosterone levels must be below a certain level -- and Hubbard has met the criteria since 2015.

In other words, she's good to go!!

The CEO of the New Zealand Olympic Committee, Kereyn Smith, issued a statement Monday supporting Hubbard.

"We acknowledge that gender identity in sport is a highly sensitive and complex issue requiring a balance between human rights and fairness on the field of play," Smith said.

"As the New Zealand Team, we have a strong culture of manaaki and inclusion and respect for all. We are committed to supporting all eligible New Zealand athletes and ensuring their mental and physical wellbeing, along with their high-performance needs, while preparing for and competing at the Olympic Games are met.”

Not everyone feels that way ... back in May, Belgian weightlifter Anna Vanbellinghen reportedly called Hubbard's qualifying situation "unfair" and a "bad joke."

Hubbard, though, wasn't letting the disapproval get in the way of her feat Monday ... saying, "I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders."

"The last 18 months has shown us all that there is strength in kinship, in community, and in working together towards a common purpose. The mana of the silver fern comes from all of you and I will wear it with pride.”

Added Olympic Weightlifting New Zealand President Richie Patterson, "Laurel is an astute student of the sport and technically very good with the lifts. We look forward to supporting her in her final preparations towards Tokyo."

Olympic hero Greg Louganis' marriage is coming to an end after nearly 8 years of matrimony.

The diving legend's husband, John Chaillot, has filed divorce docs. According to court records, John submitted the paperwork last Friday in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Greg, who won 4 gold medals at the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympic Games, tied the knot with John in Malibu back in October 2013 ... about 4 months after they announced their engagement.

The Olympian and paralegal started dating in 2012, meeting through the online dating site Match. It's unclear what led to the split. They did not have any children together.

It's the first divorce for Greg, who's also famous for his work post his diving career -- he's written books, acted in movies and is a well-known activist for gay rights and HIV awareness.

FIFA has just dropped the hammer on Mexico's men's soccer team ... hitting the national squad with sanctions over their fans' anti-gay chants.

The soccer org. announced Friday that Mexico will have to play their next two home games with no fans in attendance after their supporters repeatedly yelled homophobic language during games in March.

FIFA also announced it's fining Mexico around $65,000.

There could be more punishment coming down soon as well ... FIFA officials said they're also looking into other games in which Mexico supporters hurled anti-gay chants.

"The committee has also opened separate proceedings against the FMF in relation to homophobic chants by Mexican fans at their team's friendly match against Iceland played in Arlington, Texas, on 29 May 2021," FIFA said in a statement.

It's unclear if FIFA will also launch a probe into Mexico's most recent CONCACAF Nations League games, in which refs had to pause play due to the crass chants from the crowd.

Kelly Dodd may no longer be part of "The Real Housewives of Orange County" cast, but she's kicking the reality TV drama into overdrive anyway ... and directing her ire at Braunwyn Windham-Burke.

As we told you, both ladies will not be returning for the new season of 'RHOC,' and Kelly is placing the blame for that squarely on her former castmate ... and not pulling any punches.

She just shared a recent text exchange with Braunwyn that started with Braunwyn checking in on her -- something Kelly described as "audacity" -- and then Kelly responded by going off on her for their ousting from the show.

According to Kelly ... if Braunwyn "didn't make things so dark and ugly and brought all that political 'woke' BS" to the show, she believes they'd still be on it. Kelly also says Braunwyn calling her a racist and homophobe was "horribly destructive."

Kelly's attack on Braunwyn is apparently in response to Braunwyn going on a podcast and addressing the 2 of them -- along with Elizabeth Lyn Vargas -- not being invited back for the next season.

Kelly wrote ... "She said she was fired from the show because we all didn’t like her because she’s gay. Not because she’s a horrible person. Not because she treated everyone like s**t and made no effort to be friends with us."

Then Kelly went really hard, calling Braunwyn a "terrible mother," "horrible person to her husband" ... and a "f***ing nut job classic narcissist!"

We listened to the podcast, and while Braunwyn did say Kelly has made a lot of controversial comments and admits "the two of us were diametrically opposed on social justice issues" ... she also called her "the most interesting person on the cast" and added, "Kelly does have a good heart underneath it all."

The audacity!!!

We spoke to a production source who was adamant, telling us Dodd was not let go from the show because of the storyline around Braunwyn or her sexuality -- but the source would not specify what did trigger Dodd's departure.

Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Megan Rapinoe are going to rep Victoria's Secret but instead of flaunting their bods they'll be sharing their minds. Yup, times are changing.

The lingerie giant announced it's brought the actress and U.S. women's soccer legend on board as its newest spokeswomen. The company's rebranding to be more inclusive and appeal to a wider audience -- and it's hired the duo to spearhead the new VS mission: inspiring change and positivity.

The new marketing strategy doesn't call for Megan or Priyanka to put on Angel wings or skimpy lingerie outfits -- instead the duo will appear on a podcast and in other marketing materials.

Some of their guests, as the NY Post first reported, will include South Sudanese-Australian model Adut Akech, freestyle skier Eileen Gu, Brazilian transgender model Valentina Sampaio, plus-size model Paloma Elsesser and journalist Amanda de Cadenet.

It's slated to be a 10-episode podcast.

The women form what Victoria's Secret is calling the VS Collective ... a platform attempting to build deeper relationships with women of all backgrounds.

Priyanka's no stranger to advocating for women's rights ... like speaking on behalf of UNICEF, an org she's worked with since 2006. She also has a namesake foundation that helps sick children around the globe.

Megan's championed women's rights since finding stardom on the pitch. She's advocated for equal pay and LGTBQ+ rights ever since she's had a platform. In fact, earlier this year she testified before Congress, pushing for equal pay.

VS's rebrand comes nearly 3 years after the company's chief marketing officer made a controversial comment to Vogue about transgender models. He's since left the company.

Michael Cimino says he's catching tons of heat for playing a gay character in "Love, Victor" ... and he claims some haters are even threatening his life.

Michael, who plays the title character in the Hulu romance series, says he's getting ripped by some people in the LGBTQ community for taking a gay role when he's straight in real life.

MC told Attitude -- a gay magazine in the U.K. -- he was expecting to catch flak going into the project, but now says some of the reaction is crossing the line.

The 21-year-old star is fully aware many people have a problem with straight actors getting gay roles while gay actors are often forced to stay in the closet. Michael's promising to be an ally by continuing to fight for LGBT rights ... even after he's done playing the role of Victor.

A woman was dragged down a flight of stairs by her hair at a bar, and the horrific act -- carried out by a security guard -- is sparking outrage and protests.

The ugly incident went down Saturday at Nellie's Sports Bar in Washington, D.C. ... a popular LGBTQ+ bar that had been packed following the city's Pride parade earlier in the day. In the video, you hear bar patron's shocked to see the security guard dragging a Black woman, and that shock quickly turned to anger.

Several bystanders started pummeling the security guard, who is Black, and all hell broke loose. A woman named Keisha Young says she was the victim, and told WUSA9 the trouble started when the bar staff mistook her for someone else.

She said, "[Security was] trying to get some other people out because somebody else brought a bottle in there. Somehow I got mixed up in an altercation because I look like somebody else and I got hit and dragged down the steps."

Protests erupted Sunday outside of Nellie's ... with dozens of protesters seen holding signs. Nellie's released a statement Sunday saying, "We were incredibly upset and disturbed to see the unfortunate event that took place at Nellie’s last night."

Nellie's management says it's going to conduct a full investigation into the matter. They added, "At Nellie’s we foster an inclusive and safe environment, so events like this are completely unacceptable to us."

A spokesperson for Metro PD said they didn't get any calls related to the incident.

A good chunk of Billie Eilish's fandom appears to be disavowing her -- all over what they perceive as queerbaiting ... but, truthfully, it's just A LOT of assumptions and expectations.

If you saw the hashtag "#youlikegirls" trending Sunday evening and dove in ... you probably saw a whole bunch of folks up in arms over Billie's recent social media activity/love life, with many saying they were done with her and her music because they consider her problematic.

Long story short ... Billie has recently been romantically linked to actor Matthew Tyler Vorce, who she's been seen out with on what some took as dates -- including this past week, when they were spotted getting cozy at Disneyland. Some are straight up calling him the BF.

That kinda threw some of her fans for a loop in and of itself, it seems, as there appears to have been some speculation that Billie might've been on the LGBTQ+ spectrum. We can't say why people thought that -- other than good old-fashioned conclusion-jumping.

At any rate ... some of those same fans were even more confused with her latest musical offering, which they say sends mixed signals. It's Billie's music video for her new single, "Lost Cause," which sees her dancing in somewhat suggestive fashion with other women.

The true smoking gun for their queerbaiting case -- as the fandom has insisted -- was a follow-up post Billie threw up after this video, which featured the caption "i love girls."

Some took that as Billie toying with her fans, as well as pre-conceived notions about her sexuality -- which many have called counterproductive/harmfully misleading. Basically, they're suggesting she's doing more hurting than helping in the LGBTQ+ movement ... during Pride months, no less. That, coupled with her apparent interest in men, is causing an uproar.

We're gonna bust out the soapbox here for a minute and just say ... Billie doesn't owe anyone anything when it comes to all this speculation and projecting that's been thrust on her -- not before, not now, and not even in the future (that is, if she doesn't want to).

As many have rightly pointed out, there's nothing inherently sexual about Bilile's dancing in the music vid -- and her caption could've been nothing more than just promoting her single.

Kamala Harris breaks lots of ground ... the latest being she's the first Vice President of the United States to march in solidarity of LGBTQ rights.

The Veep and her husband, Doug Emhoff, took to the streets Saturday in Washington D.C. for the Pride March. There was no advanced notice she would show, so it was a big surprise to marchers when she showed up in a pink blazer. Doug wore a t-shirt with a rainbow inscription. They both marched for a block or so.

Harris spoke at the Capital Pride rally, urging Congress to pass the Equality Act. She said, "We need to make sure that our transgender community and our youth are all protected. We need, still, protections around employment and housing."

The Veep added during the rally at Freedom Plaza, "There is so much more work to do, and I know we are committed."

David Archuleta -- one of "American Idol's" famous runner-ups throughout its history -- just came out as being part of the LGBTQ+ community ... which he explains is especially difficult considering his religious upbringing.

The 'AI' alum -- who placed second during the 7th season of 'Idol,' losing to David Cook -- just shared his truth online, posting a heartfelt IG that revealed he identifies as both bisexual and asexual ... even though he says he initially thought he might've been gay.

David writes, "I came out in 2014 as gay to my family. But then I had similar feelings for both genders so maybe a spectrum of bisexual. Then I also have learned I don’t have too much sexual desires and urges as most people which works I guess because I have a commitment to save myself until marriage." He goes on to explain asexual seems to, at times, describe him best ... while adding he's doing this to help others who might be in similar situations.

Namely, DA says he wants folks who are devoted to their religion and who might also be gay, bi or anything else that they are not alone ... as he explains that he comes from a Mormon background himself. Basically, David says you can both be religious and identify as LGBTQ+.

He says, "[P]lease consider making room to be more understanding and compassionate to those who are LGBTQIA+, and those who are a part of that community and trying to find that balance with their faith which also is a huge part of their identity like myself." DA goes on, "I think we can do better as people of faith and Christians, including Latter-day Saints, to listen more to the wrestle between being LGBTQIA+ and a person of faith."

Kid Rock's hatefulness is showing again, and he seems pretty damn proud of it -- while responding to the video of him hurling a homophobic slur, he's choosing to repeat the word and attack his critics.

The singer publicly addressed the video TMZ posted of him using the epithet at a Tennessee bar last weekend by tweeting this ... "If Kid Rock using the word f***** offends you, good chance you are one."

He attempted to put a friendly spin on it by adding, "Either way, I know he has a lot of love for his gay friends and I will have a talk with him. Have a nice day."

Kid credited the comment to Bob Ritchie -- his legal name -- in what seems to be a warped use of the third person to excuse his behavior or dismiss the backlash he's getting.

Either way, it's an incredibly bad look, but he clearly doesn't care much what anyone thinks.

We broke the story ... Kid was on the mic Saturday night at FishLipz Bar & Grill when he dropped the homophobic slur in the middle of a rant about the crowd recording him with smartphones.