LGBT

Joe Exotic's lack of being guilty and abundance of being gay is why he didn't get a pardon from Trump ... according to the 'Tiger King' star himself.

The disgraced former zoo owner's not taking his presidential pardon snub very well, and says ... "I was too innocent and too GAY to deserve a Pardon from Trump."

Joe adds that he thinks he only got some pardon attention initially from Don Jr. because Trump's son "needed to make a comment about me to boost his social media post."

He also threw some extra shade at the former Prez, saying ... "Boy were we all stupid to believe he actually stood for Equal Justice? His corrupt friends all come first."

As we've told you ... Joe's legal team was confident all the hard work they put in would lead to a pardon. They even had a stretch limo waiting for Exotic to go pick him up from prison once they got word Trump had freed him.

Unfortunately for Joe ... it never happened. Trump pardoned 73 people and commuted the sentences of 70 others, but not him. Team Tiger told us they were very disappointed, but added that they "will never leave Joe’s side and will continue to work until his freedom is gained."

We spoke to Joe's nemesis, Carole Baskin, who came out as bisexual in October ... she says Joe's latest statements are, "Just further evidence that he has no remorse for all the harm he's caused to exotic cats and the people in his life."

Justin Thomas -- one of the biggest stars in golf -- says he intends to enroll in a "training program" to help him be a better person after he used an anti-gay slur on a course earlier this month.

Thomas was on the 4th green during the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii on Jan. 9 ... when he missed a 5-foot par putt and muttered, "f*****."

Thomas immediately apologized after the round ... saying in a post-play interview, "There’s just no excuse. I’m an adult, I’m a grown man. There’s absolutely no reason for me to say anything like that."

Thomas, though, has faced huge backlash despite the mea culpa ... and on Wednesday, he said he intends to enter a training program to help him learn from it all.

"It’s not a word I use,” Thomas said, “but for some reason it was in there and that’s what I’m trying to figure out -- why it was in there."

“And like I said, it’s going to be part of this process and training program, whatever I need to do, not only to prove to myself but to prove to my sponsors and prove to the people who don’t know who I am that that is indeed not the person I am.”

The 27-year-old golfer declined to elaborate on what the program will entail ... saying only, "Obviously people are going to be a part of that process."

"But what I’m doing I’d like to keep internally and just go through the appropriate steps to get where I need to be and want to be, so people understand that’s not the person I am, the character I like to portray."

Thomas has lost sponsors over the incident ... with Ralph Lauren dropping the golfer last week after having a longstanding relationship with him.

Thomas said he was "upset" over losing the clothing company ... saying he wished they had stuck with him while he worked to fix his issues.

"I spoke with them, along with all my sponsors, and although I apologized, just like it was then it’s an opportunity for me to grow and I felt like it was something we could have done together and gone through that process," Thomas said.

"They just felt like they needed to move on so that’s exactly what I’m doing as well."

Thom Brennaman will be back in a baseball broadcasting booth ... just 4 months after he resigned from his last gig for using a gay slur on-air.

MLB Network insider Ken Rosenthal reported Tuesday the Roberto Clemente League -- which kicks off its season Tuesday -- has hired the former Reds play-by-play man to announce its games in 2020-21.

Of course, it's a huge deal for 57-year-old Thom ... just seconds after a hot mic picked up his homophobic comment during his broadcast of the Reds-Royals game on Aug. 19, he said he wasn't sure if he'd ever get another job in the industry again.

"I don't know if I'm gonna be putting on this headset again," Brennaman said at the time.

While the Roberto Clemente League isn't exactly the MLB ... it's still a respected gig in sports media.

The league -- which consists of 5 teams in Puerto Rico -- has current and former MLB players scattered throughout its rosters.

Braunwyn Windham-Burke is beyond happy in her new relationship -- and totally down for major PDA -- after becoming the first real housewife to come out as lesbian.

Sources close to Braunwyn tell TMZ ... the 'Real Housewives of Orange County' star met her girlfriend, Kris, on a dating app back in September and instantly hit it off, and they have been seeing each other romantically ever since.

We got pics of Braunwyn and Kris on a date last month, before Cali went back into lockdown, and they were all over each other during a lunch date at Conservatory in West Hollywood.

Hot and heavy as they are ... our sources say you won't see the relationship covered in season 15 of 'RHOC,' because Kris came into the picture after they were done filming.

As you know ... Braunwyn came out this week, telling GLAAD she's finally feeling comfortable with her truth.

Braunwyn's still married to her husband, Sean Burke, and says they have no plans to divorce after 20 years of marriage. They have 7 children together, including 20-year-old Bella, 18-year-old Rowan, 15-year-old Jacob, 7-year-old twins Caden and Curran, 4-year-old Koa and 2-year-old Hazel.

Our sources say Braunwyn's younger kids don't really understand she's dating Kris, and think she's just Mom's friend -- but the older kids know the deal.

A male high school student in Texas got punished for wearing nail polish on campus -- breaking the dress code -- which he's now calling discriminatory.

17-year-old Trevor Wilkinson started a Change.org petition this week after he received an in-school suspension Monday from officials at Clyde High School in West Texas. The reason ... he had painted his nails black and other colors.

When asked to remove the nail polish by the principal and vice-principal, Wilkinson refused ... and got his punishment, which he says he'll continue opting for as a form of protest.

Trevor, who is gay, said, "Imagine your school not allowing boys to paint their nails and giving boys [in school suspension] ... and the whole administration being ok with it, homophobic and sexist? Welcome to West Texas."

As for the school, their district -- Clyde Consolidated Independent School District -- spoke on its behalf with a blanket statement about the dress code policy ... without touching on Wilkinson specifically. BTW, CHS is a public school ... for what it's worth.

Anyway, CCISD says it conducts a thorough review of its dress code each year and make all students and parents well aware of it before the school year gets underway.

WWE legend Pat Patterson -- the man who created the "Royal Rumble" -- has died, the organization confirmed. He was 79.

"WWE extends its condolences to Patterson’s family and friends," the company said Wednesday in a statement.

Patterson -- who considered himself wrestling's "first gay superstar" -- was a key part of WWE for decades, widely known as Vince McMahon's right-hand man.

He began wrestling in the 1950s -- and finally joined up with WWE in the late '70s, where he famously engaged in a series of awesome matches with Sgt. Slaughter. Pat became the company's first Intercontinental Heavyweight Champion in 1979.

Patterson later became a color commentator for WWE -- and continued to work in the ring and in the booth until he retired in 1984.

At that point, Patterson joined McMahon as a WWE exec -- and in 1988, he pitched the idea for the Royal Rumble.

In his book -- "Accepted: How the First Gay Superstar Changed WWE" -- Patterson explained how the Rumble came to be.

"The first Royal Rumble was on January 24, 1988, in Hamilton, Ontario. The difference between WWE’s Royal Rumble and a traditional over-the-top rope battle royal is that the participants come into the match at two-minute intervals -- not all at the same time at the beginning of the match. I wanted to create something special."

Pat famously came out as gay during a 2014 episode of "WWE Legends House" ... opening up in front of guys like Roddy Piper and Jimmy Hart. It was a powerful moment.

Patterson was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.

RIP

The tributes are already pouring in ...

Vince McMahon -- "Pat Patterson was more than the first Intercontinental Champion & father of the Royal Rumble Match. He helped lay the foundation for WWE as we know it. His mentorship shaped careers, his creativity sparked innovation and his friendship lifted spirits. Love you, Pat. We miss you."

The Rock -- "Rough phone calls to get this morning to tell me, our dear family member, Pat Patterson who was my pro wrestling mentor and father figure has passed away."

"He was also responsible for calling Vince McMahon when I was training to become a pro wrestler (my $7 bucks days) and said, 'Vince you gotta see this kid work in the ring.'"

"Vince flew me to RAW a few weeks later and I had my first match EVER in Corpus Christie, Texas. The rest is history and years later, here I am writing this post."

Triple H -- "No words can describe what he gave to us. His body as an in-ring performer, his mind as a storyteller, and his spirit as a beloved member of our large WWE family. I will miss him for so many reasons ... it’s never goodbye, it’s see ya down the road. Love you, Pat. Abooze."

Shane McMahon -- "I can not express how crushed I feel right now with the loss of Pat Patterson. A true member of my family, mentor and dear friend. I love you Pat. God speed."

Jim Ross -- Just heard of the passing this morning if the great, Pat Patterson. True legend of the pro wrestling business.  A wonderful mentor who taught me so much. RIP old friend."

Gina Bisignano -- the latest "Karen" to let hate speech fly -- received major business backlash for her bigotry on Yelp ... where people loaded her page with negative reviews until postings got temporarily shut down.

Bisignano owns a beauty biz in Beverly Hills called Gina's Eyelashes and Skincare, so after seeing video of her spewing homophobic comments at an L.A. protest of COVID lockdowns ... it seems several outraged Internet users took it out on her shop's Yelp page.

It got flooded with bad reviews, and got so bad so quickly Yelp decided to temporarily suspend the option to leave a review.

If a person tries, they get this message instead -- "This business recently received increased public attention in the news, which often means people come to this page to post their views on the news rather than a first-hand consumer experience."

Here's a sample of some of the reviews that were left beforehand though ...

-- "Owner of this salon is a blatant racist, homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic, conspiracy theorist, tar faced loser."

-- "If you want tarantula lashes and a corpse complexion, please call this bigot for your next KKK gathering."

-- "This place is great. They help create the illusion of beauty on the outside, so I can hide all my hateful, Q conspiracies, and homophobia on the inside."

Yelp says it's working to investigate whether this batch of new reviews "reflects actual consumer experiences rather than the recent events."

"Juno" and "Umbrella Academy" star Elliot Page is coming out as trans ... he shared his truth Tuesday morning, saying he's finally loving himself enough to pursue his "authentic self."

Elliot says folks in the trans community inspired him to come out, and he's pledging to support them and try and make our society more loving and equal.

While Elliot, formerly known as Ellen, says he's happy to come out as trans, he says he's also scared ... because of the invasiveness, hate, jokes and violence that too often happen to the trans community.

Elliot addresses the threats facing the trans community head-on, saying he will do everything he can to take on the "harassment, self-loathing, abuse and threat of violence every day." He takes a pointed shot at "political leaders" who've attacked the trans community. Although Elliot doesn't name names ... in the past, he's been vocally critical of Vice President Mike Pence.

Here's Exhibit A of lockdown fatigue meeting plain old bigotry -- and the end result is, you guessed it ... a hate-spewing "Karen."

This woman, not wearing a mask, went on a homophobic rant while protesting outside the home of L.A. County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer. The video starts with the woman firing off a homophobic slur at the person recording her. She added Nazi and brainwashing accusations too ... just for good measure.

There were about 50 people marching Sunday, most of whom seemed to merely be protesting the economic impact of California's latest round of coronavirus restrictions -- but this woman's hate speech made her stand out from the crowd. In the worst way possible.

Believe it or not, the video got even worse when the woman made an outlandish accusation about abortions. Also worth noting is her wardrobe choice for the occasion.

Unfortunately, she comes off like a big ball of 2020.

Dwyane Wade definitely saw that clip of Mike Tyson grilling Boosie Badazz over offensive comments the rapper made about Wade's transgender daughter ... and D-Wade loved it!!!

Remember ... it was back in October, "Iron" Mike pressed Boosie HARD over the transphobic public comments he made about D-Wade's 13-year-old child Zaya.

Tyson didn't hold back -- and asked Boosie if the hateful comments stemmed from his own insecurities with his sexuality and gender identity. The video was powerful.

Now, Wade is opening up about the incident in a new interview with "Central Ave" ... explaining why he appreciates Mike's support.

"I actually talked to Mike about that earlier in the pandemic -- we had a conversation and I appreciated it."

"He's one of those people ... he's so smart, he's so educated and knowledgeable about life and for him to drop that nugget on the world … to me, it was great to hear him say that."

Wade also implied he doesn't harbor any ill-will toward Boosie.

"I understand that everyone has their own path, their own journey toward accepting things."

"I've never came out and said anything to anybody that feels a certain way about me or someone else in my family, my loved ones -- because they don't know us, they don't know our heart and they definitely don't know Zaya."

"All I do is what my momma say ... just pray for 'em."

As we previously reported, Mike credited his own daughter for convincing him to speak up about the comments when Boosie appeared on his podcast -- and he's glad he did.

AEW + Director X = 🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯🤯

TMZ Sports has obtained AEW's explosive new trailer -- featuring Nyla Rose using a sledgehammer to smash the living hell out of a Jaguar ... and it's AWESOME!

The trailer was put together by legendary music video and movie director, Director X -- who's worked with every major artist you've ever heard of from Jay-Z to Rihanna to Kanye, Bieber to Drake ... even Ariana Grande, One Direction and Korn!

Director X tells TMZ Sports the goal is to show how AEW is "smashing the status quo" -- and what better way to than to give Nyla Rose a sledgehammer and let her tee off!

FYI, Rose is the first transgender wrestler signed to a major wrestling promotion -- and Director X tells us he was so moved by her story, it became an obvious decision to open the video with Nyla's glass-shattering scene.

"I mean it just felt right," Director X tells us ... "It's by far the most dramatic scene. She has one of the most dramatic stories you know what I'm saying? Like it's a big, big deal."

Director X says empowering women like Nyla says a lot about AEW and how they're taking pro wrestling to the next level.

The trailer also features Cody and Brandi Rhodes, Kenny Omega, The Young Bucks and more ... explaining how they launched a brand new successful wrestling promotion against all odds. The ultimate underdog story.

The video also celebrates the 1 year anniversary of "AEW Dynamite" -- the #1 wrestling show on Wednesday nights on TNT.

"We're boundless in our ability to grow," Cody says ... "We're boundless in our talent."

One of the most famous houseguests in "Big Brother" history says CBS committing to casting more people of color on reality shows is coming way too late, but adds ... it doesn't have to be too little.

Marcellas Reynolds was the first Black gay man on 'BB' way back in its third season in 2002, and he tells us he's shocked it took the network this long to address what he calls inherent biases on so many of its hit shows ... including "Survivor" and "Amazing Race."

Reynolds says CBS is on the right track now, but a pledge to have unscripted show casts that are 50 percent Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) isn't good enough.

The reality show alum says more focus needs to be put on making sure there's proper representation behind the camera. He says until this happens, those biases will remain ... and true diversity won't be achieved in the stories being told.

The good news -- CBS did touch on this subject as part of its diversity pledge, vowing to also commit at least 25 percent of its unscripted budget to projects created by minorities ... and set a target of 40 percent BIPOC representation in writers' rooms.

Imagine opening up Hinge, Tinder or Grindr and the other person's opening line being ... who ya voting for? That's exactly what's happening ... especially in battleground states.

Tons of people are reportedly flooding to those datings apps to get users to the polls -- and that's not a euphemism. Specifically, Hinge users/poll pushers are changing their geolocations to battleground states like Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Michigan, Texas and Arizona.

Once there, users set up their profile and do what they can to attract a match ... going as far as posting tons of pictures with furry animals, for example. Once they match, they talk voting and ask if they've settled on a presidential candidate yet. According to CNN ... users reportedly try to persuade undecided voters to Joe Biden but they also respect those who have settled on President Trump.

Some people have called this operation #DateSaveAmerica ... and while some users told CNN they've lucked out and had meaningful conversations about the election, others have said they were turned off when the convo turned to politics.

It's not the first time dating apps have turned political. Back in 2018, the Washington Post reported Tinder users had a similar plan for the midterm elections.

"I was Boosie at one time."

That's Mike Tyson explaining why he felt compelled to confront rapper Boosie Badazz over his history of homophobic comments ... saying he knows what it's like to go from ignorant to enlightened.

Tyson got right to the point with Boosie during a recent taping of his podcast, "Hotboxin' with Mike Tyson" ... condemning Boosie's offensive comments about Dwyane Wade's child Zaya, who recently came out as a transgender girl.

During the podcast, Tyson pressed Boosie on where his hate was stemming from -- wondering if Boosie's aggression comes from his own insecurities about his sexuality.

It was a powerful moment that seemed to have resonated with Boosie ... and Tyson has been cheered for the way he handled it.

But, Tyson tells "TMZ Live" the conversation probably wouldn't have happened if it weren't for his daughter -- who passionately told the boxing legend why Boosie needed to be set straight.

"My daughter," Tyson said ... "She flew all the way from New York City to Los Angeles, California where I'm at just to be there because she thought Boosie was so disrespectful she had to confront him."

Yeah, you read that right -- Tyson's daughter wanted to be the one to go after Boosie, but Mike wouldn't allow it.

Instead, Mike listened to what his daughter had to say and ultimately believed she made some solid points.

Mike said his daughter argued that Boosie's comments have been "disrespectful to the community" -- and she was so passionate about confronting him, Mike was concerned things would go off the rails.

"But, he conducted himself like a gentleman," Tyson said about Boosie ... "It went okay. It didn't go like I anticipated it to go. My daughter has a lot of courage and stuff."

Now, Tyson says he's rooting for Boosie to grow from their conversation and "win the fight over those demons."

There's more ... Tyson also explained to Harvey and Charles why he decided to make a boxing comeback and why he predicts "PAIN" for his upcoming opponent Roy Jones Jr. when they clash at Staples Center on Nov. 28.

Carole Baskin's not only had 3 husbands, but also a wife ... but she says there's been one big difference between her male and female partners.

The 'Tiger King' star, who just this week came out as bisexual, tells TMZ ... she's had lovers from both sexes, and even had a "nonsexual wife" back in the day. Carole's said she could just as easily have married the woman in her life as she did Don Lewis, and then Howard Baskin.

However, we know Carole often sees things differently than most ... and marriage is no exception. First off, she says her "wife" was heterosexual, and that boundary was always respected.

So, with sex off the table ... Carole says they loved each other in a platonic way, and her partner did all the cooking, took care of their home and was even a secretary for Carole's real estate biz. BTW, she doesn't want to reveal the woman's identity to protect her from the media, but it seems they were together sometime in the mid to late '80s ... when same sex marriage was illegal, anyway.

As for Carole's rules of attraction -- she says for her it's more about who you are on the inside, and she doesn't have a preference for physical characteristics ... male or female. Of course, she takes it even deeper ... telling us human connection isn't about sex, gender, race or nationality because humans are ALL of those things.

Carole's also clearing up some statements about her sexuality ... telling us she doesn't identify as a transgender male despite telling PinkNews she feels she was born in the wrong body.

The Big Cat Rescue owner, who clearly believes in reincarnation, says you won't know why you were born as you were ... until you are between lives.

Carole Baskin has a bombshell for all the cool cats and kittens ... she's sexually attracted to men and women.

The 'Tiger King' and 'DWTS' star just came out as bisexual ... Carole tells PinkNews she discovered her truth back during the AIDS crisis in the 80s when she was spending lots of time with the LGBT+ community.

While it's a surprise to some folks, Carole says she's always considered herself bisexual and feels she might have been born in the wrong body because growing up she was a tomboy.

The Big Cat Rescue owner says everything she did as a child was male-oriented ... she didn't have any mothering instincts and never played with dolls, which led her to start thinking something about her was different.

Carole says she finally put her finger on it in the 80s when she was dating a psychologist who was immersed in the LGBT+ community. It was then Carole says she realized she had the same feelings for men and women.

Carole's on her second marriage -- she married Howard Baskin after Don Lewis' mysterious disappearance -- but she says she could have easily married a woman instead.