Congrats to the happy couple! Brittney Griner Announces Engagement On Social Media Via PageSix : Women’s basketball stars Brittney Griner and Glory Johnson are engaged. Griner proposed to Johnson and both posted it on social media, with Griner showing a photo of her on one knee with a ring in her hand in front of Johnson on her Instagram account. Griner plays for the WNBA’s Phoenix Mercury and Johnson for the Tulsa Shock. Johnson also had a photo on her Instagram account of Griner lying in bed with an engagement ring resting on her shoulder. Griner has embraced her role as a prominent gay athlete since finishing a record-breaking career at Baylor. She came out last year and wrote a candid memoir, “In My Skin,” that was critical of college coach Kim Mulkey. The 6-foot-8 center, drafted first overall by Phoenix last year, has helped lead the Mercury to a WNBA-best 27-5 record. She is averaging 15.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.9 blocks. Johnson is averaging 15.0 points and 9.5 rebounds in her third season with Tulsa. The 6-foot-3 forward played at Tennessee. Awww, how sweet! The officiant will have to use a step-stool to marry these two extra-tall lovers! Congratulations.
This cutie is the son of an actor/comedian who has been in the spotlight for a couple of decades… Can you guess his famous Dad? Hit the flip for the answer. WENN
So Daddy actually gave birth??? Transgender Couple Prepare To Explain Their Birth Genders To Their Children A transgender couple, each without genital reassignment , married and gave birth to two of their own natural children. As the babies age, however, they now must consider how they will break the news that even though they and the rest of the world see an average male/female father/mother unit, Daddy is actually Mommy and vice versa. Via MailOnline : A transgender couple are preparing to tell their children when they get get older that their father actually gave birth to them and the person that they call their mother is in fact their father. Bianca and Nick Bowser are a happily married couple and live in Kentucky with their two young sons. Nick, 27, was born a girl, called Nicole, but for the last seven years has lived as a man. Bianca, 32, who is a drag artist, was born as a boy called Jason, and transitioned to live as a woman 11 years ago. The transgender couple still have their original sex organs because they cannot afford reconstructive surgery. The cost of male to female surgery can range from £4,000 to £15,000, while female to male surgery can exceed £30,000. And they insist their children, Kai, now three, and Pax, almost one, will be fine because their upbringing will be loving, supportive, secure, and perfectly ‘normal’ Bianca said: ‘The kids currently have no idea. It’s not like strangers ever guess in restaurants or at the shops. ‘I don’t know when we will start to tell them, maybe when Kai is around six, but they will need to be old enough to understand. ‘It is important they know because it’s a big secret to keep from your children and if they found out another way they could hold huge resentment. ‘But I don’t worry about how they will react. We will not treat it as a ‘bad’ thing. And young kids are accepting and non-judgemental.’ She adds: ‘Being transsexual doesn’t define who we are , just as being black or white or skinny or fat doesn’t define you either.’ While Nick and Bianca could have used a surrogate, they were reluctant because it’s expensive. Nick says: ‘We have a healthy sex life and we wanted a biological child – this was the only way we could do it.’ Bianca says that although they dislike still having their biological genitalia, having sex has never been a problem. ‘We have the parts so we will use them,’ she says. ‘If we could change them we would, and they would be the other way around – but we cannot afford it and the children come first.’ ‘We’ll tell the children the truth when it’s the right time – we’ve got nothing to hide. Very interesting. Kids are typically pretty good about accepting the reality they’re given, so this likely won’t be an issue in their early years. But we wonder how they will feel as they reach adolescence and have such a different family (and a huge secret to keep) from all their peers?
Play ball(s) ! Cleveland Hosts 9th Annual Gay Games Via RawStory Thousands of athletes and fans are converging on Cleveland on Saturday for the opening ceremonies of the 9th Gay Games, bringing the international event to a state that has become a key battleground for gay marriage rights. A federal appeals court in Cincinnati this week heard arguments on the constitutionality of same-sex marriage bans in Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky. Gay marriage supporters have seen a series of legal victories around the country since the Supreme Court ruled the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional last year. Cleveland was selected in 2009 over Boston, Washington and other large U.S. cities to host the games, held every four years since they debuted in 1982 in San Francisco. Games co-chairman Steve Sokany said he believes the selection of the Midwestern city was about changing hearts and minds and it has received unprecedented corporate sponsorship. “The tide is turning and I think these games can have a tremendous impact,” Sokany said in an interview. “We are trying to change stereotypes.” Public opinion in Ohio on gay rights has shifted over the past decade, reflecting similar changes in other parts of the country. Ohio voters adopted the gay marriage ban in 2004, but recent polls show a majority of Ohio voters support allowing same-sex couples to marry. For those wondering, no, the “Gay Games” is not playing Twister with Michael Sam. In fact… Organizers expect about 25,000 athletes, spectators and volunteers to gather for the games in Cleveland and nearby Akron over the next eight days, injecting an estimated $50 million into the local economy. The competitions include a triathlon and a marathon, as well as softball, volleyball, darts, bowling and cheering. Figure skating is a crowd favorite, according to organizers. The Games feature a wide variety of athletes – young and old, male and female and both gay and straight. Wonder is Lebron James and Johnny Manziel will be making an appearance since this event is all up in their backyard. No pun intended.
Teen Boy Charged With Murder Of Florida Homeless Man via Florida News-Press Nearly a quarter-mile off the road, Thomas J. Bergstrom, 51, built a 20-foot-by-20-foot compound of pallets and bright blue tarps. A transient, that’s where he hooked up a TV and watched it from his scruffy recliner near 100 NE Pine Island Road. Anthony Cashdollar found him Saturday morning, stretched out on the ground, blood congealing on his arm and mouth, just feet from the recliner. “I was so shocked, I just sat my hand on his back,” Cashdollar, 18, said Sunday night, adding that he called “Tommy, Tommy, Tommy. … Then it hit me that Tommy was dead.” Sgt. Dana Coston of the Cape Coral Police Department said 13-year-old city resident Yoel Munoz was arrested at home Sunday, charged with second-degree murder and burglary in Bergstrom’s death. He was being held Sunday night and bond had not been set. His first court hearing was expected this morning. Munoz’s father, Osmin, does not speak English and, through an interpreter, declined to comment about his son or the slaying. Coston said Bergstrom was a transient and had been stabbed multiple times. The crime was discovered at 11:48 a.m. Saturday when Cape police responded to a report of a deceased person at the camp. Cashdollar said he had gone to visit Bergstrom to show him his new dirt bike. He peeked into a makeshift room, seeing a blood-soaked recliner. And then I looked around, and there Tommy was. He was dead.” Based on evidence recovered from and near the scene, Cape detectives identified Munoz as a suspect, Coston said. Burglary charges can stem from someone entering an area like the camp with an intent to commit a crime, Coston said, and added that murder investigation is ongoing. In July, Cape police had issued a missing persons report for Munoz, saying he had been reported missing June 30 between 9 and 10 p.m. and was suspected of heading to East Fort Myers. At 10:45 a.m. July 1, Cape police reported Munoz had been found “safe and sound.” At the first appearance of Munoz in Lee County juvenile court Monday morning, Munoz was given three weeks of secure detention and will be in court on Aug.21. Munoz is being represented by a public defender. Cape Coral Police Department
Happy 53rd birthday to the POTUS! President Obama Gets Birthday Shouout From Wife Michelle Obama Today is President Obama’s 53rd birthday and although he’s no doubt gotten bday wishes from millions of people throughout the world, the number one woman in his life just may have taken the cake with this heartfelt photo and caption posted on her Instagram page in honor of his big day: Awww, we love it! Happy birthday to President Obama.
We can see why Jada’s such a happy woman … Jada Pinkett-Smith On Her Relationship With Will The Smith family has been scrutinized, persecuted, and even investigated by child protective services over the years. However Jada Pinkett-Smith says she’s secure in who she and her husband are and could honestly care less about what anyone else has to say. Via MailOnline : They’ve been hit by rumours of infidelity and have been accused of having an open relationship. But Jada Pinkett Smith is laying the gossip to rest, gushing about the strength of her marriage to Will Smith. The 42-year-old actress told Net-a-Porter’s The Edit she is ‘ecstatic’ about how her relationship with the 45-year-old actor has evolved. ‘Will, to me, encompasses everything,’ the Matrix Revolutions star said. ‘It’s almost as if calling him “my husband” is too small of a word for what he means in my life — and especially how I feel we, as women, identify the idea of a husband. ‘I really had to mature and expand that. I think I had a very stuck idea of what a husband looks like, what a wife should be. ‘Once I broke all of that, a whole new world opened for me and man, oh, man, I got to see him in all his glory. And so that’s what it’s evolved into. And I’m just ecstatic about it.’ The mother-of-two addressed how she and her husband, who have been married since 1997, cope with all the rumours. ‘The coping technique is knowing what the truth is – there’s no better technique,’ she said. ‘When you know that what’s going on in your house is so the opposite [of what’s being said], and you also know that when there’s mystery, people fill in the gaps, that’s OK. ‘And then you look back at it and look at how creative people can be, and it’s kind of entertaining. We can laugh because it’s so ridiculous. But I get it. I don’t take it personally.’ That whole portion about “letting go of what you’re taught to think a husband should be and do” definitely sounds like some swingers’ lingo…but as long as they are happy, who cares what any of us think and say? Net-A-Porter
Dang… Viacom is going for Jigga’s jugular — pushing that divorce agenda ! MTV Wants Beyoncé To Open Video Music Awards With Solo Performance Looks like Beyoncé will be without hubby Hov in a very public way before this summer is over… According to Confidenti@l reports: MTV is scrambling behind the scenes to get Beyoncé — without hubby Jay Z — to open this year’s Video Music Awards with a blowout performance at the Forum in Inglewood, Calif., on Aug. 24, Confidenti@l has exclusively learned. Insiders at a Columbia Records listening event were not hiding the fact that MTV is begging Queen Bey to sing a medley of hits from her “Beyoncé” album, which she released on iTunes last year without any alert or promotion. “Bey is going to be all over the show,” one source tells us. “MTV is still working everything out, but they want her to open the show with a big production, which has still not been announced.” Columbia Records and MTV are now working together to convince Bey to create video promos teasing the possible performance. “It’s still being worked out,” says our source. “Everyone at Columbia is scurrying around to make things happen. But judging by the amount of awards she was nominated for and her past history with the show announcing her pregnancy, it’s a pretty safe bet.” Beyoncé leads the VMA nominees with eight bids, including Video of the Year for “Drunk in Love,” her collaboration with husband Jay Z. Rappers Iggy Azalea and Eminem follow her with seven each. At the 2011 VMAs, Bey famously announced she was pregnant with Blue Ivy by popping open her sequined blazer and rubbing her belly for the crowd while Jay Z and Kanye West high-fived each other. “MTV wants her and they want her solo,” says our insider. That news should please Queen Bey, because a solo performance will help her begin to untangle her career from Jay’s. As Confidenti@l exclusively reported, the duo are heading toward releasing a statement addressing the rumors that have been swirling about what will happen with them when the “On the Run” tour wraps in September. The marriage — a strictly “business relationship,” says a source close to the couple — has been over for a while. Both Jay and Bey have been faking it for their fans, and for the $84 million they expect to collect from the current tour. In other developments, Beyoncé’s estranged father, Matthew Knowles, plans to share his tricks on how he made his daughter famous with Destiny’s Child. He will teach a day-long bootcamp class called The Entertainment Industry: How Do I Get In? at Houston Community College Central. Does it seem like the label and MTV are pushing Bey out the door or is it just us? Do you prefer to see Beyoncé perform alone as opposed to with Jay Z? And smh @ poor babydaddy Matty Knowles, demoted to a footnote at the END of a story about his daughter’s moves. Hit the flip for the latest from Bey’s gram
SMH!!! Alleged Sexual Predator Refuses To Give Up School Board Seat Remember the school board member we told you about who assaulted a sleeping or unconscious minor in San Diego ? Well apparently he feels as though he still deserves his job…despite the disgusting charges against him. Via LATimes : A Compton school board member arrested last week on suspicion of sexually assaulting a sleeping man, said he will not step down despite numerous calls for his resignation. In a statement released through his spokeswoman, Skyy D. Fisher said inaccurate information has been disseminated in an effort to force him from the school board. He vowed to fight the allegations while continuing to serve the students and parents of Compton. “Mr. Fisher expects to be fully exonerated and vindicated in this matter,” Jasmyne Cannick, his spokeswoman, said in the statement. But community members protested Monday outside his home, and again pushed for his ouster during a late afternoon board meeting. Fisher was not home at the time of the protest, and was absent from the board meeting. “I don’t know how long we are going to go before we take action,” said Maria Villareal, a parent who lives in Compton. “Maybe he needs to kill somebody or rape somebody before the board takes action.” According to an arrest warrant, a 26-year-old man told San Diego police in April that Fisher had performed oral sex on him as he slept. The two men were on a trip to San Diego and shared a room, but were sleeping in separate beds, according to the arrest warrant. The man told police he woke as Fisher was sexually assaulting him. The nerve of this sicko! He ought to be forced to step down…physically if need be. Strangely enough, the first stories we encountered about Mr. Fisher involved a minor. Now it’s a 26-year-old man? Something ain’t right. SMH.
