Jags' Maxen is first male Amerin pro sports ach to e out as gay - ESPN

Contents:

• GORDON MONSON: A FORMER BYU ATHLETE WHO IS GAY FDS PEACE, AT LAST
• BYU’S COSMO THE COUGAR OUT AS GAY
• IN AN TERVIEW AFTER G OUT AS GAY, MAN WHO WAS BYU’S DANCG COSMO THE COUGAR TALKS ABOUT ‘SHAME AND ISOLATN’
• A FAN SHOWSED THIS ANTI-GAY SIGN AT A BYU FOOTBALL GAME AND ESPN BROADST
• FORMER UTAH UTE MATT GAY SENDS RAMS TO NFC CHAMPNSHIP GAME WH WALK-OFF FIELD GOAL
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY
• BYU’S DANCG GAY UGAR TOPS ESPN’S ‘BT MAST MOMENTS OF ALL TIME’
• CHARLIE BIRD ON HIS NEW BOOK AND BEG BYU’S COSMO AND A GAY LATTER-DAY SAT

GORDON MONSON: A FORMER BYU ATHLETE WHO IS GAY FDS PEACE, AT LAST

A cel reject, tossed down on this terrtrial globe by God as some sort of msed-up, twisted Warnick was gay. 7, lettg everyone his world know what he has known for the better part of two s now, that he is a gay man and that he is a good man and that he has never felt so much peace his his story n help others stgglg to feel that same peace and also those stgglg to afford those others the love and rpect they need and serve, and maybe, too, enlighten those who through the doctre and dogma they teach and preach om posns of thory to avoid nmng those others, stop stirrg them the self-hate no human should feel.

”Warnick noticed his attractn to his same genr early on, but hid bee he heard what was said at church about such attractn and he heard the guys on the field, urt, diamond and the locker room talk disparaggly and e gay slurs.

BYU’S COSMO THE COUGAR OUT AS GAY

He knew he was gay, but knew of nobody else at his school or his iend group who were: “There was no one I uld relate to, even when I was tght to hate myself …”He stops to tell the story of how he, wracked wh guilt for his impure thoughts, took the pictur of Palmer out to his backyard and burned them bee … well, you know … starts aga. I’d watch [LDS] General Conference and jt wa for homosexualy beg tght as a s. And worked, mostly, until, wh no other outlet for his emotns, he was ught by his parents nsumg gay porn durg his junr year of high did not go over well.

”He was well aware that as thgs were he uldn’t hi forever, but he hoped that chang would e, that if he lived right, he uld beat his gayns, “hopg to be blsed to be attracted to women, to get ‘fixed. I didn’t want to be gay. Thereafter, while studyg at and petg for BYU, he quietly started datg dividual, a closeted married man who worked at BYU, heard whispers about Warnick, and rmed him that he was faiar wh a group of gay athlet at the school.

IN AN TERVIEW AFTER G OUT AS GAY, MAN WHO WAS BYU’S DANCG COSMO THE COUGAR TALKS ABOUT ‘SHAME AND ISOLATN’

“When you’re gay, there is no plan, ” Warnick says. ”A few of his close iends Provo knew about his sexualy by then, and none of them eaked out or seemed homophobic. While he kept his secrets, he was aware enough to disver there are, as he says , “a lot of gay kids at Southern Virgia, ” jt the way that “there are gay stunts at BYU.

”Warnick knows of at least one gay kid at BYU who died by suici, and he n certaly relate to the reasons why that happens.

Warnick para-quot a top universy admistrator as havg said, “Some people will say we’re not as Christian here bee we accept gay people. ”But around that same time, he ma a leap, announcg that he is gay on social media. While petg as a closeted gay man, former Brigham Young Universy swimmer Zach Anrson said he found “exhstg” to try passg as straight and al wh gossip about his year, Anrson disvered a very morn way that he was not alone: while listeng to a podst he happened upon while scrollg through Queer Athlete Podst billed self as a place for BYU athlet to talk about their experienc beg queer at the universy owned by The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats.

A FAN SHOWSED THIS ANTI-GAY SIGN AT A BYU FOOTBALL GAME AND ESPN BROADST

” He did not e out as gay while at BYU, but did so 2020. As Cosmo the Cougar, he danced his way to fans’ hearts, all the while ncealg his face, and a secret that he is only now ready to share: Charlie Bird is gay.

’ For years I plead wh God to change my sexual orientatn, but after returng to BYU om a full-time missn for The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats, I began realizg that beg gay is an tegral part of who I am. I was hyper-aware of what some of my peers said about the gay muny, how they viewed same-sex attractn and the often unkd and sensive words they ed to scribe LGBTQ people — people like me. He certaly was not the only closeted gay stunt; Andrew Evans revealed his memoir, excerpted on Outsports, how his llege roommate turned him after seeg him kiss another man, and how BYU forced him to choose between immediate expulsn or reparative therapy.

FORMER UTAH UTE MATT GAY SENDS RAMS TO NFC CHAMPNSHIP GAME WH WALK-OFF FIELD GOAL

And then there was “Michael, ” an anonymo BYU football player, track star and closeted gay stunt who didn’t realize until senr year that keepg his secret had left him whout a sgle iend on mp.

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) BYU fans and school mast Cosmo look on as Utah holds a 35-0 lead over BYU the Royal Purple Las Vegas Bowl, NCAA football at Sam Boyd Stadium Las Vegas, Saturday December 19, was the face of BYU athletics, entertag crowds and gag natnal notoriety for his dance mov as Cosmo the Charlie Bird had another mask he was hidg an opn say posted onle Tuday by the Deret News, Bird revealed he is gay and that he hid his sexual orientatn durg his time performg as Cosmo om 2015 to 2018 at Brigham Young Universy. The private school is owned by The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats and forbids “homosexual behavr” unr s of, who went to BYU after servg a full-time missn for the church, said as he attend school and performed as Cosmo, he realized his sexual orientatn was an tegral part of his senr year, Bird drew natnal attentn for his danc durg football gam; vios posted onle of his performanc drew lns of views across var social media platforms.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

“The fay and iends who have shown me Christlike love and support, however, give me hope, " Bird told the Tribune he kept his orientatn a secret early his stt as Cosmo, ially fearg he’d lose the gig if school officials learned he was gay. “There were no ‘out’ gay athlet at the time, and I felt very isolated, " Bird said.

BYU’S DANCG GAY UGAR TOPS ESPN’S ‘BT MAST MOMENTS OF ALL TIME’

”I felt like I was dog so much to posively reprent BYU and the athletics program, but I uldn’t see how BYU and the athletics program was posively reprentg gay stunts like me.

“And feels even better knowg that I don’t have to thk of any more awkward exc as to why ‘a nice young chap like me hasn’t found a wife and settled down, ’” he the say was published, Bird said, he’s gotten “many, many, many" msag of support om other gay members of the church and fai of LGBTQ children.

CHARLIE BIRD ON HIS NEW BOOK AND BEG BYU’S COSMO AND A GAY LATTER-DAY SAT

Stanford Universy has apologized for a sk performed by s band at Saturday's football game agast Brigham Young Universy (BYU) at Stanford Stadium Palo band, officially known as the Leland Stanford Junr Universy Marchg Band (LSJUMB), performed a halftime sk entled "gay chicken" that featured two women gettg married and kissg, and g terms mon marriag performed by the Mormon is ran by The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats. While the universy repealed a ban on homosexualy a uple of years ago, the school still prohibs same-sex datg. A halftime performance durg BYU football’s vis to Stanford Saturday night is g a stir on social media for s ntent lampoong Latter-day Sat Stanford band staged a sk tled “gay chicken” which volved a pair of women beg married to each other, wh the officiator g terms and phras taken om sacred temple ceremoni wh The Church of J Christ of Latter-day Sats.