Earlier today, gay rights organization Human Rights Campaign issued a press release calling for an apology. Bryant released a bland statement declaring that “the words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone.”

Nonetheless, a few hours later, the NBA announced it had fined Bryant $100,000.

I believe that in America, the main way to get someone’s attention through their bank account, so you would think I’d approve of the league’s action.

Yet something about the way the entire incident was handled is giving me second thoughts.

If you watch professional sports on television, you know that players say unprintable and uncouth things all the time. In fact, the camera often lingers on athletes in hopes of catching such an outburst.

I understand Bryant is a high-profile figure, but I was surprised this was turned into a national story.

Secondly, the fact that HRC took the lead on this is unusual. Their area of expertise is in using the legislative process to advance gay rights, not in monitoring the media for homophobic statements (that would be GLAAD’s specialty). To me, taking time out to focus on Bryant when legislatures across the country, such as Wyoming, Illinois, and California are working on a wide range of homophobic laws is not a productive use of time.

And he is also willing to engage in the same kind of exploitative finance that disproportionately impacts the black community.

Joyner recently debuted the Reach Card, a prepaid debit card marketed as an improvement over competing products due to its “honest” fees, which still total over $100 per year. The card manufacturer, PreCash, said they created this card with his audience in mind.

Given that prepaid cards, like cash advance stores, are primarily used by those without access to traditional bank services, doesn’t this make a negative statement about how Joyner views his audience? Why assume that people listening to his program (which airs in the morning, as in when people are going to work) would need a prepaid card? Is it truly a desire to provide financial freedom to what the financial industry calls the “unbanked,” or is Joyner serving as the front man for a dishonest business?

It used to be that the radio personality was a trusted source of information for the black community, someone whose actions were seen as representing the best interests of black people. Sadly, as corporate-owned radio replaced local ownership in most cities, it is increasingly rare for radio stations to accurately reflect the needs of the communities they are supposed to serve.

By encouraging his listeners to use the Reach card, Joyner has proven to be someone who views the black community as a market undeserving of premium, mainstream products. And for that, Joyner gets the side eye!

“Far Away” tackles the theme of antigay bullying, a topic that has been prominently featured in the media since the suicides of several gay teenagers last year.

It is rare that homophobia in the black community is addressed in popular culture in a meaningful manner. Let’s hope that the video raises awareness and sparks discussion.

Her highly anticipated debut album, Late Nights, Early Mornings, is set for release on February 22.

Please support this brave artist. In the meantime, take a look at the video below:

Between Johnny Weir http://www.afterelton.com/people/2011/01/johnny-weir-finally-really-out and Kevin Spacey, 2011 has started off as an excellent year for coming out.

This early momentum has been continued with the news that Boston Herald journalist Steve Buckley has acknowledged that he’s gay in his most recent column

Buckley joins LZ Granderson as the only openly gay sports journalists I can think of. (If there are others, please let me know.) This news helps to explode the stereotype that gay men have an aversion to sports.

With children coming out at younger ages and gay characters becoming more prominent on youth-oriented television shows, it may seem underwhelming that someone would wait until their 50s to come out.

But one has to remember that everyone’s journey to acceptance is different. In fact, there are increasing numbers of elderly people coming out after retirement, which I think is proves two things: one, that your true sexuality must eventually be acknowledged, even if you spend years trying to deny it; and two, decades of gay activism have changed attitudes to the point where these individuals now feel comfortable coming out.

You can come early or come late, but most importantly, you have to come out!

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has decided to use his powers of clemency to grant their release.

However, the terms of release are as controversial as their original sentence. Under the agreement, Gladys Scott will donate a kidney to Jamie, whose dialysis treatments cost the state $200,000 a year.

Is it ethical to compel organ donation in order to get out of prison? What happens if the kidney is rejected by Jaime’s body? Could other inmates make similar offers, and sue for discrimination if denied?

Barbour’s sudden desire to address the situation is also suspicious. Barbour recently came under fire for an interview where he claimed that racism during the early 1960s in his hometown of Yazoo City, Mississippi was not “that bad” thanks to the Citizens Council, a racist organization who nonetheless allegedly kept the KKK at bay and recounted seeing Martin Luther King speak during a 1962 visit; King never visited Yazoo City.

Prior to granting the release, he tried to distance himself from the remarks, which were seen as damaging to his presidential aspirations.

Proof of the power of online activism or political opportunism? Ethical medicine or a slippery slope of unforeseen circumstances? It is hard to say. I’m sure the Scotts could care less about the circumstances of their release, as they’ve served 16 years for what most people would call a misdemeanor offense, but it’s one of those situations that, in the words of Arsenio Hall, makes you go, hmmmm.

Now here comes word that the Fire Department of New York is preparing to bring back its shirtless beefcake calendar for the first time since 2008. Production of the popular calendar was halted after one of its models/firefighters participated in a Guys Gone Wild video, where he displayed his firehose for all to see. (NSFW link is here).

But facing the prospect of not being able to afford any new equipment, the FDNY decided the estimated $300,000 that the calendar raised was more important than morality.

So if the buff boys of the FDNY warm your heart, you can thank New York’s alleged $14 billion deficit!

1. A growing acknowledgment that there are communities of LGBTs and black people, not one monolithic “Community.”

In the past, it was assumed that all LGBTs and black people could be viewed through the same prism, regardless of economic and political differences. Thankfully, this falsity of this idea is being exposed.

Eugene Robinson’s book Disintegration“>Disintegration a discusses the fracturing of the black community into four different categories, and Jonah Goldberg (of all people!) generated a firestorm of commentary with his editorial on the “bourgeoisifcation” of gay culture.

As populations become more integrated into the mainstream, it becomes obvious that they are comprised of individuals with unique philosophies and backgrounds. To typecast groups as “all the same” really means you haven’t taken the time to look beyond the surface.

2. More losses of minority cultural institutions like bookstores, music stores, and magazines.

In 2010, the iconic Ebony magazine was rumored to be for sale and its publisher eventually had to sell its building, and Nashville’s Outloud became the latest gay bookstore to close due to dwindling sales.

These stories highlight the challenges facing minority cultural spaces in the face of absorption into mainstream society. As major chains and media organizations develop their own relationships with blacks and gays, it is very difficult for these community stalwarts to hold on to their customer base. Independent, community-based culture and information are now dominated by podcasts and blogs, which are great but cannot fully replace the functions served by physical locations or products.

3. Changes to the internet and more discussions on its impact on society.

For many years, the internet has been perceived as a playground of “free culture” and anonymity. Yet concerns raised by Wikileaks, Comcast’s purchase of NBC and changes to net neutrality indicate possible changes in how information on the internet is handled. Furthermore, the Wall Street Journal series What They Know described in frightening detail the ways in which your privacy is compromised by websites and smart phone applications, most of which are undetectable to the average user. Anyone who is not familiar with “cookies,” “beacons,” or “scrapers” is urged to read the series and take steps to protect your personal information.

Authors are now asking whether the internet’s pervasive reach has unintended consequences. Both Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains “>The Shallows and William Davidow’s OVERCONNECTED: The Promise and Threat of the Internet“>Overconnected conclude that the internet’s efficiency has broad ramifications for social organization, human interaction, and even biology.

4. Hard times ahead.

As reported by the NY Times and other sources, states like Washington, Arizona, California, New York, and Illinois are facing massive budget shortfalls and slashing allocations for education, social services, and pensions. The federal stimulus package provided some relief, but as those funds run out, tough decisions have to be made.

Republicans gained a majority of congressional seats by promising fiscal restraint and lower taxes, but whether Americans will approve of European-styled austerity measures remains to be seen. Community support of non-profit organizations will be key, as they will be expected to increasingly assume responsibilities that were formerly handled by the government.

What do you see as major trends in 2011? Let us know!

Which makes Glenn Burke’s story so historic. Burke was a wildly talented multi-sport athlete who was compared to Willie Mays when he debuted with baseball’s Los Angeles Dodgers.

Yet his talent was overshadowed by the industry’s knowledge that he was a gay man who did not hide his sexuality. Burke’s career went from starting in the World Series in 1977 to being traded the next year as a result of his friendship with the gay son of Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda, ending with a forced retirement in 1980. His post-playing years were filled with crises involving addiction, homelessness, incarceration, and an AIDS diagnosis in 1994. He died the following year.

Out: The Glenn Burke Story profiles Burke’s life and the role homophobia played in his personal challenges. The documentary is produced by Comcast SportsNet Bay Area and airs November 10 at 8:00 PM Pacific Time. It will also be shown on November 16.

You can watch a trainer for the documentary here.

Essence Magazine, the leading magazine for African-American women, has made history by publishing a slideshow of a lesbian wedding.

The lucky couple featured on the site are Aisha Mills and Danielle Moody, from Washington, D.C.

I encourage you to check out the rest of the photos and realize that marriage equality is an important issue in the African American community.

Examples include his tendency to abandon independent-minded black people for political expediency (Jeremiah Wright, Van Jones, Shirley Sherrod), publicly shaming the black community (the infamous Father’s Day speech), and refusal to make statements about displays of racism in the criminal justice system (Jena 6, Sean Bell, Oscar Grant).

In all of these instances, I have given him a pass, assuming he was overcompensating for white fears of a Black president (a failed strategy, because you can’t use logic to deal with racism), but that he really did have a level of respect for African-Americans.

But I think he went too far with his July 29 appearance on The View. As if it wasn’t insulting enough that Elizabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shepherd are seen as capable of interviewing the President, he delivered his most disturbing statement yet about race.

According to the transcript he said:

“the interesting thing about the African American experience in this country is that we are sort of a mongrel people. I mean, we’re all kinda mixed up.”

What is that supposed to mean? I can’t think of any circumstance in which mongrel has a positive connotation; most definitions associate the term with animals.

African-Americans have a history of dehumanization, starting with slavery but also evident in the contemporary prison system and poor living conditions in urban areas, as well as workplace racism that can cause people like Omar Thornton to snap.

And now the President is describing African-Americans as mongrels, implying that whites are “pure.” Unacceptable!

Yet I have not seen the mainstream black media give this incident one-tenth the coverage as the manufactured controversy about Essence hiring a white fashion director. This is as revealing a demonstration of their priorities as was the NAACP’s initial reaction to Shirley Sherrod.

What a sad state of affairs. African-Americans have more education, money, and public influence than ever before, yet many of our leading institutions appear incapable of using common sense when it comes to defending African-American interests.