you should move to a german speaking country. they have no "gay pride", only "regenbogenparade" and "christopher street day":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Street_Day

basically it's a weekend of excessive partying:
http://www.google.ch/search?hl=de&gs...NNHO-Qbi482ZAg

i guess that should solve your problem.

But they are heroes.

Most kids that are gay struggle when they grow up. There are thousands of stories about this. And society makes this struggle not easier but more difficult and sometimes even dangerous. And when somebody wins this struggle he's a hero in my eyes. Anybody that comes to terms with himself is a hero imo. But most people have only to struggle with themselves and not against society on top.


You seriously lack empathy.

Just because you feel/felt somehow or because you don't understand how it could help others, it doesn't mean everybody feels the way you do or needs what you do.

For example. I'm not religious. I don't need the bible. Never did. Yet I do know that it gives a great deal of comfort and guidance to other people. So I'm happy for those people. If they have strong faith and it makes their lifes easier.

You had a much easier route to travel when you grew up. Now stop judging people that are traveling a different route. (And a far more difficult one too.)

The idea that you can 'be' gay is a relatively recent idea, dreamt up by deeply repressed Victorian psychobabblers and bottom-fumblers who posited the concept of 'sexual identity' as central to one's core identity - prior to this you could do gay things but not be gay! As with most identity categories, the invention of the concept itself was an act of oppression. But the concept is of course problematic and we are stuck in the never-ending nature/nurture circle jerk debate that is only a superficial attempt to neatly bracket off aspects of human existence into linguistic categories to be prodded and poked theoretically, which fails to recognise... ahhhh... those free-flowing, polymorphously perverse libidinal energies that actually constitute our experience of sexuality.

I'll tell you how I know it's true: If it weren't for a few inspiring people that I've looked up to in the past, I would not be sitting here having this discussion with you right now.

It doesn't matter what you think or if you don't believe it, people ARE influenced by folks like Jason when they come out and let it be known that we are here. I, of all people, would know.

He is still a no named player - just less of one now. There are loads of events in the WSOP and if you play in them year to year you've bound to have these same "accomplishments".

I bet his blog had very little traffic before that post - is there some way we could actually quantify this? I am not asking this rhetorically, by the way... I would be interested to see what his traffic was like before/after this post and I imagine we can actually find that out somewhere. Can someone who is into internet marketing/business link us to that?

When I was 9 years old or whatever the sexual identity of people never even crossed my mind. Do gay people have an especially large interest on sexual identity that straight people don't have? I doubt it. Yet that is the only way what you're saying right now has any merit.

I get tired of all of the bull **** "news" that I have to sort through and this is just one more on the huge pile of garbage. Garbage news does in fact have a negative role in my life because it wastes my time. I group this in the same category as celebrity gossip, excessive news coverage for fringe beliefs and other sensationalism. You are saying that my thoughts on this subject makes me a bigot and that just isn't true at all.

I also simply disagree with the idea that someone announcing this is actually helping anyone. People are saying that that makes me lack empathy... which is just another personal attack. In reality we all just have different views on what is and isn't important. This is also something that cannot be quantified so I guess I have to concede that it *might* be important. But I personally don't think it is at all.

You keep saying that I am just repeating myself over and over again. I don't think I am at all, and it seems like we just disagree on this main point. And that is alright, we don't have to agree on it and nothing is going to change that. I suppose this will be my last post in this thread. I didn't expect to get so involved in some ridiculous discussion with people calling me a bigot for saying something that seems so plainly true to me. My take away is that when emotions are high and the issue is highly controversial it is probably just best to say nothing - because you're either with them or against them it seems.

Anyways hopefully someone can find the traffic information for his blog like I pointed out. I've been trying for quite a while now but cannot find a site that even monitors traffic on a site so small. I did just look through a bunch of random web sites to see what I could even learn about him just now and there is basically nothing. A few sites list "famous" poker players and as a full time pro for 3 years, and poker player for 8 years I don't even know a lot of people on these random lists found by googling "famous poker players":

http://www.mac***********.com/famous...ers/#players-J
http://www.poker-player-profiles.com/
http://www.pokerteam.com/poker-players.html
http://www.professional-poker.com/po...yers/index.htm
and so on. I am sure if I kept looking I would eventually find one list that actually put him in. But I don't see how that proves anything at all...

I am pretty sickened how I am the one being called out for being "illogic" by one person yet nobody is saying anything about the insane barrage of ad hominem logical fallacies being thrown around by everyone else.

Also the entire idea of kids having a "hard life" in the context of growing up in America is down right ridiculous. This is so insanely ethnocentric it is just mind blowing that people still go on about this crap. I guess everyone's life is so easy that we just have to create some first world problems. But I certainly don't want to start another debate with this crowd so I'll just let that one be I guess...

This is ridiculous. They are people who play for years without ever making a final table, let alone without winning a bracelet. I didn't know much about him, but I had heard about him prior to this. Just because you hadn't doesn't mean he's not a name player in poker circles.

You are again conflating sexual identity with sex. Young children can certainly be cognizant of the fact they are different, and be impacted by that difference, without understanding how that will work sexually once they grow up.

But more to the point, you have no idea if the idea that young children who later grow up to be gay have some notion of their different sexual identity "has any merit" because you're not LGB, and it's pretty clear that you've never read any sort of research on the topic.

You are only impacted by "garbage news" by your own choice, to a very large degree. You clicked the link to this thread, and you read the posts and decided to respond. Unless you think there's some kind of gay conspiracy so that news about them is flashing all around you.

If you don't like this kind of news, then just ignore it. I don't give a **** about the lives of celebrities or reality TV, and amazingly I somehow manage to avoid finding myself in a thread on a website dedicated to talking about how awesome Snookie is.

Just because you can't conceive that someone coming out might not help anyone doesn't mean your right. The research on this, in fact, suggests you are very wrong. The research consistently demonstrates that young LGB kids endorse that knowing others that have come out, and sometimes even just knowing OF others that have come out, has helped them come to terms with their own sexual orientation.

You're being called out for being illogical and bigoted because that's exactly the way you are coming across, and because of that I will no longer be responding to you. You clearly have no interest in actually learning anything and just came into this thread to state your belief that coming out is like expressing an interest in golden showers and that anyone who thinks this is news is ******ed.

I encourage everyone else who is interested in an actual discussion to ignore him as well. By actually putting him on ignore if necessary. But I think it's clear that he's entrenched in his mindset and has zero interest in anyone's point of view but his own.

Last point: Of course when you compare issues of people who aren't starving or being threatened by genocide then those problems seem less significant in comparison. That doesn't actually make them insignificant. But I don't actually expect you to understand that distinction, since you haven't understood anyone else's point of view, including the view of people who have actually lived the LGB experience and are certainly a better authority on this topic than either you or I.

Meh, nvm my drivel, SGT RJ got it.

Fixed your post, buddy!

i think you are harsh...
this is pretty reasonable, especially coming from someone who compares coming out to expressing an interest in golden showers.

"organic act of living life" lol!

By the way if you actually took the time to understand what I wrote and wanted to respond to it in a logical, convincing and constructive manner then you should actually address the key point to all of this. If you have a link to a good, scientific study that has been done which demonstrates that when gay people make a public statement and "come out" they are helping other people... well then I would actually be receptive to that. I am not sure how a study could even be done to measure this at all, but I'd certainly be willing to give one that tries a read. Yeah I'd probably just respond by pointing out the numerous ways the study is flawed, because like any other social science it really is just a soft science. But at least this *might* work!

What doesn't work, and what doesn't convince anyone with a different view point to your own, is just attacking the character of anyone that disagrees with you. All that accomplishes is circle jerking with other like minded folks.

this thread just hurts my brain. Why is there this never ending debate about gays? Why can't we just be happy for Jason, don't see why there is so much debating itt. Yeah jason is gay and he came out, awesome! Dont see why that subject has fueld so much bigotry and ridiculous debate.

Kardnel why u so mad?

edit= I think I may have stumbled on to something here, why does this thread make u so mad?

I don't agree much with what the dude is saying but quit calling him a bigot. Its bull ****.

I'm sure if you keep writing about how mad you are about this you'll get all the popularity you so richly deserve and everyone will like you.

It's real clear that if you don't agree with someone calling them a bigot/ignorant/narrow minded/ect is they way to get them to come around to your side.

People who talk about tolerance throw these, and other, insults around all the time and think nothing of it.

Errr all squabbling aside, I guess the Pokercast with Jason tonight was cancelled?

Fair point, and I'm guilty of this as well.

J.Somerville is gay - old news since the 80ies?

Oh it's Jason not Jimmy. Wonder if the (name) resemblence had an influence on him...

ahahahaha he's totally dressed like Jungleman in that video

This weeks 2p2 Pokercast had Jason as their featured guest.

http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/97...ville-1170726/

I think he spoke pretty eloquently about the process of coming out and what it was like for him, and how his blog entry was the end of a journey that took quite some time.

Too slow

Didn't write that thinking of you, or anyone specifically, but it's nice to see honesty about something like this.

Ditto. Well stated.

Bump, the gaywad made a final table.

http://www.worldpokertour.com/Live_Updates/Live.aspx

Disclaimer: I mean gaywad as a term of endearment.

sure you do, you cuddly bastard