Mehcad Brooks sat down with HuffPost Live's Marc Lamont Hill on Thursday. It's a good interview. The star of USA's Necessary Roughness is spot-on with his critique of "diversity" and casting decisions in Hollywood. "I want today's kids to say, 'Oh, I can be a superhero!'" says Brooks. "Superman is from Krypton but he has to look like Mitt Romney's son."
Watch the segment AFTER THE JUMP ...
Necessary Roughness follows the players of a fictional football team. Brooks stars as the flamboyant wide receiver Terrence "TK" King—fighting an addiction to pain killers and having trouble coping with his quarterback's decision to come out as gay.
Brooks shares his thoughts on homophobia in professional sports in an interview with Andrew Davis at the Windy City Times. Brooks believes that an openly gay player in the big four—football, baseball, basketball and hockey—is "going to happen" soon.
As this country evolves, we become more liberal. ... We're going to see a few things we haven't seen before. We have a Black president who was re-elected to a second term. So I think a watershed moment in sports is going to happen—if not this year, then next. I happen to know quite a few NFL players, and they are pretty open in the locker room about the guys who are gay. They're out to their teammates, but not publicly.
I think that stigma is going away. Let me put it this way, man: It 10 times worse to be homophobic than gay, it's 10 times worse to be racist than a minority, it's 10 times worse to be sexist than it is to be a woman. Eventually, those of us who are living our truth have to be brave and speak up, and the people who would try to diminish that need to be ostracized. It's not OK to be homophobic, racist or sexist. We're past that. You want to live like that? Go somewhere else.
Watch Mehcad Brooks' HuffPost Live segment AFTER THE JUMP ...
The quarterback's decision to come out of the closet becomes the second season's two-episode finale. After Elton's Jim Halterman interviews Travis Smith, the actor who plays the gay footballer, as well as series creators Liz Kruger and Craig Shapiro.
A footnote to the discussion: You may recall that I interviewed former NFL player Wade Davis and former basketball players DeMarco Majors and Will Sheridan on "Coming Out in the Locker Room" for the new-ish anthology For Colored Boys Who Have Considered Suicide When The Rainbow Is Still Not Enough. On January 30, the anthology won the American Library Association's Stonewall Book Award-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award.
You May Have Missed:
Wade Davis at The LA Times and The Daily Beast
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PHOTOS: Mehcad Brooks, Kellan Lutz, Bulge for CK Elements
Mehcad Brooks Squeezes Into Swimwear for GQ
Mehcad Brooks and Hidetoshi Nakata are "Cut" and Bulging
Mehcad Brooks Bulges for Calvin Klein
First Look: Mehcad Brooks for Calvin Klein Underwear
Mehcad Brooks' Abs and Pecs for Macy's Passport
Mehcad Brooks' Muscles Bulging on "True Blood"
Mehcad Brooks Bare Butt on "True Blood"
Mehcad Brooks Remains Shirtless on "True Blood"
Mehcad Brooks Strips Down and Goes Shirtless on "Dollhouse"
Ok, I'm gonna be sure to go back and watch this segment. Mr. Brooks has been on my hot fantasy list since desperate housewives. I'm more than pleased to see more and more young heterosexual Black men taking a stand against homophobia.
I just hope many of them are doing it for the right reasons, and not just to look progressive for their careers.
On another note: Has Dr. Lamont Hill ever spoke publicly about his sexuality? I've always been curious about Mr. Hill.
Posted by: Black Pegasus | 16 February 2013 at 18:58
Why is this man still single? He must be waiting for you Rod!
Posted by: reggieh | 19 February 2013 at 18:31
Bro was so sexy in True Blood! Sigh!
Posted by: iban4yesu | 21 February 2013 at 11:06