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Are Black Male Celebs and Athletes More Homophobic?

PHOTO: GETTY

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs said that he would "absolutely not" have an issue with a gay teammate ... but you may not have heard this or other recent pro-gay statements made by several Black athletes and celebrities. My latest for The Black AIDS Institute: "Black Male Celebs and Homophobia: One Stereotype, Yet Many Perspective"

The perception of pervasive homophobia within the Black community, especially among Black men, has evolved into a media narrative. Yet while Chris Culliver's remarks created a firestorm, other Black athletes and entertainers made pro-gay statements around the same time frame that received nowhere near the amount of attention as Culliver's comments. Those comments paint a more nuanced story about homophobia among prominent Black men, as well as within Black America.

Read it HERE.

Mehcad Brooks: "It's Not OK to Be Homophobic, Racist or Sexist"

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 ...

VIDEO: FOX News Slams Mehcad Brooks' Pro-Choice PSA

Mehcad Brooks has lent his star power and "seductive" talents to raise awareness on the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade. The Necessary Roughness hotness is featured in a new video produced by the Center for Reproductive Rights ... holding a rose, talking to the camera as if he were addressing a lover on their "anniversary" and calling her "baby".

"An anniversary like this is not something you forget," said the actor in reference to the landmark 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion.

FOX News—predictably—is not pleased with Brooks or the pro-choice spot.FOX News' The Five devoted a segment to the video. "If you are pro-life, or if you’re pro-choice, I think everybody can agree there is something tasteless about this ad," said Andrea Tantaros. "It seems to glorify and sexualize abortion. I don’t think one woman out there celebrates the anniversary of her abortion."

The video does come across as a little cheesy. But if it gets people talking and organizing around reproductive justice, so be it. Also: Love the fact that Mehcad uses his sex appeal to encourage a woman's right to choose, gay rights and marriage equality.

Watch the PSA and the news clip AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: Mehcad Brooks Goes Shirtless for State Farm

A conveniently shirtless Mehcad Brooks, plus ample abs, pecs ...

And Selita Ebanks' clevage, star in this rofl State Farm  commercial that debuted on Thanksgiving. Watch the spot AFTER THE JUMP ...

NEWS: Mehcad Brooks, Kanye West, Memphis, Iraq, R.I.P. Pontiac

Study: 1 in 10 sexually active teens have same sex partners.

Kanye West goes full frontal (nsfw)?

  MetroWeekly and the Blade analyze crucial Senate races.

NYC to restore $1M of the $1.88M cut from housing programs for HIV-positive NYers.

Mehcad Brooks shares the secret of his hot bod: "I have a great sex life!"

For the second time this year, the Memphis City Council will debate anti-discrimination protections for gay and lesbian municipal employees. In July, Councilwoman Janis Fullilove received four death threats after sponsoring the proposal. The bill was later withdrawn due to non-support.

MTV's Jersey Shore mocks trans women.

Apple pulls hateful and transphobic  "PeekABooTranny" app.

Field Poll: Barbara Boxer leads Carly Fiorina by 8 points in California Senate race.

  Chicago: Common to campaign with Obama on Saturday.

Dallas County, TX ballot includes two gay men and one Black lesbian—Tonya Parker, candidate for judge.

  Report: Pentagon knew of Iraqi anti-gay murders more than a year before they were reported.

After 84 years, GM's once iconic Pontiac brand will "endure a lonely death on Sunday after about 40 million in sales. Its biggest triumph was the GTO ... in violation of a G.M. policy dictating the maximum size of a car’s engine. The GTO was a hit, and the age of the muscle car had begun. For most of the 1960s, Pontiac ranked third in sales behind Chevy and Ford — a position now held by Toyota. But in the decades since, Pontiac’s edge and high-powered image wore off. By early 2009, Pontiac had fallen to 12th place in the United States market, and its top-selling model was the G6, a sedan commonly found on car-rental lots."

PHOTOS: Mehcad Brooks, Kellan Lutz, Hidetoshi Nakata & Fernando Verdasco Bulge for CK's X Elements

Undoubtedly you remember Mehcad Brooks' first, second and third rounds of ab- and bulge-worthy underwear adverts for Calvin Klein. Brooks, Kellan Lutz, Fernando Verdasco, and Hidetoshi Nakata return in a new campaign for CK's Elements brand, more bulging briefs AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: Mehcad Brooks Talks "Eggs" and "True Blood" at TCA

Over the weekend, Mehcad Brooks appeared at the summer 2010 Television Critics Association Summer Sessions. Several reporters asked the actor about his pivotal role as "Eggs" on True Blood ... and he didn't have much to say. "I had a good run on True Blood. It was an incredible experience. It was therapeutic .. but everyone has their time to go," Brooks told reporters.

Not too surprising, considering Brooks was at the TCA in support of his new role on ABC's My Generation. Watch it AFTER THE JUMP ...

FIRST LOOK: Mehcad Brooks Squeezes Into Swimwear for GQ

Unfortunately no Speedos or square cut shorts, but True Blood's Mehcad Brooks manages to squeeze his muscles into some fitted swim trunks in the July 2010 GQ. More WHEN YOU JUMP ...

HOT: Mehcad Brooks and Hidetoshi Nakata are "Cut" and Bulging

If it wasn't already obvious that the muscles of ridiculously hot Calvin Klein underwear models Mehcad Brooks and Hidetoshi Nakata are cut and bulging, the new full page ad campaign spotted in the April GQ is further proof that both men are indeed "cut". Huge scans of Fernando Verdasco and Kellan Lutz AFTER THE JUMP ...

WATCH: Mehcad Brooks, Kellan Lutz, Hidetoshi Nakata & Fernando Verdasco Want to "XXX" You

Yesterday they were fully clothed and today Calvin Klein's bulging underwear hunks want to "X". Watch the new teaser AFTER THE JUMP ...