Gay patriot

No one had satisfactory answers about how much the government should be involved in dictating gay rights. Republicans and democrats took the position that the world would end if their preferred policies weren’t enacted. The GayPatriot blog is an independent, political and opinion-based log created by Bruce Carroll that is a forum focusing on gay conservative issues, themes, culture and ideas.

I do know that in banning Gay Patriot, Twitter deprived us–all of us, not just conservatives–of one of the wittiest and most sensible voices in our public life. The GayPatriot blog’s original mission morphed into a platform for gay conservative issues and served as a counterbalance to Andrew Sullivan (who went off the deep end) in the mids.

Thanks to Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit and the folks at PajamasMedia (now PJ Media), GayPatriot became a go-to mainstream conservative opinion blog. NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Confrontational gay blogger Bruce Carroll will decide over the next six weeks whether he will become one of the first out Republicans to run for statewide office in the South, he said Thursday.

Warning: This article contains references to suicide and mental health issues. The 6ft 7in, lb Californian had risen to the pinnacle of American sport, protecting legendary quarterback Tom Brady on the pitch, and enjoying all the trappings of fame away from it. It worked, for almost 30 years. O'Callaghan was being picked out as a name to watch before he was drafted by the Patriots in Born in , O'Callaghan's football journey began in high school, where the Californian's natural size and strength meant coaches were eyeing him up as a potential standout player from an early age.

Success at that level led to a four-year stint at the University of California, where O'Callaghan earned the Morris Trophy as one of the Pac Conference's top offensive linesmen - and by the time of the NFL Draft in , experts were picking him out as one of the names to watch. Then aged 23, he was selected by the New England Patriots in the fifth round, and so joined one of sport's most storied franchises.

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But while, to an outsider, O'Callaghan was on a seemingly pre-ordained journey to the big time, the Californian knew the only reason he was playing at all was to hide the fact he was gay. At a young age, he'd taken a conscious decision to find the 'straightest' thing he could think of - being an NFL star - and then become it to deflect questions about his own sexuality. It didn't matter that he didn't like the game.

To O'Callaghan, football was more than just a sport. It was a shield. Once on the roster at the Patriots, O'Callaghan was thrown in at the deep end. Still a rookie, he was tasked with playing in front of Brady - one of the greatest to step on to the gridiron. But as O'Callaghan's playing career went from strength to strength, the stress of concealing his sexuality was taking a serious toll.

I never once did anything with another guy when I was playing football so there was never anyone who could out me, but I was always paranoid that somehow, someone would find out. I wasn't trying to make the team to make money - although that was nice and I needed that to survive. It was to stay closeted, that was my whole mindset. O'Callaghan moved to the Kansas City Chiefs in As the seasons racked up, O'Callaghan's pain increased.

The grind of elite-level football, first in college and then the NFL, left the Californian with shoulder and groin injuries he couldn't shake. And haunting him at every turn was the fear that he'd be outed. I was just so consumed in the negative, I never gave myself a chance to think about whether my family, my friends would accept me. So O'Callaghan - who had now moved to the Kansas City Chiefs - started taking painkillers, hoping to numb the impact of his physical injuries, but also wishing for something more.

I was very lucky I didn't overdose, but back then, I didn't care. That would have been the easy way out. That trainer recommended O'Callaghan speak with Dr Susan Wilson - a witty, fast-talking clinical psychologist who, in many ways, was the polar opposite of the Californian. Years of hiding who he was had persuaded O'Callaghan that he'd be able to fool her as well.

But as the strain of concealing his sexuality pushed his mental health to breaking point, O'Callaghan realised he had to let her in. And I'm thankful for her words and helping me come up with a plan. Slowly, O'Callaghan began to tell people his truth. He came out to his family and his close friends in , and then - after getting clean and putting his life back together - he shared his story publicly in