Massachusetts Governor Patrick Signs Transgender Anti-Discrimination Bill Into Law, First Transgender Player In World Cup Of Soccer, Las Vegas Gay Clubs In Lawsuit Over Trademark, End Of American Military Policy Prohibiting Openly Gay Service Members Means New Era For Texas A&M Cadets, Director Davies Says Being Gay “Ruined My Life,” Tom Brady And Nannies Take Benjamin To Park, Channing Tatum Thanksgiving

An update on a previous post, Wednesday Governor Deval Patrick has signed a bill designed to protect transgender people from discrimination in Massachusetts, reports The Associated Press. Proponents said the new law protects transgender people from discrimination in the workplace and housing by adding "gender identity and expression" to the state’s civil rights laws. The measure won support from state lawmakers after advocates agreed to drop public accommodations language that opponents insisted would lead to a breakdown in privacy in rest rooms, locker rooms and other single-gender facilities. Critics claimed a partial victory, but some Massachusetts House Republicans still opposed the measure saying it could lead to a flurry of lawsuits and tie the hands of businesses if an employee suddenly began identifying as a member of the opposite sex, making customers uncomfortable. More than a dozen states have similar laws.

Jonny Saelua did not always envision herself as an international soccer player. What she really wanted to do was join a dance company and travel around the world just performing. “Anything modern, jazz, maybe a little bit of ballet,” said Saelua, a center back for American Samoa’s men’s team and a performing arts major at the University of Hawaii. But for now, Saelua is doing her dancing in cleats. On Tuesday, the 23-year-old Saelua played a key role in American Samoa’s 2-1 victory against Tonga in a 2014 World Cup qualifier. It was American Samoa’s first victory in international soccer, ending a 30-game losing streak in which it had been outscored by 229-12. And Saelua apparently became the first transgender player to compete on a World Cup stage, according to The New York Times. Saelua is part of the fa’afafine, biological males who identify themselves as a third sex in Polynesian culture. Fa’afafine means “to be a woman” in Samoan. According to 30-year-old Alex Su’a, who heads the Samoa Fa’afafine Society, there are 1,500 fa’afafine in Samoa and American Samoa. “To be fa’afafine you have to be Samoan, born a man, feel you are a woman, be sexually attracted to males and, importantly, proud to be called and labelled fa’afafine,” Su’a said. “The fa’afafine are culturally accepted,” he said. “They have a role in Samoan society. They are the caretakers of the elders because their brothers and sisters get married, but the fa’afafine traditionally don’t.” Saelua agreed: “In Samoa the fa’afafine are very reliable. We can do what the boys do and what the girls do.” In an immensely popular sport that is still encountering episodes of racism in any number of spots on the globe, it is noteworthy that Saelua has been easily accepted by her teammates. She began playing soccer at age 11, in private school. By age 14, she had risen to be an international player for American Samoa. “I read somewhere that it was a record when I was drafted into the national team,” Saelua said. “I was reserve the whole tournament and I had to leave because I was still in high school.” She added that the coach “ put me in for 10 minutes.” But she is now older, and integral to the team. “I just go out and play soccer as a soccer player,” Saelua said. “Not as transgender, not as a boy and not as a girl. Just as a soccer player.”

Also from The Associated Press, a number of gay Las Vegas nightclubs are in a trademark battle over a website domain. Manhattan West LLC filed a lawsuit Wednesday in federal court against the companies behind the popular Krave nightclub on the Las Vegas Strip. The lawsuit against Phantom Entertainment LLC and Krave Entertainment LLC alleges that those companies registered the website domain name piranhalv.com last year. The website redirects users to the Krave website. Manhattan West owns the Piranha Night Club and 8 1/2 Ultra Lounge off the Las Vegas Strip. Its website is piranhavegas.com. The lawsuit alleges that the Krave promoters are trying to steal Manhattan West's customers or suggest that the Piranha club is closed. Manhattan West alleges that it is suffering financially as a result because a large portion of its revenue depends on Internet marketing to new and current customers. Phantom has been involved in the Krave nightclub since last year, when it purchased all of Krave Entertainment's assets as Krave was going through bankruptcy proceedings. Roughly two months later, Phantom registered the pranhalv.com domain name in December. "Defendants' actions have disrupted or are intended to disrupt Plaintiff's business by, among other things, diverting web users away from Plaintiff's website and from their clubs to the Defendants' website and club," the lawsuit reads. Manhattan West is demanding monetary, exemplary or punitive damages and attorneys' fees. However, its lawyers estimate that "it would be impossible to determine the potential monetary damages" if Krave continues to maintain the website. The domain name directed visitors Friday to the Krave nightclub website, which promoted upcoming events and promotions such as "dress in drag & drink free" and "live hair shows."

For generations, any evidence that a member of the Corps of Cadets at Texas A&M University was gay while they were in military training was grounds for dismissal, reports The Los Angeles Times. Judge Phyllis Frye, who earlier this year became the first transgender municipal judge in Texas history, recalls a climate of intolerance prevailed in the Corps before she graduated in 1970. At the same time, she credits the Corps with preparing her for people’s reaction when she decided to transition to female in 1976. “I went through terrible discrimination,” Frye said. “My first two years in the Corps at A&M had steeled me to survive that.” But Frye and others say that attitudes on campus toward the LGBT community are changing. By the time Noel Freeman joined the Corps in 2000, transferring in from the U.S. Air Force Academy, Texas A&M had been taken to task for discriminating against gays. Students had sued the university in 1976 for refusing to recognize a gay student group and won the case on appeal in 1985, setting a nationwide precedent. When Freeman arrived on campus, he decided it was time to come out. After he told the Corps commandant, he was forced to leave the Air Force ROTC, but was allowed to remain in the Corps as the first openly gay cadet. Freeman recalls how tough it was to tell his unit. “It was actually more difficult to come out to my peers in the Corps than to my parents,” Freeman said. Some cadets stopped speaking to him. Some wouldn’t look at him. Others openly resented him. Freeman left the Corps the following semester. Then he realized the Corps was the main reason he had enrolled at A&M. He returned, and became a squadron commander. Now president of the Houston LGBT political caucus, Freeman remains a Corps supporter. When he married his partner in Washington last year, another former cadet was at his side. “People call the Corps backward and nothing but a bunch of white Christian men,” he said. “The reality is, the Corps has been progressive,” he added, especially compared to the nation's conservative military academies. The recent end of the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy allows openly gay cadets to remain in both the ROTC and the Corps. Retired Brigadier General Joe Ramirez, a former cadet who took over last year as commandant of the Corps, called overturning the policy “the right thing to do.” “I’m trying to increase or promote diversity in the Corps so we better reflect our state and nation,” Ramirez said. While some cadets may not like the new policy, he said, “In the Corps, you have a wide diversity of opinions and ideas about the world in general.”

In an interview with The Irish Times, director Terence Davies (Distant Voices, Still Lives, and the soon to be released The Deep Blue Sea) says that being gay ruined his life. “I hate it,” he adds. “I’ll go to my grave hating it. Which is why I have been celibate. One-night stands are not for me. I was not good looking. I did not have a good body. Nobody was interested when I was young. Now I am old. I am still not good looking. I know what I am. I will always loathe it. It has killed part of my soul.”

Tom Brady spotting biking to the park, while two nannies in tow walk with son Benjamin.

Channing Tatum and a wad of one-dollar bills, spotted Thanksgiving Thursday in Los Angeles alongside wife Jenna Dewan.