This week read about Joe Budden coming out as bisexual, influencers Megan and Whitney Bacon-Evans suing a fertility sector for discrimination, and Molly Cameron talking about her trans experience in sports.
Joe Budden Comes Out as Bisexual
Joe Budden, a media personality and a former rapper, has come out as bisexual on his podcast “The Joe Budden Podcast.”
Last week he said, “I’m bisexual. How do I spread this news? How do I spread the word? Yo, listen, I like guys and girls. Spread the word. I’m down.”
Critics are unsure if Budden is being serious due to the unceremonious nature of his coming out. However, he has continued to confirm his sexual identity in a tweet saying, “Ahhhhhhh, I see the word got out!! Continue to spread the word pls.”
While fans are still unsure if he is being serious, this has sparked a conversation of LGBT awareness in the Black hip hop community.
Lesbian Couple Launch Discrimination Action Against NHS
Whitney and Megan Bacon-Evans. Photo via Facebook.
Influencers Megan Bacon-Evans and her wife Whitney are launching a landmark legal test case against a branch of the NHS fertility sector in England, claiming it discriminates against LGBT families.
They have accused Frimley, their clinical commissioning group, of penalizing them financially because of their sexuality. The prominent couple, known for their thousands of followers on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok rose to fame in 2009 after appearing on Britain’s “Relationship Secrets” documentary and the U.S. show “Say Yes to the Dress.” They started a petition for equal treatment in November last year after being “shocked and devastated” at the barriers to starting their family under the current rules.
Frimley states that same-sex female couples must pay for 12 intrauterine insemination or IVF treatments to “prove” medical infertility, costing an estimated £30,000 or more, before receiving NHS help. While the case is just starting to form, both Megan and Whitney have raised over £10,000 to support legal fees and have the support of many LGBT organizations.
Molly Cameron Speaks Out on Trans Experience in Sports
Molly Cameron. Photo via Facebook.
Molly Cameron, a veteran bike racer, has been out as transgender for two decades. She has raced at high levels in both the men’s and women’s categories. Cameron recently won the Wafer edition of the Belgian Waffle Ride beating other prominent names in cycling.
“Two weekends ago I lost to the US women's Road national champ and this weekend @deceuninck_quickstepteam lost to me. You can talk all day long till yr red in the face about fairness in sport but witness the reality of #NewAmericanBikeRacing. A #transgenderwoman won both the women's and men's #BWR race last weekend and got second place in both the women's and men's race at @bigsugargravel. We out here working on making #bicycling more #inclusive and putting the #diversityandinclusion convos to action, come join the party it is pretty fun,” said Cameron in an Instagram post.
Cameron is also highlighting the work of the RIDE group, a program whose goal is to “bridge the gap between cycling business, sport, and LGBTQ+ communities.”
Cameron is the founder of this group.
“I am doing this work so those that come after me can simply be themselves without facing the discrimination that I dealt with over three decades in sport and business. Let me take the heat now so that others don’t have to,” said Cameron.
With over 20 years in the cycling arena, Cameron has no plans to retire anytime soon but hopes RIDE will help broaden the statistics of transgender cyclists.
Each week ‘Beyond the G’ looks at news featuring the many letters of our LGBTQIA+ spectrum.
