Daddyhunt Blog Posts from May 2013

MR. Anton Krasovsky is this week's Real Man We Admire.

What happens when the person reporting the news becomes the headline himself? Ask Anton Krasovsky, this week’s Real Man We Admire. The Russian political journalist and television personality shocked audiences earlier this year when he came out live on air, risking his career (and, arguably, his life) in the process.

In a scene straight out of the classic film “Network,” the 39-year-old former head of Russia’s government-sponsored Kontr TV network, ended his broadcast by saying, “I’m gay, and I’m just the same person as you, my dear audience, as president Putin, as prime minister Medvedev, and deputies of our Duma.” He was fired the next day.

Krasovsky’s surprise statement was brave by any standard, but even more so when you consider Russia’s notoriously oppressive stance on homosexuality. While being gay is not technically illegal, the government recently passed a series of laws against distributing “homosexual propaganda,” enacted a ban on adoptions by same-sex couples, and barred gay pride parades from ever taking place in Moscow well into the next century. Anti-gay violence, including murder, also appears to be on the rise.

So what made Krasovsky put it all on the line? Much like fictional newsman Howard Beale, he was...

MR. Tuc Watkins is this week's Real Man We Admire.

We’re not the only ones saying “Hold me, Daddy!” when we stare into the eyes of this week’s Real Man We Admire, soap star Tuc Watkins. So do his newborn twin sons!

In a case of life imitating art, the proud new papa—who played one half of a gay couple trying to adopt a baby on the hit series “Desperate Housewives”—revealed last month during a TV interview that he became a single dad with the help of a surrogate. But that wasn’t the only bundle of joy he delivered to his fans during the broadcast. He also announced publicly for the first time that he’s gay.

Watkins now joins an ever-growing list of gay men—which includes Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka, Ricky Martin, Dan Savage, and Perez Hilton—who are making the leap into fatherhood and helping to redefine the definition of what the all-American family looks like.

“I think a lot of people at some point in their lives think 'Am I going to be a parent, do I want to be a parent?'" Watkins said in the interview. "And when I was young, I knew three things: I knew I was gay, I knew one day I was gonna be a dad, and I knew that Gene Wilder's “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” was going to be the best movie of all time. So far, I’ve been right about all three.”’

With two new mouths to feed, it’s a good thing...

MR. Gus Johnston is this week's Real Man We Admire.

It’s been nearly two weeks since pro basketball player Jason Collins came out of the closet and became the first active player on a major American sports team to be openly gay, and we’re still double dribbling with pride over his history-making revelation. The times, they are a changing! While Collins might be the most high-profile sports figure to go public about his sexuality, we can’t help but think about another sportsman whose coming out story might not have made international headlines but was no less inspiring: this week’s Real Man We Admire, Gus Johnston.

This ginger-bearded Australian field hockey player scored big with sports fans Down Under in late 2011 when he posted an emotional 12-minute video on YouTube in which he outed himself as gay and gave an honest and open assessment of the complex relationship between homophobia and sports. In the film, titled 'The Reality of Homophobia In Sport," the ginger-bearded goalkeeper looked directly into the camera and announced, ''My name is Gus Johnston, I'm a writer, art director, filmmaker, and a hockey goalkeeper, and I'm also a gay man.”

While field hockey isn’t as high-profile as American basketball and certainly not the most popular sport in Australia (that would be cricket), Johnston’s story was still an important one. Up until that point, only three Australian male athletes had ever come out (another being Olympic...

I’m all about giving people a chance. Things happen, people have off days, and I guess at the very core of it, I believe that people are inherently good. But at a certain point, no matter how badly you want something to work, you’ve got to put you first. How many times have you given someone you're dating a pass or two when they’ve done something you don’t agree with? Whether it’s calling you back, blowing off plans, or even cheating on you, there are a lot of red flags that we all seem to easily forgive. Once forgiven, it sends a pretty clear message that it’s acceptable behavior and that there’s a lack of respect that will ultimately play a larger role in the relationship. Now I’m talking about the very minor to the very major when it comes to the types of things that we’re all willing to accept, but they all yield similar results.

A friend of mine recently showed up for a date in which the man he was seeing showed up with two unexpected friends. But instead of staying and being part of a date night that was not what he had in mind, he simply told the guy that this wasn’t what he envisioned and that he was going to head home. My initial response was that my friend overreacted and his actions were a little extreme. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized how it important it is to be clear about what you’re looking for, what you want, and what you’re willing to accept. And you know what? The guy called him later that night to apologize and realized that he wasn’t being very respectful of their original plans.

It’s no big secret that I’ve been...