"I will guarantee you if the ownership of whatever team is
thinking about bringing him back or thinking about trading for him - and they
go to the players on that team and they say 'how do you feel about an out,
active homosexual being in the same locker room sharing the same shower
facilities with you' they'd say 'no way. I don't want that. I don't want some
guy, a teammate eyeballin' me in the shower and my wife does not want
that." Bryan Fischer -
Focal Point - American Family
Association. (see full video below)
The
most celebrated cover in the history of Sports Illustrated, may not be for one
of its swim suit issues. It may, in fact, feature the most masculine and
courageous athlete of the year: in the current issue, Jason Collins of the
Washington Wizards (and formerly of the Boston Celtics) comes out as gay, becoming
the first openly gay player in a major American professional team sport.
The news hit the internet yesterday morning, and the response has been
positive, garnering a call from President Obama in support of the player and
his decision to come out of the closet. In fact, an avalanche of support from
celebrities and sports figures including Magic Johnson, John Amaechi and Chris
Kluwe came in tweets immediately.
Unfortunately, some condemning tweets chimed in as well. Note these by
Breitbarters:
Perhaps the most egregious response was that of ESPN sportscaster Chris
Broussard who said:
"If you're openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may
be, not just homosexuality, whatever it maybe, I believe that's walking in open
rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person
as a Christian because I don't think the bible would characterize them as a
Christian."
Unfortunately,
he said it to LZ Granderson who retorted: "I really don't need Chris or anyone
else telling me if I'm a Christian because Jesus tells me I am."
Granderson is gay. Oooops.
The exchange spawned a number of tweets with the hashtag #IStandWithChris. Most
of them were of the Fundamentalist variety, but some were downright NSFW in
their descriptive homophobia.
Whither NOM?
Among the responses, it is interesting to note that no one (as yet), has
mentioned the fact that Jason Collins stated he is both BLACK and gay. The (now)
infamous strategy by The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) strategy - to
"drive a wedge" between the black and gay communities - is rendered
ineffective - or irrelevant. It will be interesting to see NOM's response - if
any is forthcoming.
Left, Right and Center
In the past, the responses to Collins' statement could have been characterized
as Left (supportive), Right (Collins is sinful) and Center (really doesn't
matter). However, in today's increasingly polarized society, Center has almost faded
away. Social media like Twitter has shown us just how confrontational we have
gotten when it comes to issues like gay rights: the immediacy of support or
condemnation causes a huge rush to join whatever side you feel you are on. And
if you are silent on the issue, both sides take the silence as assent for the
other side.
In the end, perhaps, the most important outcome of Jason Collins' coming out
may be the responses ... and the amount of them: so far, the supportive
responses seem to outnumber the negative ones, which may cause a fierce
backlash by pundits weightier than Bryan Fischer. Rush Limbaugh will certainly
voice concern over the fact that Obama took it (too) seriously. Sounds of
dismay coming from the Family Research Council's Tony Perkins will certainly be
forthcoming, but will FOX News' Sean Hannity join the fray? Will Bill O'Reilly?
Will Glenn Beck find a conspiracy in there somewhere?
The coming days will be cause for reflection ... and amusement.
Thank you, Jason Collins.