"I Hate Gay People"

The friendliest place on the web for anyone that follows U2.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.

Headache in a Suitcase

Site Team
Staff member
Joined
Jul 16, 2000
Messages
75,652
Location
With the other morally corrupt bootlicking rubes.
Amaechi says Hardaway comments show need for more talk about gays in sports

By MELISSA MURPHY, AP Sports Writer
February 15, 2007

Former NBA center John Amaechi, who disclosed last week he's gay, said anti-gay comments by another retired player "demonstrate the need to continue the conversation."

Retired Miami Heat guard Tim Hardaway said on a radio show Wednesday that he hates gay people, then later apologized for his remarks.

"I don't need Tim's comments to realize there's a problem," Amaechi told The Associated Press in a phone interview Thursday. "People said that I should just shut up and go away -- now they have to rethink that."

Hardaway's comments were sparked by Amaechi's disclosure he's gay.

"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people," Hardaway said while a guest on Sports Talk 790 The Ticket in Miami. "I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."

The host asked Hardaway how he would interact with a gay teammate.

"First of all, I wouldn't want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because, uh, I don't think that is right. I don't think he should be in the locker room while we are in the locker room."

If he did find out that a teammate was gay, Hardaway said he would ask for the player to be removed from the team.

"Something has to give," Hardaway said. "If you have 12 other ballplayers in your locker room that's upset and can't concentrate and always worried about him in the locker room or on the court or whatever, it's going to be hard for your teammates to win and accept him as a teammate."

Amaechi also detailed his life, in his autobiography "Man in the Middle," which was released Wednesday. He hoped his coming out would be a catalyst for intelligent discourse.

"His words pollute the atmosphere," Amaechi said. "It creates an atmosphere that allows young gays and lesbians to be harassed in school, creates an atmosphere where in 33 states you can lose your job, and where anti-gay and lesbian issues are used for political gain. It's an atmosphere that hurts all of us, not just gay people."

Hardaway later apologized for the remarks during a telephone interview with Fox affiliate WSVN in Miami.

"Yes, I regret it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said I hate gay people or anything like that," he said. "That was my mistake."

Hardaway has reportedly been removed from further league-related appearances.

"It is inappropriate for him to be representing us given the disparity between his views and ours," NBA commissioner David Stern said in a statement to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

"Famously, they're saying in 2007 that homophobia is not an issue," Amaechi said. "While (Hardaway) is not a representative of the NBA or of straight men, there's no point pretending it's not an opinion that is out there."
 
I suppose you're right. Tim Hardaway is an absolute fool. I can't believe that he didn't realize that his comments would cause him to get fired from the job he was doing with the NBA. Of course he apologized for what he said because he lost his job and any credibility as a result.
 
his comments are much much more than just about him getting fired... this, along with amechi's book, brings up the very touchey subject (why it is, i do not know) of male gay athletes involved in team sports.

if anything, hardaway's comments confirm what amechi has said... that we're a long long ways away from any sort of equality.
 
True, but you and I already knew that. I guess the Bottom Line is that no player in the NHL, NBA, NFL or MLB will ever admit they're gay while still playing. Sad, but true.
 
''I'm actually tempted to laugh,'' Amaechi said Wednesday. ``Finally, someone who is honest. It is ridiculous, absurd, petty, bigoted and shows a lack of empathy that is gargantuan and unfathomable. But it is honest. And it illustrates the problem better than any of the fuzzy language other people have used so far.''

You've heard the fuzzy language. LeBron James said he'd have trouble trusting a gay teammate. Wide receiver Andre Johnson said he wouldn't want to share a shower with a gay teammate. The 76ers' Shavlik Randolph said he'd be fine as long as said player ''didn't bring your gayness on me.'' Hardaway, always blunt, turned mere discomfort into transparent hate, talking in a way that was shocking to hear. And now you know why Amaechi is the first in the history of his sport -- that's a lot of players, folks -- to announce he is gay.
 
It clearly is about more than Hardaway actually saying the words, but, I'm just astounded, regularly, about how stupid people are. Hardaway being a homophobe, ridiculous and sad as it is to me, does not shock or surprise me. It bothers me greatly, but, there is no shock that he feels as such. The shock for me, always, with things like this, is that these people are stupid enough to come out and say this is how they feel. How dumb can you be? You gain nothing, you stand to lose everything. Just keep your fucking mouth shut.

I agree with Headache. Despite the shitty climate for a pro athlete outing themselves, we're creeping up on it. Someone, sooner than later, is just not gonna give a shit about the fallout.
 
The only way anyone will care is if a player like Michael Jordon said they were gay while they were still playing. Jackie broke the color barrier 60 years ago, but other minorities like gay people are still given the shaft.
I guess to be crude for a moment, what these players need to know is that a gay person isn't going to try to fuck them while they're changing or taking a shower.
 
Plus, aren't most professional athletes stupid? I mean they don't get ahead for being able to think, it's all about their physicality. Which leads them to a lot of fighting, raping, and apparently, fear of gay men.
 
it doesn't have to be someone as big as michael jordan... based on stats alone jackie robinson is not even close to the top 20 greatest baseball players of all time... but on influence, he's probably #1.

it needs to be someone who is a very good player, near all star level, charasmatic, classy, underspoken.... the same way jackie robinson was.

no one would have blamed jackie robinson for flipping out on some of the people he had to deal with when he first broke the color barrier, but it would have set the whole process back at least a good 10 years. it's why they picked jackie robinson and not josh gibson, who was vastly more talented than jackie, but was much more tempermental.

it's sad that we even need to discuss this, but unfortunatly we do.
 
MissMoo said:
Plus, aren't most professional athletes stupid? I mean they don't get ahead for being able to think, it's all about their physicality. Which leads them to a lot of fighting, raping, and apparently, fear of gay men.

that comment is almost as stupid as tim hardaway's, if not just as stupid.

are you serious? i mean really... are you? what are you doing but stereotyping a group of people?
 
I can't remember, but didn't Dennis Rodman say he was bisexual when he was still playing? Perhaps my memory escapes me, but I don't recall that being such a huge controversy. Then again, Dennis Rodman did a lot of things...so maybe the media just couldn't keep up with him?
 
Maybe
professional sports should just have a policy that says a player should not discuss his sexual attraction to members of the same sex and also
they should not inquire about other sports-person's attraction to their same sex.

That seems very reasonable,
just don't push/share odd behavior with the rest of us.
 
redhotswami said:
I can't remember, but didn't Dennis Rodman say he was bisexual when he was still playing? Perhaps my memory escapes me, but I don't recall that being such a huge controversy. Then again, Dennis Rodman did a lot of things...so maybe the media just couldn't keep up with him?

he did, but it wasn't really a topic of discussion 'cause no one really took denis rodman seriously... for good reason. most things he said/did were simply to draw attention to himself.
 
MissMoo said:
Plus, aren't most professional athletes stupid? I mean they don't get ahead for being able to think, it's all about their physicality. Which leads them to a lot of fighting, raping, and apparently, fear of gay men.

are you serious? is there a term for this...maybe athletephobe?
 
Tim Hardaway is a nasty bigot, and should be called by no other way.

I think there should be a re-evaluation of why it is that straight men in general react in such ridiculous ways when dealing with homosexual men. Women are not like that at all - I've never heard a woman saying similar things about lesbian classmates, teammates, colleagues, etc.

So to me, this isn't necessarily a male athlete issue; a lot of it is a heterosexual male issue.
 
deep said:
Maybe
professional sports should just have a policy that says a player should not discuss his sexual attraction to members of the same sex and also
they should not inquire about other sports-person's attraction to their same sex.

That seems very reasonable,
just don't push/share odd behavior with the rest of us.

i can't remember who said it (apparently i can't remember a lot of things lately) but i think in an interview last week someone (perhaps Labron James?) said it was more of a don't ask don't tell policy like that of the military.
 
Headache, I do believe it has to be someone like Jordan. Take Magic Johnson for example. Magic came forward and said he had HIV and guys like Karl Malone came forward and stated they were uncomfortable playing with Magic. Malone's ignorance of the disease illustrated the way alot of NBA players felt at the time. I think if anyone comes out in pro team sports, they're going to have to be a superstar like Jordan. This way, their game would've been already well respected and sexual orientation clearly was not a hindrance on their play or dominance. Remember, the majority of pro athletes are ignoramuses.
 
MrPryck2U said:
Headache, I do believe it has to be someone like Jordan. Take Magic Johnson for example. Magic came forward and said he had HIV and guys like Karl Malone came forward and stated they were uncomfortable playing with Magic. Malone's ignorance of the disease illustrated the way alot of NBA players felt at the time. I think if anyone comes out in pro team sports, they're going to have to be a superstar like Jordan. This way, their game would've been already well respected and sexual orientation clearly was not a hindrance on their play or dominance. Remember, the majority of pro athletes are ignoramuses.

a) completely different issue in a completely different time
b) i again take issue with the blatant labeling of athletes as stupid.
 
redhotswami said:


i can't remember who said it (apparently i can't remember a lot of things lately) but i think in an interview last week someone (perhaps Labron James?) said it was more of a don't ask don't tell policy like that of the military.


the armed services were one of the first institutions to desegregated

the government did the right thing then
and set the right example, then.
 
Headache in a Suitcase said:


a) completely different issue in a completely different time


is there no relation?

there is a lot of ignorance

many assume gay person / high HIV risk factor
 
anitram said:
Tim Hardaway is a nasty bigot, and should be called by no other way.

I think there should be a re-evaluation of why it is that straight men in general react in such ridiculous ways when dealing with homosexual men. Women are not like that at all - I've never heard a woman saying similar things about lesbian classmates, teammates, colleagues, etc.

So to me, this isn't necessarily a male athlete issue; a lot of it is a heterosexual male issue.

Maybe you should go out and take a poll and interview heterosexual men and find out.
 
deep said:


is there no relation?

there is a lot of ignorance

many assume gay person / high HIV risk factor

the relation is in that both issues are based around ignorance.

karl malone speaking out about magic johnson playing in the nba was over malone's ignorance that he might catch the virus from physical contact.

tim hardaway speaking out about gays isn't based around the thought that he might catch gayness.

or maybe it is... which of course leads us to that old issue of those who seem to be the most homophobic tend to be hiding something themselves.
 
Back
Top Bottom