I Didn't Say It......

Kobe Bryant, on his 'fucking fag' slur:

"Even though I didn't mean it that way, I've since learned what that word still means to a lot of people. I went on-line myself and I did my own research and I saw and I read about kids who were committing suicide because of being teased for who they are. I don't play that. I used to beat up a lot of kids even in high school who used to tease my friends because they were gay, or because they were black, or because they were Jewish, or because they were yellow, or because they were whatever. For people who don't think my apology is sincere, they don't know me. This isn't over for me. I really plan to do more. What I said was ignorant and I really didn't realize what I was saying. Now that I do and realize how it affects people I really plan to do more and to help with the awareness."

Wow, so you had gay friends in school and beat up people who called them gay and then you grew up and called someone a fag and, well, that's just how it is, and you're being sincere when you apologize?
Keep talking, Kobe, and keep digging yourself in deeper. But if you want this to end, try saying, "I'm sorry I said something reprehensible. I'm sorry I didn't think before I spoke. I'm sorry that when someone upsets me the first thing I think of is to call them a 'fag'"
Failing that, just say,"I'm sorry"and don't do it again. Ever.


Former NBA Player, and out gay man, John Amaechi on Kobe Bryant's anti-gay slur:

"I suppose that's the typical, "I apologize if you're offended" type of comment. I doubt very much when he said that that he thought Bennie was a pile of sticks. There's only one contemporary meaning for that. The problem we have now is because of the way we don't address homophobia, the ultimate insult to a man is to tell them either they're like a woman or worse, that they're gay. We have to take it as unacceptable as a white person screaming the N-word at a black person. … I can tell you that I've been called a f——- fairly routinely, and yet people seem to hold off on calling me the N-word. We've got to mirror that progress.

I'm not interested in seeing Kobe punished. What I'm interested in is if you're really sorry, that this is a one-off mistake for you, use the power you have to make a difference. That means a proper apology and doing something with his brand. Good Lord, he's got the power with one executive decision to get people moving and do something good here. Do something good.

I've said this before and I know people think it's hyperbole, but especially in America, people look at sports stars like their gods. I keep saying every time, "If sports stars are gods it's time we see a miracle every once in a while." This is an opportunity for that....what I would want is to encourage Kobe to use the power he has to really make an apology that means something. Tell black men, men in general in America, that resorting to that sort of language is the lowest of the low and is unacceptable. And it doesn't make you any more of a man. That's really the answer. Saying you didn't mean it is not the answer."

I can't add to this.
Amaechi said it all, and much better than I could.


Marilyn Davenport, Tea Party activist and Orange County GOP committee member, on being busted for emailing an offensive "joke" with the caption: "Now you know why there's no birth certificate"--sidenote: you will not see that offensive picture on this blog:

"Oh, come on! Everybody who knows me knows that I am not a racist. It was a joke. I have friends who are black. Besides, I only sent it to a few people–mostly people I didn’t think would be upset by it. You're not going to make a big deal about this are you? It's just an Internet joke."

Oh, I get it, Marilyn.
You have black friends so you can't be racist.
Like Kobe has gay friends but still says, 'fag'?
With friends like you the Black Community doesn't need enemies.
Racism isn't funny.
Stupidity isn't an excuse.
You are a moron.

Barney Frank, on Obama's stance on DOMA:

"There are lawsuits against it that I think will win anyway, because the federal government can’t discriminate. Beyond that I don’t see anything about gay marriage happening on a federal level. More and more states will go that way, though. When they do, people will see, as with health care and the repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell,” that there are no negative consequences. Places that have gay marriage have had none of the negative consequences that people warned us about. Zero. The divorce rate hasn’t gone up. There have been no calamities. Marriage hasn’t lost its meaning. Same-sex marriage as a divisive issue is losing its steam. Overall I think antigay prejudice is on its way out."

I'm not sure anti-gay prejudice will ever be all the way out.
Look at the racial prejudice many still feel toward the Black community, or even the Muslim community.
But I do see change, and I do see hope, and I do see more and more people understanding that my marriage, or any gay marriage, will have zero effect on their marriage.


Reese Witherspoon, on her 'disgusting'love scenes with Robert Pattinson:

"Rob possibly had the most hideous horrible cold of any co-star I've ever had to do a love scene with ever in my entire life ... He was literally snorting and snotting through every second of it -- and it was not appealing. I'm talking green, infectious, disgusting -- I'm not kidding! ... I'm going to say it's a little bit of a downer. I was a little disappointed. It wasn't sexy."

Quelle surprise.
Pattinson always looks, to me anyway, like an unwashed dog. so I can't imagine a love scene with him being sexy at all.


Robert Redford, on Sarah Palin's insinuation that higher education is elitist:

"Well....the country is made up of three categories. Traditionalists, cultural creative people and the moderns. The moderns are the hi-tech Silicon Valley people. The traditionalists on the lower end of it are the people who don't want change, they're afraid of change therefore they have anger. The fear card is a very big powerful card and when you have people afraid of change; they'll do anything to prevent it. They're doing it because they're limited, frightened of people who are not as limited. I think Sarah Palin, part of her strength is how limited she is."

Her strength is that a lot of limiuted, fearful people, think she has a clue as to what she's talking about, when clearly, she's an idiot.


Andrew Sullivan, on the long-awaited granting of his green card:

"I do not know right now what to do or say. Except to express my love and gratitude for my family and friends and husband who lived through this with me; and to those who helped lift the HIV ban; and to my lawyer who was simply magnificent; and to those who did what they could - and they know who they are - to keep this show on the road. "But I do know this. America remains the great dream, the great promise. For all its dysfunction, it remains an ideal, a place where the restlessness of the human mind and soul comes to rest in a place it constantly reinvents and forever re-imagines. I know this in my bones, perhaps more than many who take this amazing mess of a country for granted. But for the first time in my life, I do not feel somewhere in my psyche that I am displaced, unwelcome, an impostor."

Now, if we can allow gay couples, binatinal gay couples, to be treated as equally as straight binational couples, we will be headed in the right direction.

Sarah Palin, on how the media is treating Donald Trump unfairly:

"They are hammering him about the one issue that he has brought up and not been shy about and that's the birth certificate. He's merely answering reporter's questions about his view on the birth certificate and then reporters turn that around and saying that's all he's got! He's only running on a birth certificate issue when that's not the case...Donald Trump is running on the issue, bottom line, that Obama is so far over his head."

Um, Obama is in over his head?
How so, Grizzly Bore? I mean, do you have any solid evidence, or is the only thing you're grasping at Donald Trump's weave? If Trump had anything else to offer, then you know he'd be talking about that.
He's one-note, you're less than that. Seriously, when you pander to someone who is pandering to morons, what does that say about you?

Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, on LGBT rights:

"I'm proud to be with you, to stand with you and pledge we will continue to work to fulfill the aspirations of Minnesotans and Americans who want the same rights, freedoms, opportunity, respect, dignity and legal protections and legal opportunities as every other one of their fellow citizens which the founding principal of this country."

Well, this must surely count as big news coming from the governor of Minesota, home of Tom Emmer and Target.
Hopefully the people of the state will follow and cheer their governor, rather than travel into homophobia and bigotry with Emmer and Target.

Ted Nugent, has-been rock star, and right-wing-nut, on Kobe's slur:

"If the NBA had any true gay convictions, the NBA should host a Homosexual Night. During halftime, the homosexuals could come down on the court, hold hands and prance around the court to music by the Village People. The NBA could then give each homosexual a pink basketball as a symbol of solidarity. Like other professional athletes, numerous NBA players have done all kinds of things on and off the court that do not cast a positive light on themselves or the NBA, but they have not been fined $100,000 by the league. Homosexuals are a protected class in America. If you think what happened to Mr. Bryant was a travesty, just wait until you see what homosexuals in the military do when they claim they have been mistreated because of their sexual orientation."

Wow, I'm a protected class in America?
I guess no one told me. Or America.
See, I, um, can't get married, save for a few states. In many places I can be fired, denied housing, unable to adopt a child, simply for who I am. I can get beaten just by walking down the street because of who I am.
And it's okay to call me names on TV. It's okay to make fun of me for sport. It's okay to use a derogatory term about me as an insult, because I'm protected.
What I need is protection from asshats like Nugent.

Chely Wright, on being snubbed by country music since she came out--except for people like Faith Hill and Brad Paisley:

"My first performance on the Grand Ole Opry was in 1989, and I was kind of an Opry darling. I'd be called to perform at least every 10 weeks, until my coming out. Since then, I've not heard a peep."

I'm sure the good ole folks at the Opry have their own version of the story, of why Chely Wright has not been asked to perform there in well over a year.
But, when she was asked to perfrom about five or six times a year, for about twenty years, and then is met with silence shortly after she said she was a lesbain, well.....
Shame on the Grand Ole Opry.

This Is How You Battle Homophobia In Sports

Here in America we have Kobe Bryant, adored by millions, calling a referee a 'fag' because he didn't like the call. And we have many basketball fans asking, 'What the big deal? The ref is a fag.'

We ought to try something new. Something like, say, they do in Brazil.

Santos and the team libero

In Brazil, volleyball player Michael Santos, a a middle blocker from Team Vôlei Futuro, was playing in s semifinal match between against Sada Cruzeiro when fans began chanting homophobic slurs towards him. They were screaming “Bicha! Bicha! Bicha!” which means “faggot” in English.

At the time, Santos called the incident very traumatic and feared the same thing might happen again. He said he tried pretending he couldn't hear the taunts, but he could.

And he could have shouted back, and called them names, but after the game, when his own teammates checked to make sure he was okay, Michael Santos decided shouting back and swearing at the fans wasn't what was needed.

Instead, he stared then straight in the face and admitted that, yes, he is a gay man. “I’m gay. Everyone knows who I am. My team fully respects my sexuality. I have been playing for 10 years and everyone has treated me well and fair. I do not feel the need to let everyone know about my sexuality.”

Fast forward to the next semi-final match, and see how quickly fans and Santos' teammates responded to the issue. His team wore pink warm-up shirts to show support, and the team’s libero--the team's defensive player--donned a rainbow jersey during the match.

Not to be outdone, the crowd unfurled a gigantic banner reading Vôlei Futuro Against Prejudice…

And then began waving pink thundersticks emblazoned with Michael’s name to turn the stadium pink.

In support of a gay player.
Not as a joke or an insult,
Kobe Bryant could learn a lesson.
Oh yeah, Michael Santos and Team Vôlei Futuro won that match.

source

Just a Thought: Sticks and Stones, Kobe and Bret, Sticks and Stones

Joshua Esskew stopped at a local convenience store to use the bathroom and maybe get a soda. instead, he was brutally attacked because he's gay.

As he walked into the store last Saturday night in Rock Hill, South Carolina--not all that far from Smnallville-someone called him 'faggot.' Esskew turned and asked, "What was that you said?" and then he was hit in the head with a 40-oz beer bottle.

Bad enough, right? Stopping to get a soda, being called a fag and getting a bottle thrown at you. Bad enough, right?

Surveillance video from the store caught at least eight people, who were pumping gas or doing laundry next door to the gas station, rush into the parking lot and join in the beating of Joshua Esskew. Eight people, in all, all strangers, beat a man. But, hey, he's gay.

'Fucking faggot' stepped in a 'puddle of HIV'. Right, Kobe? Right Bret?

Okay, so maybe Kobe Bryant didn't actually throw a punch at Esskew, and maybe he didn't even join the fray beating the man so badly that he spent two days in the hospital, but Kobe Bryant, and anyone else who uses any kind of gay slur, bears some responsibility.

When you mutter, utter, shout, or even mouth, the words, 'faggot', especially when you are an idolized athlete, you are telling people it's okay to hate. It's okay to bash someone in the head with a bottle. It's okay to join a fight because it's just a gay guy.

And perhaps Bret Easton Ellis wasn't in Rock Hill over the weekend, but his homophobic, self-loathing, anti-gay Tweets just might have helped those men throw punches at Esskew.

Kobe Bryant  and Bret Easton Ellis weren't actually in on the fight, but Kobe's easy use of the word 'faggot'as a derogatory term, and Ellis'tauints about gay shows and HIV, helped  to throw the first bottle. 

And because it's accepted by some to call people 'faggot'as a dirty word, or make fun of people with HIV, that South Carolina remains in the dark ages. See, even though Esskew was obviously beaten because he's gay--or at least the attackers suspected he was gay--South Carolina has no Hate Crimes laws.

It's okay to beat gays here, I guess, and it's okay for over-paid arrogant athletes to call us 'faggots' on television, and for has-been authors to Tweet homophobia. And until that stops, and isn't laughed at, or made light of, gay people will still get beaten just for being ourselves.

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Kobe Bryant Is A F$&%ing Moron...Oops, Sorry You Felt Offended Kobe

This is a professional?
This is how professionals act?
Or is this how children, who don't know better, act?
Or, is this how super-spoiled, overpaid, children dressing up as adults act?
Yes.
Kobe Bryant can suck it. He didn't like a call, didn't like a getting his fourth foul, so the ref is a 'fag'.

Here's what the Human Rights Commission had to say:

"What a disgrace for Kobe Bryant to use such horribly offensive and distasteful language, especially when millions of people are watching. Hopefully Mr. Bryant will recognize that as a person with such fame and influence, the use of such language not only offends millions of LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender] people around the world, but also perpetuates a culture of discrimination and hate that all of us, most notably Mr. Bryant, should be working to eradicate."

Here's what Kobe had to say, not publicly, but in a statement his 'people' probably made him release:

“What I said last night should not be taken literally. My actions were out of frustration during the heat of the game, period. The words expressed do NOT reflect my feelings towards the gay and lesbian communities and were NOT meant to offend anyone.”

Here's what NBA Commissioner David Stern had to say:

“Kobe Bryant’s comment during last night’s game was offensive and inexcusable. While I’m fully aware that basketball is an emotional game, such a distasteful term should never be tolerated. Accordingly, I have fined Kobe $100,000. Kobe and everyone associated with the NBA know that insensitive or derogatory comments are not acceptable and have no place in our game or society.”

Here's what Ben Cohen had to say:

“It is disappointing to see this. As a professional athlete and rugby World Cup champion, I understand the heat and passion of competition at the highest levels. But we must all remember that strong bodies must be balanced with strong characters, and work toward that end. Our positions as role models demand it.”

Here's what I have to say:

"Grow up, Kobe. Using the word 'fag' in a derogatory sense is not okay. And apologizing IF you offended someone? How about saying 'I'm sorry I offended anyone. I'm sorry I can't pick my words better. I'm sorry I acted like a petulant child and began name-calling because I was upset.'

How about being a man and acting like a man, and a human being?  How about understanding that children, and adults, look up to you, and admire you and choose, at times, to emulate you, even when you act the fool?

Failing that, how about shutting the fuck up.

Sorry if I offended you."