April 29, Jason Collins, a center for the Washington Wizards, became the first male athlete to come out while playing on a professional North American sports team. The response was overwhelmingly positive. Kobe Bryant, who had his own anti-gay kerfuffle with the NBA two years ago when he uttered ‘faggot’ at a referee, spoke out quickly and affirmingly calling what Jason did “brave” and asking that the league not only respect his decision but called on his peers “to support him and those that want to be themselves and be who they are, we should all support them.” Even President Obama lent his support that day at a press conference reminding everyone Jason can “still bang with Shaq [O’Neal].”
Immediately following, however, a series of personalities – anchors, current and ex-players – made statements or posted tweets that made it clear that not everyone supported his decision. ESPN sports anchor Chris Boussard, who has a well-documented history of sharing his Christian beliefs on the air, unapologetically declared on national television, ““I’m a Christian. I don’t agree with homosexuality. I think it’s a sin, as I think all sex outside of marriage between a man and a woman is.” (He later issued a statement that read, in part, “I believe Jason Collins displayed bravery with his announcement today and I have no objection to him or anyone else playing in the NBA.”)
But then Mike Wallace, a wide receiver for the Miami Dolphins, Tweeted, “I’m not bashing anybody don’t have anything against anybody I just don’t understand it,” followed by the more troubling, “All these beautiful women in the world and guys wanna mess with other guys…” The tweet was pulled, Wallace offered the standard non-apology apology (“deeply sorry if I offended anybody”) and the Dolphins issued a statement on inclusiveness, the need to respect others, etc.
But the Tweet that sent some over the edge was the bomb that Eric Williams, a former NBA player and reality star husband to Basketball Wives’ Jennifer Wiliams, who said, “I told u. Look @dis shit. #gay. #SportsIllustrated aint shit. Put that #image on the cover 4the world 2c. Assassinate #blackman character.”
While blowback from Jason’s decision was to be expected, perhaps not quite as vocally in a society where homophobia is quickly going into the closet rather than out in the open for all to see, others have expressed support for the less virulent strains of it. Robert Littal, the owner of BSO.com (Black Sports Online), defending Wallace for he saw as an innocuous question on the player’s behalf. “[Wallace] is going to get crushed for this, but it is ok to have an opinion. He didn’t say anything malicious, it was just a question. It is a question that a lot of men have, but are afraid to ask.” The subtext, which Littal fails to address, is that it’s okay to question a person’s essence and not be ridiculed for it.
On Broussard, the justification that Littal offered was even more troubling: “His job is to give his opinions, you don’t like his opinion, so what? No one forces you to watch ESPN. No one forces you to follow Broussard. No one is putting a gun to your head and saying you have to believe what he believes in. Can you disagree? Of course, I think he is 100% wrong, but am I am going to call him a name or attack him for his religious beliefs? That would make me a hypocrite and I don’t believe in hypocrisy. I want people to respect my beliefs and opinions, because I surely have a lot of them, so in turn I have to respect others.”
But that very same religiosity (which justified slavery for hundreds of years) is the door beyond which a whole host of prejudicial behavior lies. And as long as Littal & Co. see nothing wrong with the people-are-entitled-to-their-own-beliefs line of reasoning, Jason and those like him have a very long road ahead indeed.
Homosexuality is not deserving of the approbation of man. We can not overlook condemning those, who, through their own bad use of their faculties, are vicious to the good and perfection of the human system.
All members of society are interested in the due observance of the Laws of Nature, hence they have all a right to praise or condemn another man’s actions according as they are conformable or contrary to these laws. They have even a kind of obligation in this respect, lest men be wanting in their duty to society and to individuals, were they not to testify, at least by their approbation or censure, the esteem they have for probity and virtue, and their aversion, on the contrary, to iniquity and vice.
Many homosexuals and their supporters today are the vicious oppressors of liberty. They are the malevolent bigots driven by their own prideful prejudices into seeking vengeance; whether it be by slandering anyone with whom they disagree by labeling them a “homophobe”, demanding the criminalization of anyone who refuses them service, mandatory indoctrination of our youth by the State, or the destruction of religious charities and institutions; their agenda violates the very maxims of Natural Law leaving them only the tyranny of legislative oppression as their ONLY justification.