The recent comments of former NBA all-star Tim Hardaway did not surprise me the least bit. The sporting world is filled with such hatred, intolerance and cruelty that it makes the KKK look like a Church social. But I'll give the devil his due. At least he was honest enough to make himself the face of gay hatred in the sporting world.
Hardaway's comments are a clear indication of why a Gay active male athlete will never come out. Surely, we as a country have made great progress in the acceptance of Homosexuals, but the hatred and bigotry still lingers.
It will never die.
And, it's an unfortunate part of this country's DNA.
John Adams once said that this country wasn't founded solely on Christian principles. Yet because of the strict teachings of religious texts, we as a nation have been hoodwinked into beliving that all things, including homosexuality are just plain wrong.
Sorry, but homosexuals are everywhere.
Whether Tim Hardaway or any Homophobic knucklehead likes it or not, Homosexuals have contributed greatly to our society beyond the stereotypes that we place upon them.
And whether or not they're aware of it, Tim Hardaway and any other NBA player or athlete has had at least one or two gay teammate throughout their athletic career.
When Hardaway was asked about having a gay teammate, he said, "first of all I wouldn't want him on my team."
So, Tim you share the same attitude as the 1947 Dodgers had toward their teammate Jackie Robinson.
"If he was on my team, I would distance myself from him."
How Tim, by sending him to the back of the team plane. I'm sure Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King Jr., would be really proud of that.
"It shouldn't be in the world, in the United States, I don't like it."
Where in the world should Homosexuals go Tim? By this statememt Hardaway hinted at some sort of worldwide cleansing of Homosexuality.
We cringe when a black person is told to go back to the cotton fields or back to Africa, but those are tangible destinations.
By Hardaway's statement, "it shouldn't be in the world," he appears to calling for some sort of Homosexual Holocaust.
Then later, Hardaway, tried to weasel his way out by apologizing.
Why, Tim?
There's no need to apologize unless you really mean it.
And, when the NBA decided to banish you from the all-star festivities this weekend, that's when you realized that you had a conscience. Or, the
fact that you're losing valuable income.
You're a bigot.
And because of your boastful declaration of Homophobia, many gay male athletes will have a much difficult time coming out of the closet, if they didn't have all ready.
In the insular world of male dominated sports, the risks of coming out are much too greater.
John Amaechi, the former NBA player who recently came out as Gay is a shining example of an individual displaying courage while Tim Hardaway is a sad example of how things will continue to remain the same in all of professional sports until someone decides to break that barrier the same way Jackie Robinson did 60 years ago.