ESPN has decided to use common sense by finally firing right-wing bigot Curt Schilling this evening over his transphobic meme that he posted onto his Facebook profile page, among other offenses in the past. Cue the outrage from right-wing transphobic bigots that will claim “his 1st Amendment rights are being taken away in the name of political correctness” or some variation of that phrase to defend their anti-trans hogwash.
Andrew Joseph at USA Today’s For The Win:
The only question: Why did it take this long?
Schilling’s behavior on social media has been disgusting for years. He’s posted memes that drew comparisons between Muslims, Hitler and Nazi Germany. He was suspended for that and subsequently continued sharing ignorant Facebook posts, daring ESPN to take action.
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But the fact is that Schilling was given more chances than anyone deserved, and he essentially laughed in his superiors’ faces.
ESPN employs many talented baseball analysts. Wednesday, it finally realized Schilling wasn’t worth the trouble, and it will be better off for that.
Lindsay Adler at BuzzFeed News:
ESPN analyst and former MLB pitcher Curt Schilling was fired from the sports network Wednesday over an image he shared on Facebook.
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In a statement released late Wednesday, ESPN said: “ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated.”
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This isn’t the first time that Schilling has caused a social media stir, last summer he was suspended from ESPN for tweeting a meme comparing Islamic extremists to Nazis. He wound up getting pulled from ESPN baseball broadcasts for the remainder of the 2015 season for the offense.
Andrew Bucholtz at Awful Announcing:
Curt Schilling’s most recent controversy over his repost of a Facebook meme mocking trans people and his added “the men’s room was designed for the penis” commentary has finally led to his termination from ESPN, which the company announced Wednesday night.
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While it’s interesting to see Schilling fired over this and not the other controversies he’s caused, such as the 38 Studios saga, his August comparison of Muslims and Nazis, his angry e-mails to writers and his desire to see Hilary Clinton “buried under a jail,” there are a few likely reasons for that. For one, this was probably thanks to the accumulation of all the issues over the years. For another, in contrast to the other cases. Schilling was utterly unapologetic this time, blaming those who were “hunting to be offended” in a blog post and ardently defending his position on WEEI Wednesday.
NY Daily News:
ESPN is finally finished with Curt Schilling and his bigoted views.
Cyd Zeigler at Outsports:
This should not be a surprise to anyone. Schilling has dipped his toe in dangerous waters before, last year posting about comparisons between Muslims and Nazis. Schilling's latest post was seemingly daring ESPN to fire him. The post featured a large man in some kind of sex garb wearing a wig and high heels. While Schilling offered some bizarre explanation about not posting the post, and his wife and son yesterday made claims about the post being private and Schilling being a super nice guy at home, the evidence of Schilling's finger prints was overwhelming.
When I think about LGBT-inclusive entities in sports, ESPN is right there with Nike at the top of the list. The organization has worked with the community for over a decade, bringing sensitivity training to Bristol; hiring out LGBT public-facing personalities like LZ Granderson and Kate Fagan; supporting others who came out like Israel Gutierrez; building an inclusive space for trans employees like Christina Kahrl and Courtney Pollack; partnering with organizations like GLAAD to improve their messaging and inclusion; The list goes on and on.
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While people are throwing "The First Amendment" as a defense for Schilling's actions, the First Amendment protects speakers from only the government. ESPN is free to exercise its First Amendment rights as well.
Part of the First Amendment is also the freedom of association. ESPN has decided to not associate with Schilling anymore.
ESPN came to their senses and fired this transphobic duncebucket from their airwaves.
And like I mentioned in yesterday’s post on this: He will likely end up joining RNCTV (aka Faux “News”)/FS1 and be a speaker on the conservative movement circles playing up his “I’m being persecuted” schtick.