Former NBA Player Tim Hardaway "Hates Gay People"- Page 3

[Calvin]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:04pm

All I can say is the various comments regarding this story -- not here, of course, but on message boards with a less intelligent target audience -- has really diminished my faith in this country's people. It's absolutely sickening. Go to the ESPN board, or to that CBS thing I linked earlier and read the comments. Then try to keep down your lunch.

If nothing else, it justifies the utter contempt I have for a majority of Americans (present company excluded, of course).

[tazber]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:16pm

I'll tell you something Cal, at first I wasn't bothered by the comments on the espn site, b/c, well look at their demographic.
But it really is sad to see how many people are homophobic.
I get that some people just don't understand it, but why such vitrol?
It really is depressing.
Honestly, from my heart, I can't imagine bearing such ill will toward another person for no reason.

[Sing a Song With Me]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:19pm

You have to be carefully taught, Tazber. This is how many people are raised, with fear and loathing for that which is deemed "unnatural."

[Magdalene]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:20pm

Well, Mr (and I use that term loosely) Hardaway, I don't like basketball---you players are out of touch with reality, so THERE!

[Calvin]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:26pm

Sorry to say, but it boils down to this: People, by and large, are stupid. Ignorance is revered in this country.

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:29pm

Yeah, gotta agree with Calvin on this one. Americans tend to take things so personally...as if, for example, someone being gay is a personal afront to their own well-being.

[MrMidwest]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:31pm

Amaechi was quoted later in Le Batard's column in The Miami Herald as saying that he was grateful for Hardaway's words.

"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."

Thursday morning, Amaechi, speaking on ESPN Radio's Mike and Mike in the Morning show, said the reaction to his coming out has been "overwhelmingly positive," but added that Hardaway's comments have sparked similar statements from others.

"Every comment that [Hardaway] made is labeled with hate," Amaechi said. "The percentage of e-mails I've received overnight that are going to have to go into a little box somewhere just in case I end up dead are unbelievable. He's been a lightening rod for people to finally open the floodgates and decide that they can say some pretty awful stuff."

"I will say this about the Tim Hardaway comments and the comments of people like him ... these are the loud comments that pollute the air," Amaechi said. "These are the comments that create the atmosphere that allow some of the tragic incidents of homophobia that we've seen. This is what makes the lives of gay and lesbian young people in schools miserable. It's what stops gay and lesbian people in the workplace from coming out as well as the fact they can be fined in 33 states for being gay. These are part of the problem."

http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006475377

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:32pm

I just posted on the ESPN site myself.

[Kringas]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:40pm

It's what stops gay and lesbian people in the workplace from coming out as well as the fact they can be fined in 33 states for being gay.

What is the fine for being gay these days?

[Mother's Younger Brother]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:44pm

Amaechi makes some very eloquent points there. Unfortunately, anyone who already sides with Hardaway on this issue won't see any of those gay issues as problems.

[Calvin]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:45pm

All I can say is that I never, never want to hear the "love the sinner, hate the sin" mantra from anyone ever again. Because the frightening defense of this horrible human being has proven that it is complete hogwash. The mantra is just "hate."

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:46pm

The fine varies depending on how fine you are....

[C is for Company]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:57pm

I love how sincere his apology was. The only regret he had in his mind to reach a conclusion on the apology issue was how ****ed he is going to be when he receives all the hate mail that I hope he drowns in. His solitary remorse is for saying it in the first place and seeing the response. I guess he didn't expect this big reaction, probably thinking it normal to hate on specific groups which I thought he might have an inkling of having been a part of the target of hate since the 1700's.

Whatever happened to the positive influences sports idols were supposed to impart to the kids? Well I guess I will save that question for when a legit sport legend is in question instead of wasting the breath to ask it on this cooked goose.

[Calvin]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 4:58pm

Don't cry for him. The guy's now got a meal ticket to a lifetime gig speaking at Focus on the Family conferences and National Review luncheons.

[tazber]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 5:03pm

I still say he's gay. If we are lucky, he'll be caught by some paparazzi and be outed in public. Then, Ted Haggard can offer him some tips on how to turn straight again.

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 5:07pm

See, that's what happens when you say things like that--he's going to have to watch everything he does cause he's got ALOT of people watching his every move, waiting for the first wrist to drop.

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 5:07pm

Re: The Confederate Flag

I had a college roommate who on the very first day of class freshman year put a 3' x 6' confederate flag on the wall of my dorm room while I was out at dinner without discussing it with me first. When I returned and saw it hanging there (he was out), I stared at it unbelievingly for a few minutes, did my best to control my rage, and after thinking carefully about what to do about for a few minutes, I decided that one way or another that "thing" had to come down off the wall. Immediately. The mere sight of it was sickening. Rather than waiting for him to return and calmly discussing the matter, I ripped it off the wall and tossed it under his bed.

When he returned a little while later, I calmly explained that that flag was a symbol of oppression and hatred and terrorism and murder and harassment and had no place on a dorm room wall or anywhere else and that it wouldn't be going back up. He countered that to him it was a symbol of "Southern Pride" and "Southern Heroism" and "Southern Heritage" and had nothing to do with racism. I laughed and then asked him why the Ku Klux Klan used it as its symbol it had nothing to do with racism and hate, to which he replied,

"What do YOU know about the Klan?"

Shortly thereafter he informed me that he was the grandson of the Grand Imperial Wizard of the KKK of North Carolina.

I decided to strike a compromise. He could use his precious flag as a pillow case if he liked, as long as he kept his blankets covering the pillow at all times and I didn't have to see the damn thing. In the next few days, I contacted the RA for the floor, the head of the dorm and the Dean of Students, all of whom proved to be useless, informing that there was no formal policy on the situation and no disciplinary measures governing the situation and that, if I didn't want to live there anymore, my only option would be to put myself on a waiting list for another room. There was a housing shortage on campus, which meant that at would be at least several months before I could go to another room. So, I remained there with my KKK roommate for the rest of the year.


A Postscript:

When MLK's birthday came along in January, I received a present in the mail from my parents: a small poster of King that they had picked up at a big commemorative birthday celebration that they had attended. After giving it a bit of thought, I decided -- what the heck -- and hung the poster on my side of the room. Sure, I knew he wouldn't like it, but then, after spending months staring at that damn confederate flag on his bed (he never covered it up), I thought it only fair, in a sort of "equal time" counterprogramming basis to display the poster. If he can have his symbol of "pride" on his side of the room, then I can have mine on mine. I left the room and went to dinner.

Upon my return a few hours later, I realized my worst fears had been realized. The poster was still there....... well, part of it, anyway. He had set it on fire during my absence and all that remained was the image of the top of Martin's head and one of his eyes -- the rest was charred and disintegrated and there was a large black mark on the wall where the rest of the poster had been incinerated.

Long story short, as his punishment, I had him atone for his sins by burning his beloved confederate flag the next day at a site near the campus. I moved in with a friend shortly thereafter. And I never saw or heard from him again.

Updated On: 2/15/07 at 05:07 PM

[C is for Company]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 5:12pm

Absolutely disgusting. Grand Imperial Wizard sounds like some cross between Star Wars and Harry Potter. Who knew cross-breeding two great mediums produce one of the most disgraceful tarnishes in American history.

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 5:14pm

And now we know..... the rest of the story.

Southern Pride? I have Southern pride but it doesn't come at the expense of someone else.

"Those small-minded peckerwoods aren't real Southerners anyway."

[Calvin]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 5:18pm

Cool story, although I was hoping for the "...and that little boy grew up to be...former Sen. George Allen."

[lildogs]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 5:42pm

I was going to use that gag with Miss Haggard instead! I te;;on ya, Cal...if I didn't know better...I'd swear you were my twin who got all the height.

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 6:02pm

you still owe me for that flag motherf*cker!

[MargoChanning]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 6:03pm

F*ck you, Cracka!

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 6:05pm

i see you ain't lernt a thang n'all dis time. lord. the mouth on her.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 2/15/07 at 7:07pm

There's poetic justic in this.

I hate basketball players!