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I only do the ladies! - Chris Culliver.
The NFL corner back comes under fire when he spoke out against gay players in the NFL. The player apologized for his comments. |
The NFC champions the San Francisco 49ers are going through a damage control by one of its players.
San Francisco is the hub of LGBT activism. The city represents the nation's growing Asian population and is the largest city with members of the LGBT community.
The 49ers play against AFC champions Baltimore Ravens in Super Bowl XLVII at New Orleans Mercedez-Benz Superdome. The SuperBowl is one of the world's largest television events. Over 180 million people will watch the Super Bowl on CBS this Sunday.
Chris Culliver has put his team in a negative light! He was interviewed on sports radio and made the statement that "gays aren't welcomed to the [NFL]!"
Culliver, in a radio interview with Artie Lange, said he has no desire to have a gay teammate. In a Super Bowl week that has been dominated for the first time by stories about deer-antler spray, Culliver became the first player in Super Bowl history to use the forum to make anti-gay comments.
“I don’t do the guys. I don’t do that,” Culliver said. “We don’t have any gays on the team. They gotta get up outta here if they do. Can’t be with that sweet stuff.”
Culliver’s comments were made Tuesday and began circulating Wednesday. That prompted the 49ers to issue a statement distancing themselves from Culliver.
“The San Francisco 49ers reject the comments that were made (Tuesday), and have addressed the matter with Chris,” the statement said. “There is no place for discrimination within our organization at any level. We have and always will proudly support the LGBT community.”
Culliver, a third-round pick in 2011 from South Carolina, said if a player is gay, he should not go public with it. “Yeah, come out 10 years later after that,” he said.
No active NFL player has ever come out and said he was gay, likely fearing the backlash from teammates in the locker room. Culliver’s small-minded approach won’t go over well in San Francisco, which has a large gay community.
Later Wednesday after the comments circulated, Culliver offered a bizarre, half-hearted apology distributed by the 49ers.
“The derogatory comments I made yesterday were a reflection of thoughts in my head, but they are not how I feel,” Culliver said in the statement. “It has taken me seeing them in print to realize that they are hurtful and ugly. Those discriminating feelings are truly not in my heart. Further, I apologize to those who I have hurt and offended, and I pledge to learn and grow from this experience.”
This controversy spins into the LGBT being outraged over the death of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University student who jumped off the George Washington Bridge.
Clementi was secretly filmed having sex with another man by roommate Dharun Ravi and Molly Wei. Ravi broadcast the encounter on the internet. It drove Clementi to killing himself.
Now the LGBT community is fighting against bigotry. Last year they've taken on former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, Chick-Fil-A, outed Arizona sheriff Paul Babeu and other bigots.
Although it's becoming more acceptable for those in the LGBT community some in the Black community are more conservative on gay rights. Hip-Hop music, Black athletes and even some Black politicians still have trouble accepting same sex couples. However there's cracks in the bubble. President Barack Obama came in defense of gay marriage last year. Blacks slightly oppose gay marriage.
I support equal rights for all Americans, straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered.
I tolerate all races, gender, sexuality, nationality, religion, economic and sometimes political standings.
The reason for sometimes political standings is mainly because I've gotten tired of conservatives masquerading patriotism under the guise of bigotry and hate.
