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Tuesday, August 23, 2011

LGBTQITSLFA Tim Hardaway Joins Our Team

Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, Aug 23, 2011 at 8:02 AM

NBA star Tim Hardaway in 2007:

"Well, you know, I hate gay people. I let it be known, I don’t like gay people. I don’t like to be around gay people… Yeah, I’m homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world, or in the United States.”

NBA star Tim Hardaway in 2011:

The lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community has a new ally and his name is Tim Hardaway. The former NBA All-Star traveled to El Paso, Texas, last Thursday—where he perfected his killer crossover dribble, also known as the UTEP-Two Step—to stand up for gay rights. There is a group in El Paso who are trying to recall mayor John Cook and two members of the city counsel for re-establishing domestic partner benefits for both gay and unmarried couples. Hardaway arrived from Miami to speak at a press conference organized by the "No Recall" group.

"It's not right to not let the gays and lesbians have equal rights here," Hardaway told the crowd. "If I know El Paso, like they came together when the 1966 team won a championship and Don Haskins started those five [black] guys, I know the city will grow and understand that gays and lesbians need equal rights."

We're winning.

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Comments (17) RSS

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Excellent! George Takei got to him!

Posted by seatackled on August 23, 2011 at 8:10 AM

That first quote got us a hilarious Takei response, though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4s1iQODC5…

Posted by Rebekah on August 23, 2011 at 8:12 AM

The Amaechi quote was great: "I hope this is a story of true redemption rather than a savvy p.r. ploy. Either way, he is at least saying the right words, and that will make a positive difference."

Posted by gloomy gus on August 23, 2011 at 8:17 AM

My adoration of George Takei has just gone up another 5 points. *swoon*

Posted by Reverse Polarity on August 23, 2011 at 8:25 AM

It gets better. Bullies get better.

Posted by Kevin_BGFH

on August 23, 2011 at 8:44 AM

El Paso is a lovely city, let's hope they get over this little hitch.

Posted by Baconcat on August 23, 2011 at 8:50 AM

@2 That was fawesome!

Posted by who cares what I call myself on August 23, 2011 at 9:00 AM

Excellent!

Can we get his family and friends to talk t all the bigots out there? They seem to be good at it!

Posted by Sketch on August 23, 2011 at 9:03 AM

He seems to have gotten over his homophobia! I wonder what the story is behind that, it would be nice for him to tell it.

Posted by LQ on August 23, 2011 at 9:15 AM

@9

I wouldn't mind hearing the story, either, but my guess is that the criticism from friends and family forced him to think of gays as human beings, and then that probably led to him meeting a few openly gay folks and finding that they're not the stereotypes he thought they were.

Posted by seatackled on August 23, 2011 at 9:48 AM

I can't help but wonder what's behind the change of heart, if it's just some sort of political machination.

I guess it's irrelevant, though. Regardless of the reason, he's on our side.

Posted by Zebes

on August 23, 2011 at 9:49 AM

I saw the headline of this post and though he "switched" teams.... But this is good news, too!

Posted by in-frequent on August 23, 2011 at 10:15 AM

Even a savvy PR ploy is a step forward from straight up hatred. Yay, for less hatred even if we don't know if we are getting more sincerity.

Posted by Smhill on August 23, 2011 at 11:55 AM

@11

Yeah, exactly. It's sweet that you guys are getting all teary-eyed over this but it sounds like dude just got himself a good PR guy because he got himself into trouble before.

@13

Uh, I guess it's a "step up" but I wouldn't be surprised if he's still calling people faggots, etc, but just being careful who he says it to, this time. Doesn't exactly make him a 'changed man.' It's more a reflection of how pop culture in the U.S. right now is very pro-gay so the peer pressure is on to tow the line.

Posted by Confluence on August 23, 2011 at 12:26 PM

@14 This is a step up because it's no longer acceptable to be seen as a homophobic bigot. Even for powerful people. Even for hetero manly men. Even for a rich, Olympic-level, pro-athlete.

Also, even if he is not yet sincere, he will not become more so by having a bunch of people that he's reaching out to bitch slap him for the position he used to hold. Hopefully he is learning from and correcting his mistake; I will choose to be positive about that, rather than condemn him because that mistake was made. There are worse things than graciously accepting an attempt to do the right thing.

Posted by Kaliann on August 23, 2011 at 6:20 PM

@15 Thank you! A persons sincerity is not for me or others to judge, but their actions are. The man stood up and spoke, and Yay for him, and Yay for us.

He may be still questioning, he may be unsure, but he stood up and spoke. That means a lot.

Posted by MinistryOfLove on August 23, 2011 at 9:31 PM

The NBA has a pretty homophobic culture, which seems at least in part due to the following:

1) The constant trash-talking on court. Players are always calling each other "faggot" or "cocksucker" or the like, which I suspect has less to do with genuine bigotry than with the fact that they're trying to mentally rattle their opponents, and that's an effective way to do it. Doesn't make it right, of course, but it's more about tactics than hatred. (At least at first ... but repeat a lie enough times and you'll probably start to believe it.)

2) Many (though by no means all, or even most*) NBA pros grew up in some high-crime areas and are more likely than most folks to have friends or relatives who have been through the prison system. And in that system, homosexuality is not associated with consensual romantic love and support, but rather interpersonal power, terror, and dominance. In other words, pretty much the same things they're trying to accomplish vis-a-vis their opponents on court.

[* Most of the big media-friendly NBA stars of recent decades - Jordan, Shaq, Kobe, etc. - grew up in middle-class environments]

Posted by LordLipitor on August 24, 2011 at 10:32 AM