Preface:
I am not a homophobe. I believe all people should be allowed to live
according to their personal morals (within in certain limits, eg. you should not be
able to kill because you feel like it).
Argument:
I am an American. I am a constitutionalist. I believe in the 1st Amendment.
I would fight for and die for this persons right to say what he did. Just as I will
defend a person who burns the flag I love, or a communist, or a racist. Not because I
agree with them, but because when we stop them from talking, someone will stop me from
talking.
Should he be punished by the team? That depends on the owners (or share
holders) views. See he is not a government employee. He has the right to say pretty
much what he wants. He doesn't work for the government, so as a private company the
team should not be responsible, for either his words, or to punish him for those
words. Also, while he said he didn't want a homosexual there, there is not evidence
that someone WHO IS QUALIFIED has been prevented from getting a job there strictly on
that basis.
This leads to another discussion. Should a private (no government funding)
company be allowed to discriminate? Say I own a company. I built it with my hands
and my sweat. Yet I am some schmuck racist. Hell lets say it's a place that prints
the garbage that they spew. I put an ad in the paper for a new printer. A black then
shows up for the job. He has much better experience and credentials for the position
than anyone else. Should the government then force me to hire him?
Something of this nature happened a few years ago. A group of men sued Hooters
for not allowing them to be waitresses at their restaurants. I believe they may have
even won in NY at some point. However people know what hooters is, and why they go
there. So should they be forced to hire people on that basis.
See I think as a business owner you should be able to hire, fire, promote and
exclude anyone you feel like it for any reason. That's why it's called the PRIVATE
sector.
Just one of my many pet peeves. We can get into private property rights some
other time.
Tim
-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Ledwith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 27, 2002 1:20 PM
To: CF-Community
Subject: Reason 49er why athletes should stay on the field and away from
the microphone...
Leave it to some (insert my distasteful opinion of 'professional' athletes here) to
promote homophobia...
I strongly agree with the "zero-tolerance attitude toward homophobia and all other
forms of discrimination" concept the author suggests, and simply cant understand why,
as of November 2002, these things haven't been addressed. I have a zero-tolerance for
this crap, and fired a developer on the spot after witnessing him "teasing" a lesbian
designer working on a project with him earlier this year. The irony (it isn't even
ironic, just pathetic) of the situation was that I hired them to work on a LGBT
(lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) site for a university in New York.
Him: "Oh, yeah, a friend of mine is a faggot, so it's okay for me to say "faggot" in
the workplace."
Me: "Nope, wrong, pack up, get out."
Him: "But my kidding Noelle about being a dyke was just that, kidding"
Me: "Nope, wrong, pack up, get out."
It astonishes me daily how this shit is tolerated. Don't like gays? Better yank your
kids out of school, because there's a good chance a gay teacher might work there.
Don't ask a cop for help, (s)he might be gay too. Got yourself a nice hot latte? Did
the barista have a "I'm not gay" button? Better not risk it... make it yourself next
time. The doctor, the nurse, the EMT? Better not get hurt or sick anytime soon...
How about your accountant? The bank teller? The meat department guy at the grocery
store?
You have a white, a black, a Korean, and someone confined to a wheelchair in your
office... you work with them, you have lunch with them, you are quite possibly
probably friends with them... But nooooooo, not the 'fag', he just wants my (pick a
part of your anatomy)...
It's just too bad I cant put a little checkbox on my job applications, "Are you a gay
basher?"
Anyhow, back to the article...
>From the SF Chronicle (02.11.27):
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2002/11/27/DD27850.DTL
"No excuse for 49er's anti-gay comments" by Dave Ford
THE MOST INFURIATING thing about the case of 49er Garrison Hearst, who told the Fresno
Bee that he didn't "want any faggots on this team," is that this kind of thing just
keeps happening.
And that likely won't change.
All of my 45 years I've watched institutions wittingly or unwittingly sanction
homophobia -- from schools doing nothing about bullies calling kids "faggot" to
professional sports teams, like the 49ers, playing down the effects of such violent
language.
Oh, I know. Hearst apologized Friday and the 49ers expressed contrition. Blah blah.
But before the PR people got to coach Steve Mariucci, he had told this paper that the
team was "too busy trying to block and hit passes to be involved in a social issue."
There are those who excuse Hearst's actions by saying some players aren't the
brightest bulbs in the stadium lights. Or they say that some people don't like the
"homosexual lifestyle," or that players shower together and what happens if a gay
man's there?
Guess what: Those are excuses. They are called excuses because they excuse behavior.
Until the behavior is understood to be inexcusable, the behavior will continue.
And violent gay-bashing language is completely and totally inexcusable.
(By the way, for you straight guys who think that if a gay man showers near you, he
ipso facto wants you: Get over it. We don't.)
ALTHOUGH 49ERS OWNER John York publicly denounced Hearst's remarks, the running back
received no fine, no suspension.
I think Hearst should have been fired. The 49ers, other sports teams and all sports
leagues should have a zero-tolerance attitude toward homophobia and all other forms of
discrimination.
Sports teams should hold mandatory sensitivity training. But they'd be called "Say
These Words in Public and You're Out of Pro Sports Forever" training.
I don't care if sports stars are sensitive. Indeed, I don't expect them to be. I just
expect them to be taught not to make the kinds of public comments that suggest to
young males it's acceptable to bash gays -- and that if they do make those comments,
they're history.
But professional athletes aren't going to change without a compelling reason. Social
pressure isn't enough. Change will come only when the institutions paying players'
salaries create clear consequences for offensive behavior. Fines and suspensions won't
do it. Threaten players' careers, they'll learn.
BUT TEAMS WILL change only when they, too, face consequences for their policies and
actions. Sports leagues need to step up and say unequivocally that, like racism and
other forms of discrimination, homophobia has no place in professional sports. Period.
This will not happen, of course. Sports leagues are multimillion-dollar businesses.
Fans are customers. As long as some fans agree with the Garrison Hearsts of the world,
sports franchises will not risk losing fan dollars by confronting tough social issues.
So teams will hold well-scripted press conferences and say Important Words. They may
throw a few well-aimed public relations dollars to lesbian and gay charities. Then
they will talk about "putting this behind us."
And everything will seem fine until the next bonehead millionaire athlete uses a gay
slur -- and it just keeps happening.
Again and again and again.
E-mail Dave Ford at...
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