Here's a fascinating interview
with Tim Hardaway, the retired basketball player who said in a radio
interview earlier this month that he "hated" gay people. He says he's
trying to atone for the hurtful remarks he made:
I want to get my s--- together.... Right
now, learning. Learning that gay people are really no different than a
lot of other people. Learning that they work hard, they do things in
the community, they are responsible for building parks, rec centers,
providing safe environments for kids, just things I had never
associated with them before. [This last week] has opened up my eyes to
the gay population and what they do. I'm getting a lot of knowledge
about them that I didn't have. Which is going to make me a better
person. And if it doesn't, then I'm a damn fool.
At the same time, Hardaway says he still doesn't "condone what they
[gay people] do." He points out that he grew up in a Chicago
neighborhood where people avoided gay culture like the plague. He
insists that gay basketball players who keep their sexual orientation a
secret are betraying their teammates.
To be fair, lots of people
share Hardaway's fears and prejudices. And why not? Many have grown up
without any exposure to what it means to be gay except for the jokes of
insecure teens and media images that constantly portray gay people as
sexual predators. Once they actually spend time with people of another
sexual orientation, they realize that, no, not all gay people want to
hit on them. Living with a gay roommate is not an assault on their
manhood. Whatever society has put into their heads about homosexuality
being disgusting or immoral or against God's plan, they have the
ability to think for themselves.
In recent months a good number
of celebrities have gotten into trouble for bigoted remarks. It's fun
to point and laugh, but people like Mel Gibson and Michael Richards and
Tim Hardaway reflect the views of many other people in our society. So
perhaps all the media attention will be a positive thing, in the end.
Maybe it'll force us to reexamine our own prejudices.
By the
same token, perhaps all the coverage of Britney Spears will inspire us
to reconsider our prejudices against bald people who don't wear
underwear. I'm not sure what the coverage of Anna Nicole Smith has to
tell us, but I'll let you know if I do.
|
blogs 
