Last week, Phil Jackson, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, made a joke comparing his team’s play to “Brokeback Mountain.” It caused a bit of a stir, but we opined that it was much ado about nothing.
Not everyone agrees with us (shocker), and one of the them is Pat Griffin, a longtime coach and advocate for gays and lesbians in sports. Since I respect Pat a ton I felt it would be good for readers to read her take. She writes on her blog:
I know some people will see my response as PC, others will say I have no sense of humor. … I think Jackson’s comment was mostly stupid, and compared with the hate-filled comments of a Tim Hardaway or a Jeremy Shockey, fairly innocuous. However, let’s not forget that professional men’s sports are still so homophobic that there are no out active players. Let’s not forget that young men in school and on the streets are still beaten up even on the suspicion that they are gay. Some schools would rather ban all extra-curricular clubs than allow students to organize a gay-straight alliance. Same-sex couples still can’t get married in 49 of 50 states, only 19 states out of 50 have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and there is no federal employment non-discrimination law at all.
There is also an active debate on our discussion board. —Jim Buzinski
Last week, Phil Jackson, coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, made a joke comparing his team’s play to “Brokeback Mountain.” It caused a bit of a stir, but we opined that it was much ado about nothing.
Not everyone agrees with us (shocker), and one of the them is Pat Griffin, a longtime coach and advocate for gays and lesbians in sports. Since I respect Pat a ton I felt it would be good for readers to read her take. She writes on her blog:
I know some people will see my response as PC, others will say I have no sense of humor. … I think Jackson’s comment was mostly stupid, and compared with the hate-filled comments of a Tim Hardaway or a Jeremy Shockey, fairly innocuous. However, let’s not forget that professional men’s sports are still so homophobic that there are no out active players. Let’s not forget that young men in school and on the streets are still beaten up even on the suspicion that they are gay. Some schools would rather ban all extra-curricular clubs than allow students to organize a gay-straight alliance. Same-sex couples still can’t get married in 49 of 50 states, only 19 states out of 50 have laws prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation and there is no federal employment non-discrimination law at all.
There is also an active debate on our discussion board. —Jim Buzinski
