Whitlock: Goodell can bring gay tolerance to NFL

Being homosexual is not political. Taking a public stance on the issue of rights, civil unions, marriages, etc. is definitely political.

 

No, it's called being a human being.

How does gay rights affect the duties of the Executive, Legislative or Executive branches of our government?

Does Adam and Steve getting married down the street affect my Constitutional Rights?

 

At the risk of incurring wrath from people who love to have knee jerk reactions, I would ask this question: Whenever I have seen examples of open intolerance of gays from NFL players, they're invariably African-American. I'm not sure what to make of that. I'm not saying there aren't white homophobes in the NFL, because there most certainly are. But if anyone has examples of them saying things such as Chris Culliver, feel free to enlighten me. If I've overlooked such examples. my apologies.
I'm wondering how much it has to do with a certain climate in the African-American community. In our area, the most vocal opposition to gay marriage when it was on the state ballot was from the African-American ministers and their congregations. Again, not sure what to totally make of that.
Since the NFL is predominantly African-American, it seems as if you've got to win that demographic over in the drive for acceptance of gay players.
My final thought: a rookie, regardless of how good he is, will not be accepted if he's openly gay. The dam will have to be broken when a five-time All-Pro player with a Super Bowl ring and a couple of SI covers comes out of the closet and his teammates already have a high level of respect for him as a skilled, tough football player, and as a solid locker-room leader.
That player also will be the kind that opponents both respect but also don't want to see lined up opposite them because he will most assuredly kick their asses within the spirit and rules of the game.
No real conclusions on my part. Just thinking out loud. Hope the day comes when the conversation will be unnecessary.

 

Hondo, I agree with what you're saying. I would add that I think the same holds true in baseball and hockey, where the rosters are much less African-American. I chalk it up to the macho, athlete culture as much as anything else. In some circles, homosexuality is equated with feminism and weakness, rather than masculinity. Stereotyping? Sure, but I think that goes a long way.

Beyond that, I think it's a natural human reaction to attempt to fit in. If you are different in some way from what you perceive everyone else in the locker room to be, chances are you will go to some length to hide that difference, not publicize it.

 

Not about "rights". If you want to accept that sort of trash in the name of equality, fine. I don't and won't compromise my personal standards.

 

I'll bet at some point your ancestors (Irish, Italian, German, Jewish, etc...) were treated like human garbage because they were not up to someone's "personal standards."