Tim Hardaway's Comments

Former basketball star, Tim Hardaway, made some rather hateful and derogatory remarks toward gays in an interview yesterday. He admitted to being a homophobic, said that he could never play basketball alongside a gay player, would demand that either he or the gay teammate be traded, and basically said that there's no room in the universe for a homosexual.

I have some words for Tim Hardaway and others like him. Whether they know it or not, whether they like it or not, gays do live in this world and I can all but guarantee that a friend, family member, or co-worker (teammate in Hardaway's case) of theirs is gay.

When I read and heard about these comments, I was shocked. I could not believe that a person in the public eye would just rant about how much they hated gays like that. I don't condone such remarks against anyone. But it especially befuddles me when one minority discriminates another. It made no sense to me why Michael Richards would use despicable language to describe African-American hecklers at his show. It makes no sense why an African-American like Tim Hardaway would rant about how much he hates homosexuals. It'd make more sense to me that minorities would be sympathetic and empathetic toward one another, from knowing first hand what it was like to be ridiculed over innate traits.

Whether one agrees with homosexuality or not, whether one believes it's sinful or not does not make it alright to hate an entire group of people with such an ignorant passion. Former basketball player John Amaechi was not the first gay NBA basketball player and will not be the last. Homosexuality is not a late fad or trend sweeping the nation. It's been around since man has existed and will continue to make a presence so long as we're alive and well. I just hope that studies will continue to support the notion that homosexuality is very much in-born, and that people believe the consistent results in these studies over their own ignorance, like Tim Hardaway's.