by Adam Amel Rogers, Originally posted on change.org
Two major affinities in my life are LGBT equality and football. Oftentimes, when these two entities collide, it involves a publicist having to write an apology for an anti-gay epithet. Most of the time though, I am left wondering how the players I root for feel about gay rights.
Yesterday, I happened on the Twitter account of former Super Bowl MVP and current Dancing with the Stars contestant Kurt Warner. Warner has never made his devout Christianity a secret. His faith is extremely important to him, as evidenced in his most popular tweet yesterday:
@kurt13warner: Like 2 think I engage ALL my fans - but gotta say JESUS is my favorite topic - that a problem?
I think it is pretty universally accepted that Kurt Warner is a nice upstanding guy, but his zeal for organized religion has always made me wonder how he feels about gay people.
Kurt’s tweet stream has helped begin to answer that question.
He first tweeted that he was hanging out with Eric Stonestreet, who plays ½ of Modern Family’s gay couple, on the set of Access Hollywood. This tweet prompted some anti-gay replies, which a lot of professional athletes probably would have ignored or affirmed.
Kurt didn’t ignore the comments, instead he countered the anti-gay tweets by saying:
@kurt13warner Lots of comments about gay couple on ModernFamily, what do u say WE just Love ppl & let God do the judging! Who's with me?
I’m with you Kurt! I think.
I am happy that he took a stand against anti-gay comments. I am happy that he loves people. I am less happy about the “God do the judging” part of the tweet. It reminded me of an interview Kurt gave last year where he said, without hesitation, that he is worried about friends and family who might be going to Hell.
Twitter user Michelle Levy called Kurt out on the loaded tweet, saying "my 2 cents... love all and let g-d judge when referencing gays is super condescending and a way to say you think it is wrong." This prompted Kurt to reply and reiterate his original statement, "My point isn't 2 prove right or wrong, thats God's job, my point is 2 love all ppl the same & lead them 2 Jesus!"
I have never understood the whole “I’m cool with you, but God is totally sending you to Hell” business, but I do think Kurt’s gay tweet is a step in the right direction. While his mild defense of gay people is not nearly on the level of NFL players Scott Fujita and Brendon Ayanbadejo, who both proclaimed their support of marriage equality, it is definitely better than the anti-gay tweets of Larry Johnson and Todd Herremans.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Two major affinities in my life are LGBT equality and football. Oftentimes, when these two entities collide, it involves a publicist having to write an apology for an anti-gay epithet. Most of the time though, I am left wondering how the players I root for feel about gay rights.
Yesterday, I happened on the Twitter account of former Super Bowl MVP and current Dancing with the Stars contestant Kurt Warner. Warner has never made his devout Christianity a secret. His faith is extremely important to him, as evidenced in his most popular tweet yesterday:
@kurt13warner: Like 2 think I engage ALL my fans - but gotta say JESUS is my favorite topic - that a problem?
I think it is pretty universally accepted that Kurt Warner is a nice upstanding guy, but his zeal for organized religion has always made me wonder how he feels about gay people.
Kurt’s tweet stream has helped begin to answer that question.
He first tweeted that he was hanging out with Eric Stonestreet, who plays ½ of Modern Family’s gay couple, on the set of Access Hollywood. This tweet prompted some anti-gay replies, which a lot of professional athletes probably would have ignored or affirmed.
Kurt didn’t ignore the comments, instead he countered the anti-gay tweets by saying:
@kurt13warner Lots of comments about gay couple on ModernFamily, what do u say WE just Love ppl & let God do the judging! Who's with me?
I’m with you Kurt! I think.
I am happy that he took a stand against anti-gay comments. I am happy that he loves people. I am less happy about the “God do the judging” part of the tweet. It reminded me of an interview Kurt gave last year where he said, without hesitation, that he is worried about friends and family who might be going to Hell.
Twitter user Michelle Levy called Kurt out on the loaded tweet, saying "my 2 cents... love all and let g-d judge when referencing gays is super condescending and a way to say you think it is wrong." This prompted Kurt to reply and reiterate his original statement, "My point isn't 2 prove right or wrong, thats God's job, my point is 2 love all ppl the same & lead them 2 Jesus!"
I have never understood the whole “I’m cool with you, but God is totally sending you to Hell” business, but I do think Kurt’s gay tweet is a step in the right direction. While his mild defense of gay people is not nearly on the level of NFL players Scott Fujita and Brendon Ayanbadejo, who both proclaimed their support of marriage equality, it is definitely better than the anti-gay tweets of Larry Johnson and Todd Herremans.
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
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