ADAM AMEL ROGERS
  • Home
  • About
    • Press
  • Writing
  • Design
  • Presentations
  • Contact

Kurt Warner's Gay Tweet

10/7/2010

0 Comments

 
Picture
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


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    About Adam

    Adam studies the impact of entertainment on society at the USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center. Previously, he wrote for the Gay Rights section of change.org. He also worked at the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), he served as Director of Alumni for Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) and he dedicated two years of AmeriCorps service with the American Red Cross.

    Search Blog

    Archives

    February 2014
    May 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    September 2012
    August 2012
    March 2012
    January 2012
    January 2011
    December 2010
    October 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009

    Categories

    All
    Anti Gay Industry
    Ballot Initiatives
    Barack Obama
    Corporate Responsibility
    Education
    Entertainment
    Gender Issues
    Global Issues
    Marriage Equality
    Parenting
    Politics
    Prop 8
    Social Media
    Sports
    Violence

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.