The NBA fed Kobe, who says last night’s outburst don’t reflect the way he really feels about gays and lbians.
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KOBE BRYANT FED $100,000 FOR GAY SLUR
Gay rights groups nmned Bryant's actns, mand a full apology * is kobe bryant gay *
It was watchg his transformatn om the man who was fed $100, 000 for directg an anti-gay slur at referee Bennie Adams 2011 to an LGBTQ equaly unrstand how much Bryant’s self-examatn and ultimate change meant to me, know that there were only two players I sisted my son watch live: Allen Iverson and Kobe. The fact that both men were attached to ugly, homophobic moments offers a glimpse to how difficult n be for some LGBTQ people to work a field which ritured masculy is nsired currency. Like many gay men, I love sports and refe to be chased out by simple-md men, pecially by those dus who n’t get women to like them but are nvced every gay man wants,, the pot is Kobe changed bee he did more than pay a fe and issue a clumsy, weak apology.
He spoke wh me, he spoke wh LGBTQ anizatns and then, when he was fortable, he spoke out agast homophobia — not bee the NBA or sponsors ma him but bee, to quote the late John Lewis, “When you see somethg that is not right, not fair, not jt, you have to speak up. ”I love sports and refe to be chased out by simplemd men, pecially by those dus who n’t get women to like them but are nvced every gay man wants them. So, the real qutn for Major League Baseball, general, and the Ccnati Reds, specifilly, is why did someone who has been llg gam for more than 30 years feel fortable enough to drop an anti-gay slur a workplace environment 2020?
There are openly gay executiv MLB — cludg my iends Erik Braverman, a senr vice print for the Dodgers, as well as oime Dodger Billy Bean, who is a special assistant to MLB Commissner Rob Maned.
KOBE BRYANT APOLOGIZ, FED $100K FOR GAY SLUR
There may not be any openly gay male athlet playg the big four sports, but we’ve heard several g-out stori after players retired. There was even an openly gay man nng for, Brennaman felt relaxed enough, wh earshot of technicians and other lleagu, to sually drop a reference to an unknown lole as “one of the fag pals of the world.
Removg Brennaman won’t expunge homophobia om baseball any more than Jackie Robson’s first at-bat turned Ameri to a geo are all but sgle steps on the journey.
Changg that is far more important than ddlg homophob, regardls of how long they’ve been allowed to fter. Though Bryant’s origal apology was filled wh jtifitns — he said his homophobic language “should not be taken lerally” and was “out of tratn durg the heat of a game” — he went on to participate an anti-discrimatn public service vio for GLAAD and promised he “planned to do more. When Jason Colls publicly me out 2013 — beg the first active openly gay player NBA history — Bryant honored his word and did the right thg.