Tim Hardaway And The Double Standard

So, the media is all up in arms over Tim Hardaway’s comments on a Miami radio station regarding former pro basketball player John Amaechi’s admission that he is a homosexual man.  The crux of Hardaway’s comments can be summarized by this one statement he made:

“I let it be known I don’t like gay people. I don’t like to be around gay people.”

Hardaway has since apologized but Amaechi returned fire saying:

“It has made it tangibly less safe for gays and lesbians throughout the country, because he has polluted the atmosphere with hatred.”

Predictably, the politically correct media are once again trying to equate this comment with racial prejudice and are drawing comparisons to the 1960’s and Martin Luther King.  I’m sorry but there is a difference.  Gay people are not riding in the back of the bus, nor are there special serving areas for gay people in any restaurant I frequent.  I don’t see schools segregating on the basis of homosexual behavior.  The race equality issue doesn’t wash with me.  I understand some hate crimes have occurred as a result of someone being a homosexual and those were tragic occurrences that should not have happened.  Those who choose a homosexual lifestyle should be protected by law enforcement just like anyone else.  But crimes against people occur every day, even violent ones.  Just ask the family members of those killed in the Salt Lake City, Utah mall.  Percentage wise, homicides affect heterosexuals at a much higher rate I’m sure, simply because statistics indicate there are more heterosexual people than homosexual ones.   Should there be special protection for heterosexuals then given that logic?  Absolutely not.  Sexual preference isn’t the same as skin color and the media should not try to equate the two.  They should just simply share the facts and let us decide for ourselves instead of trying to inject an opinion on the American culture. 

Hardaway should have used more tact and chosen his words differently but how is it his comments are so horribly awful and similar comments by Rosie O’ Donnell on the ABC show “The View” are not?  Remember these great words last year:

“Just a minute. Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam in a country like America where we have separation of church and state.�

These words were a clear slam at American Christians, comparing them to Islamic terrorists and yet, the media did little to O’ Donnell because to do so would have been politically incorrect because she is an avowed Lesbian who’s anti-war and if you criticize her, you’re a bigot.  O’ Donnell stepped out of bounds later in the year with a well publicized shot at Kelly Ripa over Clay Aiken’s sexuality.  Aiken, while playing around with Ripa on her show, placed his hand over Ripa’s mouth and she responded by saying: “I don’t where that hand’s been, honey!” which O’ Donnell immediately took as a homophobic remark even though Aiken himself has never declared himself to be a homosexual.  Her comments were:

“To me that’s a homophobic remark. If that was a straight man, if that
was a cute man, if that was a guy that she didn’t question his
sexuality, she would have said a different thing.”

To Ripa’s credit, she nailed O’Donnell the next day on her show by calling “The View” and confronting O’ Donnell.  I’m sure Rosie didn’t know what to think since she’s rarely been made to be accountable for her actions.  On a previous post on this blog, I questioned O’ Donnell’s right to discern whether a person is gay or not.  Aiken never has commented and, to his credit, he stayed out of the fray although I would have asked for an apology from O’ Donnell if I were him.

So to get back to the original idea here, why wasn’t O’ Donnell chastised for her remarks and removed from the show?  Hardaway has lost his job with the NBA and is being roundly criticized both in and out of the United States.  How can someone like Rosie O’ Donnell slam Christians and then make false accusations about a person’s sexuality and not be held to the same standard?

Hardaway’s comments were out of line.  I don’t like the tone of what he said and I agree he should have apologized.  He’s entitled to his opinion but he has to be careful how he chooses his words.  But I also don’t like the media trying to play the same record every time this happens either, trying to equate this with a person’s civil rights. A better analogy for the media would be to equate a person’s sexual preference with a person’s religious preference but nobody’s going to do that since it would point out the hypocrisy of the media when it comes to such matters.  It’s the accepted double standard.