So Tracy Morgan’s going back to Nashville for an “I’m sorry I wanted to stab my gay son” tour—brought to you by GLAAD and that national attention that pressured him to do it after his violently anti-gay routine. As part of his public penance, he’ll meet with queer youths in New York, talk with the Nashville audience members he ticked off, film a PSA, and hold a news conference against Tennessee’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Should we make his actions part of a set list that every celebrity must go through whenever they do something anti-gay?
Because it’s still socially acceptable to hate on queers (thanks GOP), certain dumb celebrities are gonna say anti-gay stuff from time to time. We don’t like it, but if Kobe Bryant, Noah Joakim, and Soulja Boy are any indication, we should expect it to happen again… like, before the month is over.
The real danger of celebrities saying anti-gay things is that they contribute to a homophobic atmosphere and encourage fans to participate in similar behavior. Morgan and others can’t undo the effect of their initial actions but that’s OK because (as we’ve said in the past) the occasional anti-gay slur can highlight the pervasive role of homophobia in everyday America. Plus, the public penance process can go a long way towards shifting the public discussion back on how homophobia hurts and how American citizens can fight intolerance.
Ultimately, we’d like “faggot” and violent homophobia to register as high on the “social no-no scale” as saying nigger, kyke, or threatening violence against any other group. People lose their careers over such things and they should.
But until that day, another celebrity slur is just waiting to happen. So perhaps the gay community should just standardize a penance to-do list. That way, anytime some turd burglar steps in it, he or she can have clear steps of how to apologize and give back to the gay community before the gay community even has a chance to get all pissed about it. Then said offender can humbly accept whatever additional hoops their employer would like them to jump and even possibly a well-deserved firing!
So Tracy Morgan’s going back to Nashville for an “I’m sorry I wanted to stab my gay son” tour—brought to you by GLAAD and that national attention that pressured him to do it after his violently anti-gay routine. As part of his public penance, he’ll meet with queer youths in New York, talk with the Nashville audience members he ticked off, film a PSA, and hold a news conference against Tennessee’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Should we make his actions part of a set list that every celebrity must go through whenever they do something anti-gay?
Because it’s still socially acceptable to hate on queers (thanks GOP), certain dumb celebrities are gonna say anti-gay stuff from time to time. We don’t like it, but if Kobe Bryant, Noah Joakim, and Soulja Boy are any indication, we should expect it to happen again… like, before the month is over.
The real danger of celebrities saying anti-gay things is that they contribute to a homophobic atmosphere and encourage fans to participate in similar behavior. Morgan and others can’t undo the effect of their initial actions but that’s OK because (as we’ve said in the past) the occasional anti-gay slur can highlight the pervasive role of homophobia in everyday America. Plus, the public penance process can go a long way towards shifting the public discussion back on how homophobia hurts and how American citizens can fight intolerance.
Ultimately, we’d like “faggot” and violent homophobia to register as high on the “social no-no scale” as saying nigger, kyke, or threatening violence against any other group. People lose their careers over such things and they should.
But until that day, another celebrity slur is just waiting to happen. So perhaps the gay community should just standardize a penance to-do list. That way, anytime some turd burglar steps in it, he or she can have clear steps of how to apologize and give back to the gay community before the gay community even has a chance to get all pissed about it. Then said offender can humbly accept whatever additional hoops their employer would like them to jump and even possibly a well-deserved firing!
Josh6852
He looks like every black man, with that shitty grin and blood shot eyes calling me a fa@@ot growing up. I Grew up outside Cincinnati and Detroit. Most ALL gay bars were downtown. The urban community would commit atrocious violence against bar patrons leaving in the late night hours. I’ve been assaulted by a group of black men leaving a gay bar. More needs to be done outside the circle of Tracy Morgan. Comics TODAY need to treat “FA@@OT” JUST LIKE “NI@@ER” don’t say it. The reaction from gay friendly comedians is embarrassing,everyone seems out to protect Tracy because they know him personally. Whoopi and Joy were soooooo embarrassing and uninformed on The View yesterday.
Josh6852
Clip of Whoopi Goldberg and Sherri Sheppard defending Tracy Morgan on The View yesterday. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEOL_Pb2HFs
ZT
Josh : Don’t you dare talk like that! Those were really white rednecks attacking you, in disguise. White elites like Andrew Belonsky and Andrew Towle will flap their limp wrists at you and admonish, “You’re not being a rainbow gay-gay!!”
ZT
(And before I get yelled at, my criticism here is certainly not directed at decent African-American gay folk, who I know have to put up with any AA homophobia much more than us white folk on a regular basis, as well as- sometimes- uncalled for racism by gay white and Asian men).
ArtNYC
Thanks for the link, Josh. Disappointed though not surprised by Whoopi and Sherri’s response. They like Chris Rock would defend their own (not as comic) regardless. There is no excuse for TM, he lives and work in NYC surrounded by gays, he knows better. He thought he could get away with it because he was in TN which adds insult to small town folks. He’s making all these gestures of apologies not because he’s sorry; he’s sorry because he was called out. His press release was written by someone else, he can’t even speak half as well. I hope he gets fired from 30 Rock and not get any job for a long time to come.
nambridge
i am sorry to say that i will not watch anything thant mr. morgan is on, guest star or otherwise, and will not see any comedy shows he does and will ask my friends not to see him either. that comment was uncalled for given what has happened in society today
tiffany
again with the blacks versus gays business? i’ll say it again: not every black man is raging homophobe. full stop.
such a statement:
1. erases gay black men.
2. suggests that white men are incapable of being virulently homophobic (see: the recent blake shelton controversy; much of the GOP).
3. is untrue.
tracy morgan is an idiot. he is not all black men.
bravo on the how-to guide though. let’s add “and don’t do it again.” tracy morgan’s bigger problem is that he’s said this (at least) twice. it’s a pattern with him.
Josh6852
We as a community pushing equal rights for ALL need to make our voices heard NOW and encourage celebrities and politicians through TWITTER- FACEBOOK- EMAIL-…ETC. that they need to speak up when its not convenient to advance their careers…..You accept our hard earned money and go to our award shows and preach tolerance and standing up to bullies….Time to STAND UNITED in the fight for Equal Rights…. Tina Fey and 30 rock have received many awards from GLAAD….NO MORE LIP SERVICE- ACTION NOW…You use free speech Mr. Morgan as a front to spew hate…. Now its time to pay the piper….. The grip that GLAAD has on Tracy’s balls needs to be tighter. The AA community has been letting this sh@t fly for way to long. Where is all the AA outrage for “STABBING IS NI@@ER SON”. Imagine if Lisa Lampanelli said ” If I get pregnant, I pray when it shoots out my muff cabbage it’s a white baby, because if it’s a NI@@ER baby I will stab it.” Wonder what Whoopi and Sherri would say on The View? Double Standard.
Sebastian
@nambridge
Agreed but I am proud to say that I will not watch anything of Mr Morgan’s vile routines and anything and anyone who afiliates with that said Mr Morgan!
Fitz
I am so pissed at TM, and I am NOT there with “turn the other cheek”, especially because queer kids already go through too much. Black queer kids even worse. BUT… we need to have some mechanism within ourselves for accepting that people can grow up. I don’t know that he has, or ever will– I am just saying that we will never win people over to love and humanism if we can’t allow people to draw a line around their past.
Queer Supremacist
@Josh6852: There is NO WAY Lisa Lampanelli will ever have a white baby. Her whole act revolves around:
A) Having sex with black men.
B) Being a bitch.
She also gave $44,000 to Gay Men’s Health Crisis, so she’s our bitch.
@tiffany: Some gay black men have defended black homophobes even though they hate gay blacks just as much as gay whites. Thankfully, others have not. Saying “whites do it too” is a way to dodge the issue.
Meanwhile, where’s the child welfare office in Hollywood?
Josh6852
Tracey also said…..”If you can take a d@ck in your a@@, you can take a joke”. “MR. Morgan, you’re the biggest(ONLY)black dick I’ve had near my ass.”
meego
It doesn’t matter of you’re black, white, purple or polkadot! Homophobia is homophobia, plain and simple. This defending him/turn the other cheek crap ain’t working. Fire this asshole! No more slaps on the wrist. Anybody who’s been around will know that slaps on the wrist have little or no effect. There’s a saying in french : aux grands maux, les grands remedes. In other words, big problems require big solutions. Fire him!
Elloreigh
One point of quasi-disagreement: “And for God’s sake don’t go to rehab. Rehab for homophobia? Really?! Lame.”
Perhaps not rehab per se, but do get some counseling (or at least do some intense soul searching) to understand why you went on a homophobic rant and to deal with the attending issues. Saying your sorry and doing all this community service/outreach won’t necessarily make the underlying issues that led to your outburst/tirade go away.
mikeandrewsdantescove
I was a fan of Tracy Morgan. Stabbing his son for being gay is unforgiveable.
Mike
Alist New York – Season 2 Trailer
http://sfholidays.blogspot.com
ArtNYC
@ArtNYC: @Queer Supremacist:
Lisa Lampanelli married a white guy.
Stabbing anybody, especially one own son, over anything has no place in society, not even in comedy.
VinciSmetana
*More sounds of glass houses shattering*
Anyhow, on a separate note …
@ZT
Towle censored comments made by black gays. I’m not sure that runs in synch with your post #3. It’s not exactly in keeping with the rainbow.
Josh
this pathetic sack of s@#t, is just that a sad, pitiful, lowly pathetic, scum sucking douchbag sack of s@#t, just like the frigid bovine, jabba the hutt looking, scum sucker mags gallagher, the pathetic no life loser perkins, the pile of frothy toxic waste santorum, the sad sack of dried up crap bryan fissure, and fred phelps, and that fat sack waste of a oxygen, and water matt barber, and everyone like them.
These people are the lowest of pond scum, nothing more than dog s@#t on society’s shoe, and a example of the worst of humanity, and civilation.
They use God, and Jesus as a weapon of hate, defamation, discrimination,murder, violence, bigotry, and destruction. How any of these losers can call themselves christian is beyond me, because they dont follow Jesus, that’s for certain, maybe jeebus, but NOT Jesus. They all should be locked up in a asylum as being dangerous to the global community, which they are.
stephen
@Josh6852….oh josh, just say it, you hate black men and this is a perfect opportunity to justify your hatred. Just a question though, do you hate specifically assumed straight black men, or do you hate gay black men as well.
Trelindtr
Sounds like the perfect PR plan to me…
VinciSmetana
@Josh
Sounds like Jesus doesn’t play a role in your life either.
Josh6852
@stephen….. Don’t hate black men….. Just don’t want to sleep with them…… Many of my friends look black….. from a distance.
Dave
Yeah. I am a fan of TM. I don’t condone violence in no shape or form but I know TM was joking. I know he didn’t mean it literally. I believe in freedom of speech.
ThankGod
@tiffany:
Your response is rare: rational and logic.
Josh6852
Who is still using the word FA@@OT?????
1. Comedians unable to be funny, clever or witty on their own intellect
2. 40 yr old queens still behaving like 13 yr old girls
3. GOP
4. Rappers and Athletes
6. Most Black Out Drunks
Civilized people realize using this word in any forum spreads hate, whether you had intentions of doing so, you plant the seed or you fertilize other peoples ignorance.
MattGMD
Why don’t the hate-mongering allegedly-hetero religious ones respond like the sports and entertainers do when called out on anti-gay incidents?
jeff4justice
It’s amazing how my fellow gay brothers and sisters want all the empathy and understanding in the world from anti-gays of faith (with their deeply held beliefs) and we want them to be open to understanding but when someone F’s up like Morgan, some of you act like he needs to be crucified.
Be grateful that he’s open to learning, dialoging, and acknowledging he was wrong.
I empathize with my LGBT brothers/sisters who are so consumed by hurt and resentment that they cannot be open to forgiveness.
bob
I don’t see how violence is funny at all. But then, TM never did make me laugh.
Mimi
Just the regular run of the mill Gay Racists on here I see.
I dont think black people know how hateful gays are towards them or you would have alot more to complain about than what some celebrity had to say in his standup routine.
Rocky
@Josh6852: I hope your friends aren’t BIGOTS like you are. BIGOT!
Rocky
@Queer Supremacist: No, Its just pointing out White gay BIGOTRY! BIGOT!
ewe
@jeff4justice: You are the confused one. What makes you think “your” gay brothers and sisters want empathy and understanding from a homophobic bigot? I want equality. I want it to be law. I could give a fuck if an ignorant Tracy Morgan remains stupid. This is just one more of many orchestrated assaults on gay people. There is nothing for any gay person to forgive. If you put someone down i don’t have any accountability for you or your feelings and i certainly don’t have to forgive you. I would simply try to annihilate you nonviolently so you can’t do it again.
ewe
@Rocky: Shut it Rocky. You sound like a broken record. You better get a new gig. Calling people bigots because they do not lock in step with your philosophy is childish ego.
Vinci S.
Why am I finding out about this from Deadline and not Queerty?
http://www.deadline.com/2011/06/video-tracy-morgan-apologizes-for-homophobic-remarks-in-nashville/#comments
Ian
I hate to admit it, but I am getting a small bit of satisfaction out of this whole story. I thought Tracy Morgan sucked long before this event. Truly, he just sucks and no one in the biz (or on 30 Rock, etc) can say anything. Now we’ve seen a bit of true colors from this not-so-talented comic. Good riddance.
Ian
P.S. Vinci S., you are a hottie. 🙂