Thank you, Irish rugby player Neil Francis, for explaining gay people to us. We really thought we understood ourselves, but it turns out that we actually needed you, a straight man, to educate us all about what we are like.
When asked his opinion of newly-publicly-out football star Michael Sam, Neil went off on a weird tangent about the differences between straight people and gay people, like a hilarious “white people be like, and black people be like” routine.
“You do a survey of the hair-dressing industry and find out how many heterosexuals work in that,” he said.
He went on, “There are a wide range of people who are homosexual, and… the [sporting] environment… isn’t something that they’re interested in. … What are their interests? I mean, if you’ve ever sat down with homosexual people, and asked them what their interests are, very often they have no interest in any kind of sport. That’s my experience from sitting down with them; I’ve done it on a regular basis.”
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Oh, you’ve sat down with homosexual people on a regular basis? Really? We are trying to imagine the context of this. Were you all playing musical chairs? Were you shopping for a new rocker-recliner? Was it a Catholic Mass? Why all the regular sitting-down?
Also, if you actually talked to homosexual people on a regular basis, you would know that we really never say “homosexual people.”
And did it ever occur to you that perhaps there are gay athletes in your life that you don’t know about? And that they haven’t come out to you because your attitudes about hairdressing and sports are so ugly that they don’t trust you?
So, let’s be real for a moment here: Neil is not entirely off the mark by observing that there is a tendency for LGBTs to gravitate towards the arts and away from sport. That’s just the way it is. Is it because of an in-born inclination? Is it social pressure? Is it because of the repetition of stereotypes, as Neil has just done? It’s impossible to say.
But since this is a sensitive topic, maybe it’s a good time for everyone to watch their words carefully to make sure they don’t say something dumb, like “it’s like how the Jews run Hollywood” or “you know how black people can’t swim?” These are things that some people may think are truer than they actually are. Especially if those people are not actually members of the group that they are stereotyping.
Neil could have avoided all this trouble by adding just a few words: “But that’s just my impression. Maybe I’m wrong. Why don’t we ask a gay athlete?”
Ruhlmann
He’s Irish so he was probably shit faced drunk.
dvlaries
This is what you do to yourself when you put forward on a topic you haven’t a clue about.
*
Let him keep talking. No doubt there are scores women waiting for him to explain menstruation, labor and child birth to them.
becca621
It should be illegal to be that ignorant. And to think he may raise children some day…scary.
Cam
Putin said that nobody coming for the Olympics would be arrested….Yet a former Italian member of Parliment has been detained.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/17/sports/olympics/transgender-former-member-of-italian-parliament-detained-in-sochi.html?_r=0
And this story is nearly 48 hours old and even made the NYTimes, why wouldn’t Queerty run this?
cyberdoogi
He needs to have a conversation with rugby hunk Ben Cohen to realise just how bad his opinions are!
KittyLitter
@Cam: queerty only runs tabloid stories/articles.
They’re not interested in reporting real news.
-Of all the “tips” i’ve sent them, only the sleazy- tacky- gossip-y ones were reported.
They’re like the fox news for the gays.
Kieran
Maybe Neil read an article somewhere claiming that all gay boys like to put on their sister’s pretty princess jewelery, ride around in pink Barbie power wheels, and wave magic wands and throw fairy dust.
SteveDenver
What an ignorant idiot: some of us are FLORISTS!
mcflyer54
@KittyLitter: And with hundreds of thousands of other outlets for news on the internet you are required to read Queerty because? Maybe they’re the only site that has yet to moderate your snarky remarks?
yaoming
Even if all hairdressers were gay, that wouldn’t mean all gays were hairdressers. Guess this guy never studied logic, though, so maybe he doesn’t know the difference.
Jonathan26
The military integrated and so, too, shall the NFL despite the holdouts and Michael Sam will be revered as the Jackie Robinson of professional football, a role model for generations to come.
KittyLitter
@mcflyer54: Nah. That’s not it. I’m just bored so I visit “gay-themed” site out there. I tend to steer clear of site like “perez attentionwhore” though.
KittyLitter
@cyberdoogi: Ben Cohen isn’t even gay though. He should google “gay sports teams” instead to see how wrong he is.
mmacken
@Ruhlmann: Of course, God forbid that we should indulge in stereotyping, sexual, ethnic or otherwise !
SteveDenver
@Jonathan26: Did you happen to see the video of Michael Sam returning with the team to the Mizzou stadium? When he walks in the volume of the cheers escalated. Outside the stadium students ringed the structure 2-3 deep and blocked the Westboro Baptist Hate Rally.
Brian
ugh.
Gay people — all people, really — pick activities where they are welcomed, where they can excel. This much should be obvious. Instead of focusing on what the situation may currently be (lots of gay men who cut hair, if that really is the case), we should focus on what potential there could be. Let gay people into other organizations, and of course some will then excel and love it.
charwegl
Although he went about it the wrong way (and the guy’s clearly a dick), most gays I know don’t really like sports that much. Honestly, it’s one of the reasons I only have a few gay friends. Watching and participating in them are a big hobby of mine and I don’t know that many gays that share that same hobby. That’s certainly not to suggest they should be excluded from sports.
Respect4all
Is it necessary to write an article every time an idiot says something stupid? The world is full of stupidity; really, it’s EVERYWHERE. Most of the time it’s best to ignore it. Unless, of course, it’s coming from someone who has the power to do harm like, say, the president of Russia.
Mezaien
@SteveDenver: Hahahah man you are funny indeed.
misterhollywood
Colin Kaepernick JUST is now in a video with HOT PINK PANTS (when you expand) coming out for his support of gay people in the NFL. Link below. Scroll down and you will see the video. He sat down for ESPN for this one. I find it very interesting that he is saying he is supportive of gay people at a time when he is under heavy scrutiny for his own sexual orientation.
http://www.straight-or-gay.com/colin-kaepernick/
Wadey-New Zealand
What a total TARD! ok, so i admit, i actually am a hairdresser, though i can honestly say i have worked with more straight dudes than gay in my career so far. Also this bullshit bout sports and gays not being into them, i trained intensively as a gymnast from age 4 through to 16 (you can argue thats a gay sport but id like to see som rugby dude go through some of the shit i had too). In short. This dude is a DOUCHE.
Allen D.
It’s possible it wasn’t meant maliciously, When I hang out with my fellow gays (typically a weekly Sunday brunch of 20-30 of us), I know that I’m the only one that follows sports.
Granted. 30 of us isn’t a great scientific study. I could be way off. But I didn’t get that he was trying to be a dick or anything.
Ruhlmann
@mmacken: That was my point.