Tim Hardaway has come a long way in seven-months. When the former basket baller first caught our eye, he'd just told the world that he "hates gay people". In fact, he loathed the lavenders so much, Hardaway said he'd cross the street if he saw a homo approaching.

Following the firestorm, Hardaway shrank from the public eye and made a concerted effort to get himself some education. And the 41-year old put his new knowledge to use Wednesday night during a discussion on transgender rights in Miami. About forty people had gathered to discuss raising awareness - and, ultimately, acceptance - and Hardaway offered his freshly progressive views. One activist referred to Hardaway's remarks as "the perfect answer" on how to keep trans kids safe. Perfect? That's pretty incredible.

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John Amaechi's made quite a name for himself since coming out. Not only has signed with HRC, but he's been tapped as HeadBlade's new spokesperson. The chrome domed former b-baller will appear in adverts with the tag-line, "Against The Grain": a not-so-subtle reference to his faggotry.

Mike Wilke of Commercial Closet describes Amaechi's new gig as a "turning point". He goes on to say, "Society, and sports fans, are becoming more used to gays and advertising is growing more comfortable with gays." And, it seems, companies are growing less tolerant of homo-haters: Tim Hardaway - another former NBA player who made headlines after confessing, "I hate gay people" - has subsequently been dropped from another bald-headed product line: Bald Guyz. Of Hardaway's firing, Bald Guyz chief executive Howard Brauner insisted

Bald Guyz, like baldness, does not discriminate based on lifestyle choice, color, education, financial resources, religion, physical capabilities or any other way.

Too bad for Hardaway, huh?

Rumor has it that former basketball players John Amaechi and Tim Hardaway will be coming face to face one of these days. That is, if Hardaway agrees. For his part, Amaechi's all about it:

I'd agree to it, so it won't be on me. It's certainly something I'd be interested in doing. And I think everybody deserves a chance at redemption.

Amaechi went on to suggest that a little televised reconciliation may be just what Hardaway needs. Or, rather, Hardaway's reputation:

I feel a bit sad for him in that I never thought a legacy of being a great basketball player is a really good one, anyway. He's a thousand times the player I could ever hope to be. That's a fact. But at the same time, my legacy will be more than just putting a ball in a hole - and his legacy will now be even less than that.

Ouch. We never knew our main squeeze Amaechi could get so bitchy. Or so pompous. Discussing the success of his new book - Man in The Middle, which ranked 19th on the NY Times best-seller list - Amaechi admitted, "I wouldn't write a book and imagine that it shouldn't be a New York Times bestseller." Shooting for the stars, indeed.

As for Hardaway sitting down with Amaechi - we're not holding our breath. This is the man, after all, who said he crosses the street when he sees gay people headed his way. Although, perhaps his publicist can persuade him.

Or maybe someone will pay him. He does need the money…

The word faggot's been on the national lips as of late, largely because of Isaiah Washington's tactless -and equally explosive - reference to Grey's Anatomy co-star TR Knight. There's been a rash of like-minded stories since then, most recently Tim Hardaway's less-than-friendly comments on the gays.

Considering these developments, one would think homophobia's the next big thing. But what is that thing? What is homophobia? Sure, we know it's a fear of gay people, but to earn the right of "phobia", it would have to be an "extreme and/or irrational fear". Is homophobia an actual fear or is it a choice?

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Things sure are rough for Tim Hardaway these days. Aside from becoming the gay public's enemy number one, but he's got some baby mama on his ass. TMZ reports that he's got not one, but two pending lawsuits:

In the first suit, Washington Mutual Bank is alleging that Hardaway hasn't paid his mortgage since last September — with a balance of $715,000 — and is trying to foreclose on his house in Miami-Dade County, FL. (Hardaway used to play for the Miami Heat.)

Meanwhile, Hardaway is also being sued for not paying more than $45,000 in back rent for his Miami-area car wash. The suit, filed in Circuit Court, charges that the business — for which Hardaway is a guarantor on the lease — hasn't paid rent in several months, dating back to last fall.

That's the same car wash, of course, that he renamed to avoid a gay boycott.

If Hardaway's looking for some extra cash money, perhaps he can write a book on how to be not-so-successful homophobe. Getting a book published takes loads of time, though. For a quick buck he could swallow his pride and swallow some sperm. At the market rate of fifty bucks a go, that's only 15,200 blow jobs. Piece of cake. Or, rather, penis…

Speaking of Tim Hardaway, you may be interested in yet another post-"I hate gay people" interview in which he again insists he doesn't hate gay people. Apparently he just misspoke and, also, forgot where he was:

When I listened to the interview it really sounded like I meant what I said, like I meant that I hate gay people. I was thinking that I was talking to somebody else and not really knowing what it was I was saying. Did I forget I was on the radio? To tell you the truth, at the time I was talking, yes.

Despite his failings and declarations of change, it doesn't seem Hardaway's quite ready to get down with the gays. When asked if he wants to use the scandal as a jumping off point to understand gay people's "lifestyle", Hardaway replies:

No. I don't want to … try to find some type of understanding of why they live the way they live or why they are the way they are. Maybe I could go to therapy, maybe someone can help me out with understanding [them], the sensitivity of the issue. But as a person, my beliefs are my beliefs. I don't have to condone it and I don't have to be around it.

He also says that he's so upset by being near gay people that he crosses the street when he sees them coming, just like his parents taught him. Nice to know a grown man's still plagued by childish fears.

Our friend Michael Jenson from AfterElton sent us a link to his harangue against late night talker, Jimmy Kimmel. Apparently Jensen didn't take too kindly to some of Kimmel's comments on transexuals while interviewing Ugly Betty's Rebecca Romijn. Jensen writes:

…[Kimmel] reverted to 5th grade boy behavior while interviewing Rebecca Romijn who plays a transgendered character on Ugly Betty. Kimmel mocked transgendered people by showing photos of various transsexuals like Rene Richards.

Jensen then takes aim at Kimmel's assertion that trannies can't be as feminine as Romijn. For her part, Romijn says she's met more feminine trannies, to which Kimmel says, "No you haven't".

We don't necessarily think Kimmel's transphobic. We just think he's a douche. And not just for this - he's always been a douche and, most likely, he'll always be a douche. But, that's just our opinion. Why not watch the video and decide for yourself.

(Even though he's, again, a douche, we still love his send up of homo-hating Tim Hardaway, starring homo-hero, George Takei.)

While we're on the subject of Martin Luther King, we'd like to point you to an article by our old friend, sappho-journo Jasmyne Cannick.

In said article, Cannick uses King's his 1963 "Letter from Birmingham Jail" to scold black leaderes for their Tim Hardaway-related silence.

Cannick insists that black leaders' muteness only proves that they're just as complicit in homophobic oppression as their white predecessors. By eschewing the inflammatory issue, black leaders are derailing King's dream and creating a nightmare for queer blacks.

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Blogger Jon Swift just sent us an email with a link to an article he claims a reader had sent him in response to his piece, the explosively entitled, "Tim Hardaway Makes Homophobia Look Bad". Obviously we read that piece before checking out the aforementioned link, so let's take a few seconds to work it over.

First and foremost, it's worth mentioning that Swift describes himself as "reasonable conservative" whose only news comes from Fox News, Rush Limbaugh and Jay Leno. He must have gotten his lines crossed, though, because in this particular piece, he references CNN's Wolf Blitzer. While covering the Tim Hardaway scandal, Wolfe apparently likened queers in the locker room to queers in the military. Like any good conservative sports fan, Swift took the ball and ran.

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A group of Floridian gay activists were so incensed over Tim Hardaway's anti-gay admission that they started a petition to boycott his car wash: "Tim Hardaway Presents Finest Hand Carwash".

Hoping to throw them off track, The Miami Herald reports, Hardaway decided to quietly remove his name from the whip wiping establishment, rechristening it "Grand Luxe Auto Bathe". Seems like he's trying to give a cosmopolitan, European allure. Too bad it comes across sounding more like a sex club - and not a very classy one, either.

Although, we wouldn't expect Hardaway to know of such things…

Tim Hardaway's seemingly endless apology campaign may not win him any votes with a fellow named Bryan Jones. As an eagle-eyed reader pointed out, if you google Hardaway's name, you'll find an ad for a website Tim Hardaway 4 President on which Jones lauds Hardaway's homophobic revelations. But don't worry, Jones isn't completely deranged, the stunt's just his way of fighting against the Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools.

Tim Hardaway is my new hero. It is not easy to speak your mind when others (the liberal media) may not like it.

Understand that I am using this website to get your attention about an issue that I feel is important. Hate speach is not something I support.

I don't hate gay people but I do hate how Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools are trying to teach that people can be born gay. There is no conclusive scientific evidence to support this.

No, there isn't. Then again, there's no scientific evidence to prove Jones is an asshole, but there's certainly enough empirical evidence.

He also apparently doesn't know how to pick his battles. While Montgomery County schools may teach about homosexuality, they've also agreed (however begrudgingly) to distribute pamphlets from pro-ex-gayers, PFOX. So, really, the school isn't only teaching about gay people, but how to get rid of gay people. You'd think Jones would be thrilled…

Appearing on Jimmy Kimmel's astonishingly long-lived late-night show, former Star Trek star and known homosexual George Takei offered a homo hand to homo hater, Tim Hardaway. Though he didn't specify where he'd be placing his pawn, we have a feeling it won't be a simple shake. More like a stroke, actually…

Charles Barkley delivers one of the most eloquent responses regarding the Tim Hardaway homophobia scandal. Argues Barkley: For a black man – who should understand oppression more than anyone – to make these statements makes the episode that much worse.

But we'll remain a bit doubtful to Barkley's assertion that a gay player in the NBA could come out and not face opposition or under-the-radar shunning from teammates and other players. Not sure we're quite there yet.

Tim Hardaway's apology tour continued on Sunday, with his taking to a South Florida radio station to once again say he's sorry for ranting on and on about his homophobia. By now, you all know the comments he made on a Miami TV station – "I hate gay people" … "I am homophobic" – and this week, his publicist, agent, and the NBA are hoping you'll know just how sorry he is.

"I don't hate gay people," Hardaway said. "I'm a good-hearted person. I interact with people all the time. … I respect people. For me to say 'hate' was a bad word, and I didn't mean to use it."

We're just about through with the "Is an apology too little, too late?" argument. (Answer: Yes.) But our policy on calling bullshit when it's stepped in? Yeah, that game is still on.

In case you missed Hardaway's original rant, it's after the jump.

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• The New York Blade sounds off about people sounding off about Amanda Lepore's appearance at the HRC NYC dinner.

• The kids at BWE offer their view on former The View host Meredith Vieira's Diane Saywer lesbian fantasy fueled appearance on the Daily Show.

• The Feds have launched a search for Lou Pearlman, the man who helped launch N'Sync.

• The Concerned Women of America are concerned that Tim Hardaway's comments about hating gays will detract their gay hating movement, which uses love to hate. It's very progressive.

• Congress ain't down with Bush's plans to have troops down on the ground down in Iraq.

• We were supposed to post these pictures of the Jimmy Im-endorsed, Svedka/Queerty-sponsored, eastern bloc-housed, Wednesday-nighted party, Good Times, yesterday. Unfortunately, we got all sorts of thrown off by Tim Hardaway and that whole mess. So we're posting them now, in lieu of Queerty ReBUTTal, after the jump. Now featuring a special Mad Libs section!

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