wait... what?!

Drew Brees to people criticizing his work with antigay hate group: “Shame on you!”

This just in: NFL star Drew Brees has a message for anyone who wants to accuse him of being antigay for his nearly decade-long involvement with the antigay hate group Focus on the Family: Shame! Shame on you for criticizing him!

Wait… what?

Quick backstory: It all started last weekend when Brees appeared in a 23-second video for the antigay hate group Focus on the Family to promote “Bring Your Bible to School Day,” where he encouraged kids to bring their Bibles (just Bibles, though. No Torahs. And definitely no Qurans!) to school and convert their classmates.

Shortly after that, it was revealed Brees had been working with the organization since 2010, appearing on its radio program and being profiled on its official blog.

Focus on the Family opposes same-sex marriage and adoption by same-sex couples. It also supports gay conversion therapy and religious freedom laws, believes trans people are deranged, says anti-bullying groups promote homosexuality, and has lobbied for legislation allowing antigay workplace discrimination.

Yesterday, Brees finally spoke out about the controversy… by using a page straight from the Donald Trump playbook and blaming the media.

In a cellphone video posted to his social media pages, Brees begins: “There’s been a lot of negativity spread about me in the LGBTQ community recently based upon a article that someone wrote with a very negative headline that I think led people to believe that somehow I was aligned with an organization that was anti-LGBTQ and so on and so forth.”

Somehow, Brees doesn’t think working with Focus on the Family for nearly a decade means he’s “aligned” with them.

He continues: “I do not support any groups that discriminate or have their own agendas that are trying to promote inequality. Hopefully that set the record straight and we can all move on, because that’s not what I stand for.”

Except that he does support a group that discriminates and promotes inequality. Or at least he has for the past nine years.

It remains to be seen whether he will continue working with Focus on the Family. So far, however, it doesn’t appear as though he has requested the organization stop circulating the “Bring Your Bible to School” video, nor has he asked them to remove his profile from their website or stop selling his 2010 appearance on their radio program. The broadcast is still up for sale on Amazon for $1.99.

Later, at a press conference Thursday evening, Brees once again refused to take any personal responsibility or even consider what his critics were saying and instead blamed the media for reporting about his involvement with an antigay hate group.

“That’s not a very fair headline,” Brees told media. “That headline was not representative of what that video was about at all. Am I right in saying that? I think that’s fair.”

“Why would you post a headline like that? Why? Why would you post a headline like that when that’s not what the video had anything to do about.”

Brees went on to say he was “not aware” that Focus on the Family lobbied for antigay causes, but stopped short of saying that, had he known, he never would have worked with them.

“What’s a shame is that people will make headlines just to get hits,” Brees rambled on. “Just to get views. And all of the sudden these rumors are spread that are completely untrue. So shame on them.”

Except, once again, they aren’t untrue. As we previously stated, Brees has been involved with Focus on the Family in various capacities for almost a decade. This is a well-documented fact.

It seems doubtful that Brees will face any real repercussions for what he’s done. He’s one of the highest paid players in the NFL and his fans are fiercely loyal and, in many cases, fiercely Christian. Some are even supporters of Focus on the Family. Brees could use this as a teachable moment for them. Instead, he’s blaming those who simply want to see him do better.

Related: NFL star Drew Brees partners with Focus on the Family to promote hate

 

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