Suns Rick Welts Admits He's Gay

[Southpaw]

If this is David Stern's last term, it would be great if Welts was named to succeed him.

 

[elindholm]

The language of "admitting" being gay is, itself, offensive to homosexuals (or should be). I don't "admit" to having been born in the month of December; it's just a fact about myself. All of these people patting themselves on the back for their lack of prejudice for applauding someone's "admission" of homosexuality aren't quite there yet.

 

[Bufalay]

The language of "admitting" being gay is, itself, offensive to homosexuals (or should be). I don't "admit" to having been born in the month of December; it's just a fact about myself. All of these people patting themselves on the back for their lack of prejudice for applauding someone's "admission" of homosexuality aren't quite there yet.

I was just about to post the same thing.

 

[Magnus]

I have no idea who a "homo" parade is harming. If someone feels they are being harmed, don't look.

I am just saying that the whole gay parade thing is unnecesary, infact, it is creating more harm than good because many people get the wrong impressions altogether.

Anyway, you shouldn't need to throw a parade just to show your comfortable with your sexual alignment. That is very different than carnivals and such.

 

[Errntknght]

Magnus,

I'm afraid we'll have to wait until 2111. for this to truly happen.

I'm not at all sure people make progress in this regard. The ancient Greeks were quite tolerant of homosexuality - though they were quite intolerant of anyone who wasn't Greek. The ancient Egyptians were reputedly completely 'colorblind'.

 

[slinslin]

Who the heck cares, I couldn't care less if Welts is gay or not. It is kind of hypocrite to make a huge story out of it.

 

[mojorizen7]

Who the heck cares, I couldn't care less if Welts is gay or not. It is kind of hypocrite to make a huge story out of it.

I agree. The real story is that the Suns still suck with no end in sight.
Borderline playoff/lottery team with bank accountants running the basketball operations.....coincidence?

 

[JCSunsfan]

Slow news day.

 

[Bert]

I think sports fans are a lot less sensitive about this than the people in sports think they are. Sports fans in general pretty much lack a concience. Thats why they cheer for drunks, rapists, even suspected murderers. Look at Mike Vick, he killed dogs and Philly fans are buying their granddaughters his jersey! lol In sports it really doesn't matter, you can be pretty much anything, as long as you win.

So to all you athletes thinking about coming out but are nervous about the reaction, just make sure you play well in the game before, and after and NOBODY WILL CARE! lol

 

[bankybruce]

Who the heck cares, I couldn't care less if Welts is gay or not. It is kind of hypocrite to make a huge story out of it.

What? That makes no sense THESLINSLIN. How does it make him a hypocrite to try to be a role model for a group of people, who in recent months has been the focus of constant bullying that led to multiple suicides? You have made some really lame comments, but that one should go in the THESLINSLIN hall of fame.

 

[Stargazer]

Agree the word "admit" is a poor choice. I'm pretty sure he's declaring it proudly, not "admitting" it. Also agree that I'll admire him even more if he'll help put together a winning team.

Bonus prediction: the first openly gay athlete who's any good is going to make a fortune in endorsements.

 

[desertdawg]

Admit is a horrible word choice IMO (it's like I would have to admit to being a HIPPIE, something I am very proud of regardless of what "others" think) , that's all I gotta say about that...

No disrespect to the original thread starter, but that's how I feel.

 

[slinslin]

What? That makes no sense THESLINSLIN. How does it make him a hypocrite to try to be a role model for a group of people, who in recent months has been the focus of constant bullying that led to multiple suicides? You have made some really lame comments, but that one should go in the THESLINSLIN hall of fame.

It is hypocrite by the people who make a big story out of it but promote that it should be generally accepted.

What century are we living in? I could not honestly care less if someone is gay or not and I do not need to have that on the frontpage of the newspaper. This isn't 1960.

 

[elindholm]

What century are we living in? I could not honestly care less if someone is gay or not and I do not need to have that on the frontpage of the newspaper. This isn't 1960.

No, it isn't 1960 -- much of the population hasn't even gotten there yet. It's possible one has to live in the U.S. in order to appreciate how bass-ackward a lot of the country still is.

 

[slinslin]

Maybe they should have sent Welts to the lottery, would have made a big story for the NBA to hand him the #1 pick.

 

[Dback Jon]

No, it isn't 1960 -- much of the population hasn't even gotten there yet. It's possible one has to live in the U.S. in order to appreciate how bass-ackward a lot of the country still is.

Like this:
GAY STUDENTS THREATENED WITH SUSPENSION FOR HOLDING HANDS ON CAMPUS

The nation’s sixth largest public school district has cleared a high school principal accused of lecturing and threatening two female students with suspension for holding hands on campus. The students say the principal also “outed” them to their parents.

The South Florida Times is not identifying the students, who are an interracial couple, one a junior, the other a senior. Both have good grades and one is an honor student.

The two were holding hands while walking to class on May 3 at Blanche Ely High School in Pompano Beach. School Principal Karlton Johnson confronted and took them to his office.

“We were walking to class when he rolled up on his golf cart and said, ‘Didn’t I tell you two to stop doing do that?’ and then he took us to his office,” one of the girls told South Florida TImes. “He gave us a speech and then separated us before calling our parents, which was wrong. My mother already knew but my friend’s mom didn’t know she is into girls.”

One of the teens says Johnson had warned them about holding hands on previous occasions but they continued anyway because straight couples were allowed to do so without incident. The students reacted to Johnson’s action by complaining to school officials.

http://www.sfltimes.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=7111&Itemid=1

I could give thousands of examples on how backwards and discriminatory this country still is to their citizens

 

[Cheesewater]

Great Washington Post article with Charles Barkley on this topic:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/charles-barkley-in-sports-ability-to-play-should-outweigh-sexual-orientation/2011/05/17/AFSArk5G_story.html

Charles Barkley: In sports, ability to play should outweigh sexual orientation

By Mike Wise, Published: May*17

Charles Barkley is sick and tired of hearing how the sanctuary of the locker room is not ready for a male athlete in a major team sport to come out to his teammates, how awkward everyone would feel after they heard a teammate say, “I’m gay.”

After all, Barkley has no doubt he played with several gay teammates.

“I didn’t think it . . . they were gay,” he said when asked Monday about Phoenix Suns President Rick Welts coming out in a New York Times story over the weekend.
The Hall of Fame player and TNT analyst added he was certain he had gay teammates “on two of three teams I played on.”

Big deal, Barkley basically said, in a wide-ranging interview we taped Monday for my radio show on WJFK (106.7 FM): Those two teams with gay players? They still won and flourished. They had camaraderie and chemistry. And no, neither he nor his straight teammates were ever hit on or flirted with to his recollection.
Fears of feeling uncomfortable in the shower or the dressing areas, Barkley said, are unfounded in his experience.

“A guy is never going to put himself in that situation in a professional locker room,” Barkley said. “It never crossed my mind, and I never felt any different about the guy.”

Also weary of the perception that a majority of straight male athletes are intensely homophobic, Barkley said gay players pose no problem, adding, “Man, we need to outlaw guys who suck at sports.”

“I really like ESPN,” Barkley added. “They do a great job. But like once every two or three months, they bring all these people on there, and they tell me how me and my team are going to respond to a gay guy.

“First of all, every player has played with gay guys. It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say: ‘Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.’ First of all, quit telling me what I think. I’d rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can’t play.”
Wild, no? We are just four years removed from Tim Hardaway, in response to former player John Amaechi coming out, saying he “hates gay people,” and LeBron James ignorantly adding that he could not trust a teammate who was in the closet because he believed untruthfulness in his personal life would actually hurt him on the court.
Four years later, in an enlightening way, sports has undergone a very gay spring.

First the Lakers’ Kobe Bryant was hit with a $100,000 fine for uttering a gay slur at a referee, an incident Bryant later called a “teaching moment” as he and the club partnered with a gay-rights group to educate others.

Then, there was the New York Rangers’ Sean Avery’s endorsement ad for the Human Rights Campaign’s “New Yorkers for Marriage Equality Campaign,” an instigator in the most testosterone-laden of sports, no less.

Over the weekend, Grant Hill and Jared Dudley, coincidentally two Phoenix Suns players, participated in an NBA public service announcement that denounced the use of the term “gay” as acceptable trash talk on the playground.

It was also revealed that former Villanova player Will Sheridan came out to teammates during his career with the Wildcats, with no ramifications whatsoever.
And now Barkley, who played as masculine as any 6-foot-4 power forward in the history of playground or pro hoops, uttering the words, “It didn’t bother me,” saying he knew he had gay teammates.

“Any professional athlete who gets on TV or radio and says he never played with a gay guy is a stone-freakin’ idiot,” Barkley said. “I would even say the same thing in college. Every college player, every pro player in any sport has probably played with a gay person.

Barkley’s message: Don’t worry. Deal with it.

“They’re not going to do anything in the locker room,” he said. “Doesn’t work like that.”
Barkley added that he wished Welts, whom he knows well because he lives in Phoenix, the best in the fallout from his public revelation. He also explained his stance and feelings about the issue.

“First of all, society discriminates against gay people,” Barkley said. “They always try to make it like jocks discriminate against gay people. I’ve been a big proponent of gay marriage for a long time, because as a black person, I can’t be in for any form of discrimination at all.”

Yes, he says, there are whispers and rumors in the NBA.

“We gossiped behind each other’s back before; I’ll be the first to admit that,” he said, before adding, “The first people who whine and complain is them Bible-thumpers, who are supposed to be non-judgmental, who rail against them.

“Hey, man, I don’t worry about what other people do.”
In this ever open-minded May, amen to that.

 

[Lorenzo]

Great Washington Post article with Charles Barkley on this topic:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/charles-barkley-in-sports-ability-to-play-should-outweigh-sexual-orientation/2011/05/17/AFSArk5G_story.html

I agree with barkley's take.

You know honestly people are all different and let them be who they are.

I have no problem with the suns guy coming out and frankly it is a shame that people have to hide who they are in fear of being judged.

Honestly I don't have a problem with a guy getting mad and saying something that he doesn't mean in the heat of the moment like kobe and noah did though either. I think those terms used to be used very "slang" in my day. Not to be taken literal. That doesn't make it right and overt time you have to change your vocabulary if you are making people upset. I've always thought if you could offend one person with a comment you shouldn't say it. If you are in a forum where you know you aren't going to offend people then you can talk as you please.

and I think people who are on TV while they play a BBALL game have to control their emotions because they are under the microscope. but no one is perfect and in the heat of the moment sometimes you say things that you don't mean.