Last week, we got a ridiculous amount of backlash for sharing the story of Fallon Fox, the transgender MMA fighter whose fight license is under review in Florida. People who’ve never commented on a With Leather story (or haven’t commented in years) showed up to anonymous type some hateful shit into a comments box and post it, because the most difficult thing to do in the world is be compassionate about something you don’t understand. “I hate this group of people because X” became an opinion, and not something crazy people say when they want to be horrible.

Anyway, the positives of sharing that story outweighed the negative. The sports world (and the sportswriting world, by proxy) need every single one of its important people to stand up and say “hey, stop it.” Today we got a big one, thanks to UFC’s Rashad Evans, via his outstanding statement on OutSports. He spoke candidly — and, most importantly, like a f**king grown-up — about same-sex marriage and gay rights. Here’s a sample:

“I’ve never been a homophobe, never understood what that is all about. I knew some people who were gay and never cared about their sexuality. But at the same time, I didn’t fully understand the issues around gay people until my friend BA started telling me about his full public support for gay marriage. We talked about the issue and I decided its not enough to not be against a minority, if you want things to go better for them you have to speak up with them.

“I’m a UFC fighter, a macho-type sport. I am a heterosexual guy in a tough macho sport, which is exactly the reason I feel a duty to say I support gay marriage and gay rights.

I can’t even begin to tell you how much this makes me like Rashad Evans. It’s strange that comments like these still seem refreshing, but they are, and I encourage you to read a few more quotes after the jump, high-five OutSports for sharing them with the world, and support Evans in everything he does. Even if he tries to fight Bones again.

Read the rest of this entry »

“Well, you know I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don’t like gay people and I don’t like to be around gay people. I am homophobic. I don’t like it. It shouldn’t be in the world or in the United States. So yeah, I don’t like it.”

That was Tim Hardaway four years ago, in an interview with Miami’s 790 The Ticket, talking about John Amaechi coming out of the closet. He kind of apologized the next day. “I shouldn’t have said that I hate gay people or anything like that,” he said. “I should have just said I don’t condone him being in the locker room.” He probably shouldn’t have said anything. Hardaway was my favorite player growing up, and hearing him speak out against basic human rights for basic human people made my stomach hurt. I owned a Dream Team and a Golden State Warriors jersey with Hardaway’s number, and that’s not an easy thing for a kid to do in Virginia in the 90s. Here I am stuck telling people I loved Jud Buechler. Jud Buechler.

Four years later I’m proud to say my stomach is feeling better. Hardaway could’ve moved on with his life and done one of those “that’s just who I am, I don’t condone it” acts, but he’s done us one better. He’s not only okay with gay people being in the United States, he wants them to have what most folks in the United States take for granted. He showed up in El Paso, Texas this week to support to a group of politicians who are trying to be recalled by a religious group for their stance on gay rights.

From the El Paso Times, by way of Ball Don’t Lie:

In town for a golf outing, Hardaway attended a press conference urging citizens to oppose recall efforts against Mayor John Cook and city Reps. Susie Byrd and Steve Ortega. The three are being recalled by a group of religious conservatives who are angry the three voted to restore health benefits for gay and unmarried partners of city employees — despite a ballot initiative in November that had abolished them.

That’s about as apolitical as the gay rights discussion gets. Do you want these people to be taken care of when they get sick, yes/no? Hardaway wants to the people who are angry to come to the same conclusions he did between now and so very, very long ago.

“I would say grow up and catch up with the times,” he said. “It’s all around the world.”

The two comments posted on Ball Don’t Lie about this story sum it up nicely. The first, “Sometimes what you think is right is just wrong. Takes a real man to admit that. Good for Hardaway.” The second, “sell-out stand by your rules if it aint right it aint right”. I hope one of those makes more sense to you than the other. For those of you who can’t tell the difference, you can’t be my friend. And here I am having to be friends with Jud Buechler.