"So ... caught up on Trueblood last night .... Not a fan of how they get u hooked with the 1st 2 seasons then bring on a barrage of homosexuality."
The original post has been deleted, which is why I don't have a screen capture, but the text was quoted by both Philly.com and CSN Philly.com. As for the rest of this, as far as I can tell, this is the correct chronological order. First, Philadelphia Inquirer columnist John Gonzalez tweeted at Herremans:
Herremans' reply is not on his feed, but was quoted by Philly.com: "I have no issues with homosesxuality, to each his/her own... Its just not for me.. #jussayin." Gonzalez' nest tweet:
Gives new meaning to Herremans' position: offensive lineman.
Some may argue that the original post wasn't homophobic. He didn't use any anti-gay epithet, after all. He was just expressing his opinion. I think he has issues of some kind, though, because why else would it bother him so? Especially since the show has had at least one gay character since the beginning. Even I know that and I've never seen the show. He just caught up on the first two seasons. Didn't he take notice of Lafayette in any of those episodes? Presumably he's now gone nto the typical "apology" mode and won't talk about it further, so his true feelings will have to stay unknown.
It's also telling that his apology tweets came after he talked to the front office. (By the way, can we assume the Eagles called him in for a chat? I doubt that, in response to Gonzalez's queries, he thought, "Gee, maybe I should check in with management about this...") To his credit, though, he didn't use the "i" word we often get in these situations -- that word being "if," as in, "I apologize if I offended anyone."
If I'm correct in my assumption that Herremans won't discuss his opinions further, then it's hard to judge whether or not I should want to keep on rooting for him. This is a precarious position for a fan -- do you root for the team despite the presence of individuals you dislike (i.e. Michael Vick)? You can cheer for the Eagles but not want Herremans to do well -- but Herremans is in a key position. If he does poorly, it affects new starting quarterback Kevin Kolb and the offense, and that affects the team's performance.
And who's to say there aren't a whole bunch of homophobes on our favorite teams? Did anyone know Jon Runyan was a right-winger until he decided to run for Congress and get into bed with the racist teabaggers and birthers? Just another of the many things -- the huge contracts, the influence of TV on things like the schedule, the labor-management strife, the steroids, the criminal behavior, and on and on -- that makes it more difficult to be a sports fan these days.
So what do you think -- homophobe? Or just dumb?
2 comments:
People make dumb comments all the time about sensitive issues. That doesn't necessarily mean they're racist or homophobic or whatever. Thoughtlessness before speaking (or tweeting, in this case) has become so ingrained in our society no one can really tell from where the comment originates. Is it hatred or just stupidity? I think Herremans just needs to keep his mouth shut and look pretty.
No, the people may be racist, homophobic, anti-Semitic, etc., but unintentionally so. Herremans' original comment was homophobic. There are gay people everywhere, and if he doesn't like it, too bad. We're here, we're queer, and he and everyone else needs to get used to it. We deal with straight people, even grossly ignorant ones, as a matter of daily course.
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