Every time someone waves a rainbow flag at a sporting event, a bunch of knuckleheads scream profanely. They have a predictable refrain.
“Let’s keep politics out of sports!” they cry. As if the rainbow flag were “politics”.
But these same anti-gay fans don’t seem to have a problem when anti-gay Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker plays – wait for it – political action committee Those that oppose LGBTQ rights.
It’s just him exercising his First Amendment rights, somehow.
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Mr. Butker’s views on LGBTQ people were made clear in his commencement speech at Benedictine College this spring, where he called June Pride celebrations “a whole month of Pride, a deadly sin.” I called it. He also denounced what he called “decadent cultural values in the media” (code for pro-LGBTQ messages) and called the push for inclusion “tyranny.”
If you point out that Butker is bringing politics into sports…this crowd will accuse you of being “political.”
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To be clear, I have no problem with Butker, other athletes, or even public figures for that matter, using their platforms to do whatever political action they wish. there is no. It takes a lot of effort to get to where Batkar is. He can do what he wants with the platform he built.
Michael Jordan famously said he didn’t get involved in politics because Republicans also buy shoes. That’s one way.
When Tom Brady was simply singing “Make America Great Again” in red Hat in New England Patriots locker in 2015 — and this was before the media seriously criticized Trump, still thought his candidacy was a joke — some people’s heads exploded. Stepping into politics, even if it’s on behalf of a friend, can have a serious impact on the fan base of even the greatest quarterback of all time.
Athletes are currently speaking out in support of both Trump and Kamala Harris as the US presidential election heats up. Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell were handing out yellow Trump vs. Vance “terrible towels” at the stadium ahead of last weekend’s Sunday Night Football game between the Jets and Steelers.
That’s fine. Again, the “First Amendment.”
Rainbow flags at sporting events? Or…gulp…a rainbow on the jersey?
“You mean gays are ignoring your politics from my enjoyment of the game!”
Bhatkar’s journey to this place was very interesting to watch. When he gave a sexist, anti-gay, anti-transgender speech at Benedict College in May, he probably felt his world crumbling around him. A speech full of really mean opinions that only a few hundred people should have heard is suddenly being exposed to hundreds of millions of people.
But the anti-gay “keep politics out of sports” crowd rallied to his defense.
Frankly, I prefer to keep most politics out of sports – real politics. I’ve never been a fan of tying sports to a particular candidate, party, or political cause. In the 25 years since Outsports was first published, Jim Budzinski and I have kept party politics on the sidelines of our coverage.
That’s very different from a thoughtful conversation about policies that affect sports for LGBTQ people. We have been engaged in these important policy discussions for many years and will continue to do so.
In any case, waving rainbow flags at sporting events is not, and has never been, about “politics.” It’s about showing that everyone is welcome in games, including parts of society that have long felt or been told outright that they don’t belong.
What is politics? a political action committee. Butker’s Upright PAC doesn’t shy away from that.
“We see our values attacked every day.” They say this on their website. “That’s why UPRIGHT PAC was founded. We work to mobilize Christians across this country to ensure these values are upheld at the voting booth.”
The values Mr. Butker and his PAC aim to advance seem to be expressed in a speech at Benedictine College, convincing women to stay in the kitchen and attacking anyone who isn’t straight. That’s what it is.
This is completely in line with the idea of those who want to “keep politics out of sports,” so they welcome such politics in sports.
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Source: Outsports – www.outsports.com
