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KOBE BEEF

We all know that Kobe Bryant is a great athlete.

If you are close enough to LA to read the papers you also know that he falls short as a man of integrity. He is a manchild in that respect.

His, now infamous, "faggot" scream is not a small thing. It is a big thing. This is what you say when you feel contempt for another male person. Faggot.

Here are some thoughts from a fine man and a great athlete who happens to be gay.

A Gay Former N.B.A. Player Responds to Kobe Bryant

John Amaechi. That's him. You won't see any Kobe photos on this blog.

When someone with the status of Kobe Bryant, arguably the best basketball player in a generation, hurls that antigay slur at a referee or anyone else — let’s call it the F-word — he is telling boys, men and anyone watching that when you are frustrated, when you are as angry as can be, the best way to demean and denigrate a person, even one in a position of power, is to make it clear that you think he is not a real man, but something less.

I challenge you to freeze-frame Bryant’s face in that moment of conflict with the referee Bennie Adams. Really examine the loathing and utter contempt, and realize this is something with which almost every lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender person is familiar. That is the sentiment people face in middle and high schools, in places of worship, work and even in their own homes across the United States.

Labels: gay identity, homophobia