Enter Todd Reynolds, vice president of Uptown Sports Management, which lists eleven NHL players as clients, Mr. Avery not among them. Reynolds says:
Personally, I am sick to death of hearing the Todd Reynoldses of the world piously spout how the way they happen to be and feel, is how everyone should be and feel, or they are somehow less human, and beneath basic dignity. To suggest that this bigotry (oh yes it is, Todd) is somehow divinely endorsed is ego and bland arrogance at its worst.
Todd Reynolds says this is just the way he was raised. Time was, people were raised to believe that a black person or a woman was less deserving of basic human rights. Now it's gays. Always, it is a group seen as too weak to fight back. In school, we called this bullying. Todd Reynolds calls it moral values.
_______
what about time in the goal box...without pads...did i say that?
ReplyDeleteAmen. Why is "just the way he feels" more valid than just the way someone else feels? This is like a Carrie Prejean moment for hockey, apparently. It reminds me of the sticker: "Don't like abortion? Don't have one."
ReplyDeleteFrankly I don't think celebrities are good for much beyond their particular talent, but using your celebrity to call attention to bigotry and prejudice is one of the few things I do believe is worthwhile, even though some may be doing it from less than pure motives. Especially in sports, which reaches so many people, this kind of speaking out *can* make a difference.
if that's just the way he feels, fine. so he won't be marrying any men. but to make what he feels to be right, to make that the law is totally wrong. they just aren't content to live their lives the way they want, they want everyone else to toe their line as well. And really, why do they friggin give a whoop what other people do? It affects them not at all. just plain hatefulness.
ReplyDeletethey are all so stupid anyway as if marriage was a gift from god. the whole marriage thing - one man, one woman (oh, except when the man wants another woman and then that's OK) - it was all about inheritance rights. men didn't want someone else's kid getting the goods. and since they were bigger and stronger, women became property.
I could write 1,000 words in response to your post today. A simple 'thank you' captures my emotions best. I am a board member of the Mossier Foundation ~~ a foundation that devotes 100% of its resources to LGBT issues. Gay marriage right at the top of the list.
ReplyDeleteWay to go Sean Avery!
ReplyDeleteAnd Todd Reynolds? He should have kept his narrow, fear-based opinion to himself.
Good for Sean Avery. That other guy - just ignorant.
ReplyDeleteI love every word, Shay. I was already discouraged, because into my inbox this morning came an alert that Uganda is trying to pass a law which would give the death penalty to homosexuals, simply for being who they are. My heart just sinks that there is so much ignorance still to combat, so much human consciousness still stuck in the mire. Sigh.
ReplyDeleteSadly there are many bigots like this who 'truly' believe they are not bigots just have their own personal POV which they feel the need to spew, er, share ...
ReplyDeleteRah rah! I love that Sean Avery said this. Athletes can be so powerful. I love it when athletes from seemingly hyper-masculine sports are so vocal and open-minded about identity. YEAH.
ReplyDeleteBigots like that make me feel physically ill. I just can't understand all this crap they spout in regards to gay marriage (among other things) it makes me so angry. Even when I was a Christian (before I saw the light) I just couldn't buy into the anti-GLBT crap that they were constantly spouting. I'm bi and I can't change that anymore than I can change the color of my skin and if someday I want to marry a woman no one has the right to tell me I can't. Or at least they shouldn't. We should put people like Reynolds on their own island since they all hate everybody but those exactly like them anyway.
ReplyDeleteK, sorry, just had to get that out.
You go, girl. Speak the truth.
ReplyDeleteI will say this, there are more and more people doing what Sean Avery has done. Also, the bigots are so much more obvious now than even just a few years ago. I don't agree with them, but now,more than ever before, we can see their true colors!
I think lots of shit is wrong. I think it's wrong that they cancelled Law and Order. I think it's wrong that I can't get a pair of jeans that makes my ass look good for under $90. Unlike Mr. Avery, however, I have a basic understanding that nobody gives a damn what I think and certainly shouldn't be expected to conform their behavior accordingly.
ReplyDeleteDouchebag.
Other than Mr Reynolds having a cool name, there's not much to like about him.
ReplyDeleteIt is his right to think gay marriage is wrong. It is NOT his right to impose that belief on others.
As to the sanctity of marriage? Ummm, yeah, could anyone show that being the case among straight couples?
God doesn't like it?
"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...."
Tough shit, The US Constitution says your religion has no authority in these matters.
But, it's what most Americans feel?
Well, civil rights are not subject to popular opinion. If they were, we might still own slaves, and women couldn't vote.
The truth of the matter probably is Mr reynolds is afraid he'll catch the gay from *those* types. Fear is his motivator :(
People used to be raised that when you stole something, you got your hand cut off. People used to be raised to allow the husband to take any earnings or property of their wives and consider it their own. People used to be raised that when they found themselves with an unwanted pregnancy, they had to use a coat hanger and risk almost-certain death...
ReplyDeleteAaargh! I could go on and on, but the spittle that has been spewed all over my livingroom is so thick, I must stop.
Jeezle!
Ooops! Reynolds, not Avery!
ReplyDeleteBeing a happily married straight guy, I don't see what the big deal is. Marry who you want. How does same sex marriage harm me, or you, Mr. Reynolds?
ReplyDeleteit's never easy to 'come out'
ReplyDeleteAloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
><}}(°>
><}}(°>
<°)}}><
How sad that the world is full of so many with such narrow vision.
ReplyDeleteHey Shay---
ReplyDeleteIf you want to experience an evil-eye-Sutherland movie marathon, watch "Eye of the Needle" (with Donald) and then "Eye for an Eye" (with Kiefer). They both do such a great job of playing horrible villains. ("Eye of the Needle" is one of my favs, too. Kate Nelligan is a marvelous actress.)
People like Mr. Reynolds are just better at disguising their bigotry because they hide behind the "personal moral values" pillar. However, in this country, marriage carries legal rights with it, so denying someone the right to marry also denies him or her legal rights. Therefore, we either give EVERYONE the right to marry or make marriage an exclusively religious ceremony and base legalities on civil unions for everyone (like that would ever happen.)
ReplyDelete