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CNN commentator Roland Martin made it a not-so-super Sunday
with a tweet and a Facebook posting widely perceived to be homophobic, and the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation has called on the network to fire
him.
GLAAD
reports that after retailer H&M’s Super Bowl commercial featuring soccer
player David Beckham, Martin tweeted to his nearly 95,000 Twitter followers,
“If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham’s H&M
underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl.”
In
response, GLAAD wrote, “@rolandsmartin Advocates of gay bashing have no place
at @CNN #SuperBowl #LGBT.” Martin replied that GLAAD was “way off base” and
suggested that his tweet was a joke about soccer fans, not gays.
Earlier
in the day, he had posted on his Facebook fan page, “Who the hell was that New
England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a
visit from #teamwhipdatass.”
GLAAD
reports that Martin has a history of antigay statements, noting that he
defended comedian Tracy Morgan’s homophobic stand-up performance (for which
Morgan has apologized) and boasts on his website that his wife “has counseled
many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle.”
In
a message on its website, GLAAD concludes, “Martin’s tweets today advocating
violence against gay people weren’t an accident — they are a part of a larger
pattern for Martin. Anti-gay violence in America is a serious problem facing
millions of Americans. It’s no joke. CNN should fire Roland Martin.” The
organization asks supporters to sign a petition to that effect. For more
information click here.
SOURCE: THE ADVOCATE
Do
you think GLAAD is going too far?
Should Roland Martin be fired?
Yes, he should be fired. sure, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but no one is entitled to get a pass on the consequences of voicing those opinions in a public forum.
ReplyDeleteI find it SO amazing how we matter now.
DeleteThis is America.. we have Free Speech .. he didnt say anything that a zillion other Macho guys werent thinking. And BTW, the Beckham commercial was offensive and in bad taste, the Chevy truck commercial was offensive and in bad taste, etc etc.
ReplyDeleteWe can't legislate good taste; illustrated by the fact that someone as loud-mouthed and distasteful as Newt Gingrich can hope to be President of the United States of Bad Taste.
Free Speech and bad taste my friends, are what keeps GLAAD, the NAACP and the JDL very busy.
I get where GLAAD is coming from, but I think we all need to find common ground because NOT everything that is said or done needs to be taken on.
DeletePick your battles, absolutely. I think that line is crossed when it is giving the nod, yes even "joking" to violence against ANY group of people. I did not watch the super bowl *yawn* only saw pictures of the commercial, so I can't comment on the tastefulness or not, but is that really an issue?
ReplyDeleteYou do have a point and I keep going back n forth between yes and no.
Delete