American Family Association President Tim Wildmon has come to the defense of former NFL coach Tony Dungy, who made headlines this week in regard to a series of controversial remarks about Michael Sam of the St. Louis Rams.
In a blog post on AFA's website, Wildmon criticized ESPN's Keith Olbermann for calling Dungy the "worst person in sports," after the ex-coach said he would not have selected Sam, who made history as the first openly gay player to be drafted by the NFL, because "things will happen" and he "wouldn't want to deal with any of it," Right Wing Watch pointed out.
"Sexually, God made man for woman and woman for man. It's obvious. It's natural," Wildmon wrote. Noting that progressives are "always trying to equate homosexuality with heterosexuality," he added, "When someone like Dungy makes a comment that can in any way been seen as challenging this narrative then that person must be immediately discredited or publicly shamed no matter the truth of what he is saying."
But he didn't stop there. Pointing once again to Sam, he then wrote:
By the way, having been a sports reporter for a few years I've been in many football locker rooms where the players walk around naked or half-naked, changing clothes and going in and out of the showers. Putting a man like Sam, who says he is sexually attracted to men, in with all that beefcake seems unfair to the straight players and a distraction to Sam.
Would you put a heterosexual man in the locker room/showers with all the female cheerleaders? Would you tell the girl cheerleaders who objected to this man being in the locker room that they needed to end their bigoted and sexist attitude and treat the man with respect?
You can read the full post here.
Of course, Wildmon is not the first conservative voice to sound off on Sam. Peter LaBarbera of Americans For Truth About Homosexuality slammed the St. Louis Rams' defensive end in an interview with Voice of Christian Youth America's Vic Eliason, saying the former Missouri defensive lineman and first-team All-American is "deluded" and must "become an ex-gay, an ex-homosexual.”
He re-iterated that sentiment in an open letter to Sam, which was posted on AFTAH's website.
"Molestation, emotional deprivation, parental or peer rejection, or other traumatic factors can foster same-sex attraction -- but many men and women have managed it, diminished it, or eliminated it altogether," he wrote. "Your achievements on the football field will earn you a legacy you can be proud of; your 'coming out' as one celebrating homosexuality as normative can earn you only regret, as well as notoriety among millions of us."
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