Barkley on LGBT rights

NBA Hall of Famer Charles Barkley was recently very outspoken on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day regarding LGBT rights, as Dave Zirin wrote about in his recent column. Now some seemingly write Barkley off as an idiot, probably because he has a tendency to speak before thinking. For an example, see this video of Barkley perhaps mindlessly reading off a teleprompter “I’m a dumbass."

But in actuality, Barkley is just candid and honest — two qualities that seem to be pretty rare to find in people, especially when they’re TV personalities, too. Barkley had some interesting words in reply to Rev. Bernice King, a daughter of the late great civil rights activist. Seemingly opposite of how her father might act in the modern struggle for LGBT rights, Bernice has spoken outwardly against homosexuality.

From Dallas Voice’s Tammye Nash:

But Bernice King is an evangelical Christian in every sense of the word. In fact, she led an anti-gay-marriage march in December 2004 that culminated at her father’s gravesite.

According to Zirin, Barkley is on record as early as 2006 as saying he’s a advocate for gay marriage. And continuing that sort of stance, his words on MLK Day earlier this month were pure and pretty darn insightful:

"People try to make it about black and white. [But] he talked about equality for every man, every woman. We have a thing going on now, people discriminating against homosexuality in this country. I love the homosexuality people. God bless the gay people. They are great people.”

As Zirin points out, “I love the homosexuality people” may not be the most articulate way of saying things. Still, Barkley’s message is clearly heartfelt and also insightful — maybe surprisingly insightful to some

It’s been typically rare to see any heterosexual in sports that is particularly visible to be often speak out for LGBT rights. Perhaps more troublingly, more athletes and people in the sporting world have spoken out against LGBT rights rather than for it. I have to give Barkley recognition for speaking out on an issue that he had no obligation to speak out on at all.

Changing gears slightly, we briefly discussed in class how sport can serve as a sort of “mirror of society.” Being homosexual or bisexual or transgendered is still largely othered in the mainstream and in our everyday cultured in society. Sports is no different, with athletes and others involved in athletics drawing a litany of attention anytime they “come out of the closet” or the slightest rumor that asserts an athlete may be homosexual.

Note the story of former NFL player David Kopay, one of the first pro athletes to publicly announce that they were gay.

And again, note the story of John Amaechi, the first professional basketball player to announce their homosexuality. Amaechi was essentially on the cover of an issue of ESPN the Magazine only because he was gay. That’s not to say the piece wasn’t enlightening or couldn’t have been, it’s just funny that someone’s sexual orientation is grounds for a cover on a major sports magazine, in my opinion.

People still gasp at these instances and often think it’s unacceptable, which is sad, but that’s unfortunately the way a lot of society sees LGBT issues as well. Thus, I think this is a good example of sports reflecting society at-large.