CNN's Roland Martin issues mea culpa (of sorts) for remarks gay group calls homophobic
A gay advocacy group is enraged by comments CNN's Roland Martin made on Super Bowl Sunday which they say are homophobic and which encourage gay bashing.
CNN's Roland Martin issues mea culpa (of sorts) for remarks gay group calls homophobic
Tirdad Derakhshani, Inquirer Sideshow Columnist
UPDATE: Roland issues a mea culpa (of sorts)
Roland Martin posted a new statement late last night in response to criticism by GLAAD and media pundits about his allegedly homophobic comments and his blustering statement defending himself.
"I have been accused by members of the LGBT community of being supportive of violence against gays and lesbians and bullying," writes Martin.
"That is furthest from the truth, and I sincerely regret any offense my words have caused.
Adds Martin, "I'm disheartened that my words would embolden prejudice. ... While public debate over social issues is healthy, no matter which side someone takes, there is no room for debate as to whether we need to be respectful of others."
GLAAD has posted quotes from Martin's statement on its rolandmartin webpage, including the paragraph above.
"Violence against gay people or against any other minority isn't a political opinion," GLAAD writes in response. "At a time when anti-gay violence afflicts countless LGBT and LGBT-perceived people in this country every day, prominent figures like Martin should condemn, not promote, such violence."
The org asks Martin "to put actions behind his words. GLAAD calls on him to meet with us and our partners to discuss how we can work together to address the staggering rates of anti-LGBT violence that continues to face our community today."
But GLAAD also asks CNN to take action in light of the controversy. First, it calls for the cable news network to break its silence and issue a comment. The GLAAD text also seems to imply that CNN ought consider whether Martin has a future with them.
So, do they want CNN to fire Martin? Asked to clarify, GLAAD sent this statement by email:
"In the end this isn't a tit for tat. If Roland Martin truly wants to work with the LGBT community to fight violence we more than welcome him. But we also believe that commentators on CNN and elsewhere have a responsibility to their positions. Every 15 year old in this country knows what "whip" the ass of the guy in the "pink suit" is code for. CNN is a fantastic journalistic organization. The notion that they don't know what that means, or at the very least how that is received by people, is ludicrous. The question is whether or not they are willing to tolerate it."
-----------------------------------
ORIGINAL REPORT
Expect more fallout from the tempestuous Twitter battle that raged on all day Sunday between CNN's Roland Martin and the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) over two vaguely Super Bowl-related off-color remarks Martin made about David Beckham’s manly bearing and about the question of whether men should wear pink -- which some have protested are cases of gay-bashing.
Martin, 43, mocked a an H&M ad which features soccer god Beckham in his underwear. (Here is the video ad.)
“If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him!” Martin (@rolandsmartin) tweeted.
(What is an ish? And can it really be spanked out of someone?)
Martin, a syndicated columnist,TV One and CNN commentator and author, whose books include Speak, Brother! A Black Man's View of America, quickly was hit with this tweet from GLAAD: “@rolandsmartin Advocates of gay bashing have no place at @CNN#SuperBowl#LGBT
Martin wasn’t going to let it go at that and sent this missive in turn. “"@glaad @CNN well you’re clearly out of touch and clueless with what I tweeted. Way to assume, but you're way off base.”
GLAAD has reproduced the entire exchange on a special “rolandmartin” page on its site.
Shortly after Martin’s last riposte, GLAAD told its followers that earlier Sunday Martin had made another Twitter comment GLAAD charged also is homophobic.
“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,” Martin had tweeted.
In a statement on his blog, Martin says, “I made several cracks about soccer as I do all the time. I was not referring to sexuality directly or indirectly regarding the David Beckham ad, and I’m sorry folks took it otherwise.”
Martin adds, “It was meant to be a deliberately over the top and sarcastic crack about soccer; I do not advocate violence of any kind against anyone gay, or not. As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, anytime soccer comes up during football season it’s another chance for me to take a playful shot at soccer, nothing more.”
In a statement about Martin's statement, GLAAD asserted that Martin has a history of making anti-gay comments.
“Roland Martin has never compared being a soccer fan to being an alcoholic, the way he has compared being gay to being an alcoholic,” reads the statement.
“Roland Martin has never bragged that his wife has led men and women away from the “soccer lifestyle,” the way he claims she has with gay people. Roland Martin has never defended jokes about parents stabbing soccer-playing children, the way he defended jokes about parents stabbing gay children.”
Adds the statement, “Based on this history, this doesn’t seem like a playful jab at what Martin considers an inferior sport. It seems like a jab at what Martin considers an inferior community of people.”
GLAAD has posted a petition calling for viewers to urge CNN to fire the syndicated columnist and author. (As of noon, it had 2,371 signatures.)
CNN has yet to comment.
Note on Photos (from top of item): Roland Martin; David Beckham; a fashion shoot photo from a Refinery29.com report about the prevalence of pink in men's designer duds in the Spring 2009 collection.
If the remarks that he made are homophobic, then obviously the GLAAD people are racist.— MisterHate- A battle of the protected classes... Can't everybody just get back to bashing Catholics? There are no qualms about that.— fafafooey
Comment removed.- Looks like GLAAD is just looking for some air time. I'm not a fan of Roland Martin but I don’t see from his statements that he bashed gays / lesbians.— Bulldog4071
- Comment removed.
- i find it all amusing...— USAFirst1
- His comments were anti-gay. They make no sense otherwise. Soccer? What? He said if a guy is excited by a guy in underwear and he had a problem with a guy wearing pink. Men that consider things like wearing a color that is considered feminine not to be masciline have no clue what being a man is. It's not about superficial things that you do. You can't prove that you are a man and it has nothing to do with sexual preference. In fact, it has nothing to do with the sex of a person. What most people consider masculine is accepting and meeting responsibilities. Women can do that as well as gay men and women. Sounds like Roland is very insecure about his masculinity and needs other's validate it.— MikeP
- Imagine how fired up folks would be if he worked for FOX.... Still it's funny to see him in hot water.— Elbarad
- It's the liberal mind at work...seeing things that aren't there. Roland just got a taste of his own medicine...— El Luchador
- zzzzz. this was staged by GLAAD and Martin to get both more press.— Tyrone Biggums
- Martin is right up there with Jesse and Al. All mouth, no substance. Anything for attention and always a chip on their shoulder for effect.— dogman5
- Comment removed.
- Obviously he does not go to the gym!— ejerryh
- its sad these punks really are trying to take over, they know in thier heartys they are wrong being punks!!! They have the kids running around trying to be fagots it's so sad!!!!
— MUSTAFA215 - Project much? One look at this man and the reasons for the hate are obvious.— coadyp
He hopes SideShow will help citizens better understand the vicissitudes of the Consumerist-Military-Industrial-Infotainment Complex, or, in other words, why Britney Spears has a tendency to shave her head, Brangelina to adopt children, and Lindsay Lohan to crave imprisonment. Read SideShow every morning.
Reach Tirdad at sideshow@phillynews.com.
