-The Flipster

However it was seriously offensive to hear the comments of Mr. Hardaway on Miami ’s sports radio station WAXY-AM this past Wednesday.

Possibly because Mr. Hardaway leads some privileged life (which will now come to a screeching halt), he forgets the struggles African-Americans have had to overcome throughout the years so that equality could be found.

Mr. Hardaway must be completely oblivious to the fact that there are millions of gay, lesbian, transsexual and transgendered citizens of the United States experiencing these very same struggles… and perhaps Mr. Hardaway feels some kind of entitlement, now that he is where he is, to fling such degrading comments on a community that is not his own.

Mr. Hardaway should have taken a few lessons from Mel Gibson, Michael Richards or T.R. Knight. Or maybe Mr. Hardaway just can’t comprehend how such statements can not only ruin his life, but the lives of so many others as well.

Someone may also want to tell Mr. Hardaway… “he ain’t all that…” and that not every gay person wants to jump his bones. Instead, he has put himself in a position where they probably want to break them.

I hope that while Mr. Hardway sits in his fancy house, with his fancy car and fancy clothes… that he ponders on the fact that it took more courage on the part of John Amaechi to reveal his character in the NBA forum (where he knew he would be ridiculed), than Mr. Hardaway could ever hope to have in the span of his lifetime.

The only comfort that comes from these bigoted, idiotic, and cruel statements is that Mr. Hardaway will forever be remembered as the “dumb-ass” who ruined his career by making fun of others. His family and his children won’t have the opportunity to “look up” to him and they will walk with the dark cloud he has permeated over their heads for a very long, long time.

I hope you enjoyed your few minutes of hatred Mr. Hardaway… because the gay community hopes that those minutes turn into days, months and years of learning how to be a ‘real’ man for you and your family.