“Getzlaf’s comment in Thursday’s game, particularly as directed to another individual on the ice, was inappropriately demeaning and disrespectful and crossed the line into behavior that we deem unacceptable,” NHL Senior Executive Vice President of Hockey Operations Colin Campbell said in a release on the league’s official site.
The fine is the maximum punishment allowed under the latest collective bargaining agreement.
During last year’s playoffs, Chicago Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw was suspended one game, received a $5,000 fine and had to undergo sensitivity training for his anti-gay slur.
Getzlaf, on the other hand, is expected to play Game 5 on Saturday at the Honda Center with the Predators and Ducks tied 2-2 in the series.
You may remember the media blitz created by the so-called up and coming rapper Azealia Banks and her unnecessary twitter war last month with equally controversial blogger Perez Hilton last month. Banks very blatantly used homophobic anti-gay slurs after the two had a disagreement. The LGBT community took the self proclaimed “Rapunxel” of rap to task for her verbal diarrhea and her refusal to make a legitimate apology. You would think that run in would have taught her a lesson but apparently it didn’t.
Fresh off a new remix of the song “Harlem Shake” Banks was taken back when the originator of the song known as Baauer was not too keen on Banks reinterpreting his original song he suggests was created in 2001. Banks did not appreciate this return and began to angrily ask Baauer why he didn’t want her to use the song as a remix. He simply stated because it was not her song. This enraged Banks and the conversation disintergrated when questioned by Baauer’s supporters leading Banks to tweet more anti-gay slurs:
This of course caused members of the LGBT community to react but again, Banks seemed unphased by the tension she had once again created. Then Perez Hilton chimed into the debate, and then Banks turned back to her misogynistic, homophobic, and extremely immature rage:
At the time of this report Banks showed no signs of quitting this barrage of homophobic insults. Clearly her management fails to see how her using such language is alienating a fanbase that up until last month supported and embraced her. What bothers me most is that through all this, her message continually implies that femininity is weak and that gay is weak and an insult. I just like any other gay men love other men and trust, I don’t ever hear the term weak come up when we get down.
I’m so damn tired of this mindset that gay equals weak and from wherever she learned this flawed ideology she apparently continues making the same flawed statement. She can claim that because she is a bisexual woman that it gives her a pass but it doesn’t. It’s just as damning to those that are afraid of coming out that feel they don’t have a voice seeing a trait of femininity in gay culture be reduced to less than the majority. I don’t care what her experiences are anymore at this point. To say the least, it implies that we can use words that are meant to shame and degrade us and use against each other.
I’m no fan of Perez, because he has done some pretty shitty things to other members of this community too. But two wrongs don’t make a right. And at this point, fully support a complete boycott of all her music, works, projects, perfumes, or whatever the hell else she’s trying to promote. I won’t support hate in any form. Period.
Edit
And can I just say how frustrated I am seeing some of her supporters, more notably gay men, actually condoning this behavior on twitter right now? This is not about Perez, this is about her ass backwards way of thinking. This internalized homophobia laced with misogynistic, anti-woman ideology is disturbing and witnessing the very people she is insulting blindly justify her actions tonight really need to reevaluate their priorities. Her claiming that she’s being targeted as a woman is invalidated especially when she repeatedly puts femininity and women down in the same breath.
Gay 18-year-old Jesse Jeffers of Florida returned home from a date last week with his boyfriend last to find his home broken into, trashed and covered in hate-filled red graffiti including swastikas and anti-gay slurs – both inside and outside of the house.
The vandalism, which happened between when Jeffers left and returned to his home, was deemed a hate crime by the Santa Rosa County Sheriff’s Office, because it targets Jeffers’ lifestyle and sexual orientation. There are only a few hate-crime cases reported each year in Santa Rosa, Haines said, calling them a rare occurrence.
The vandals spray-painted a pair of women’s breasts on the trailer’s exterior. Near the door, several derogatory words were spelled out, along with the phrase “God don’t love you,” with a heart taking the place of the word “love.”
Inside, his drapes, fish tank and front room were also tagged, along with another large swastika painted on his ceiling.
LIFESTYLE and SEXUAL ORIENTATION?!
The ignorant Pensacola News reporter and editors doesn’t realize that their own language feeds hate like this.
Lets all hope that the criminals are apprehended and that Jesse remains safe and can move forward from this horrible experience.
If you remember, yesterday the story broke about Michigan teacher, Susan Johnson, who was suspended for playing a song that featured a homophobic slur. Johnson said she played the song as it combated bullying and homophobia but school administrators felt differently.
Now the group that created the song are speaking out against suspension. Macklemore is saying the suspension is “completely out of line and unjust” because the song was created to help Washington State approve same sex marriage. But first, here are the lyrics surrounding the controversy:
If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me/ Have you read the YouTube comments lately? / ‘Man, that’s gay,’ gets dropped on the daily / We become so numb to what we’re saying / A culture founded from oppression / Yeah we don’t have acceptance for him? / Call each other ‘faggot’ behind the keys of a message board.”
Macklemore states in his recent blogpost that the suspension is just more homophobia and felt like school administrators lost the point of the song aimed to promote civil rights:
“This incident is just one of tens of thousands that have happened across the country where schools have exposed a latent homophobia, preventing safe space for all young people to feel confident in being themselves. It’s clear that Ms. Johnson felt bullying and ‘gay bashing’ were issues that needed to be addressed, and by doing so, was punished.”
“It’s discouraging that a song about love and civil rights has led to a teacher getting suspended from her job. But that’s where we are at. For those of us who get a pit in our stomach when reading a story like this, it just makes it abundantly clear there is far more work to be done.”
Now the school administrators who suspended Johnson without pay for 3 days responded to the controversy with this statement:
“The employee neither previewed the YouTube clip, nor submitted the form for approval as required, Instead, a student gave the clip to the employee at the beginning of class and the employee showed the clip to the class. The clip had no relationship whatsoever to the instructional class content planned for that day.”
Again I ask, fellow readers, was the school administration right to suspend Johnson or was the statement just a cover up?
The Institute for Sexual Minority Studies and Services, University of Alberta, Canada has created a tracking website called NoHomophobes.com that records the usage of homophobic gay slur words such as “faggot,” “dyke,” “no homo,” and “so gay” on a daily basis on TWITTER.
From the website:
This website is designed as a social mirror to show the prevalence of casual homophobia in our society. Words and phrases like “faggot,” “dyke,” “no homo,” and “so gay” are used casually in everyday language, despite promoting the continued alienation, isolation and — in some tragic cases — suicide of sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ) youth.
We no longer tolerate racist language, we’re getting better at dealing with sexist language, but sadly we’re still not actively addressing homophobic and transphobic language in our society.
The above screenshot of the data collected as of only 7:42 am this morning and the word “faggot” has already been used on Twitter almost 5,000 times.
Simply shocking.
*Many thanks to @GayAgendaDalek on Twitter for the heads up.
Because of the slow news day on account of the holiday, I wanted to do an opinion piece on homophobic words. I’ve had this debate with fellow gay men so many times and last night was no exception: Is it ever okay to take a word used as a derogatory term against a group or community you belong to and reclaim it? You know the one I’m talking about: the three letter one that starts with an F and ends in G; the one used to express that because you’re gay, that you’re somehow weaker, not man enough, or even less than human.
An associate of mine thought it was okay to use homophobic terminology with me during a lighthearted and jokingly matter, and I was not amused. Yes, I know words only have as much power that you give them, but the messenger of such words can be just as influential on how it makes you feel. He said that it was a term of endearment, but all I felt was dismay, and quite frankly, I got pissed off. I asked him why, as a gay man himself, he felt that he could use that word at me? He said that because of the fact that we’re gay, that we “own” that word. That since it’s used against us, we can take the word and make it our own. To me, that is complete and utter bullshit.
The incident did, however, cause me to reflect on the concept of re-appropriating, or re-claim and reassign the definition or meaning, of words used against us in the community. Can we reappropriate words? I mean I’ve heard the same re-appropriating words rhetoric with a common racial slur against African Americans…do you think it will ever be okay to use that word to describe me? NO. So why the hell would it ever be okay to call me a homophobic slur? See my point? There’s no difference between them. It will ALWAYS have a negative connotation and history.
Yes there have been news of reappropriating of racial words several years ago and you know what? The words still has just as much negative connotation then it did then, maybe even more so. Some believe that usage of these words in song lyrics like, Frank Ocean, who recently came out as bisexual, use both racial and homophobic slurs in their music is okay. Others feel that we can’t reclaim words still used negatively, and I emphatically agree.
Honestly, I don’t believe that it’s possible once the word is used for a negative purpose, the m eaning is forever changed. I feel the same way about any rackial, ethnic, or whatever word is used. iIt’s why I refused to use it in the entirety of this article. Yes I kn0w that we have free speech, but it isn’t always so free, and there is ALWAYS consequences, both negative and positive, to our words. Just a thought…
So I ask you fellow readers, will it ever be okay to use homophobic slurs as a term of endearment?
I took less than a month for it to be discovered what newly elected Troy, MI Tea Party Mayor Janice Daniels to show everyone what the Tea Party is REALLY made of.
Other than the fact that she’s politically inepdt and refuses to take an oath to uphold Troy City Charter because she didn’t think it was appropriate to take an oath to the city charter, which she called “a whimsical document” that changes with the opinions of the City Council.” it also comes to light now via facebook that she’s an insensitive homophobic bigot by posting in the past after same sex marriage was passed in New York: “I think I am going to throw away my I Love New York carrying bag now that queers can get married there.”
Denise Brogan-Kator, executive director of Equality Michigan:
“I am truly shocked at such disregard for the effects that such language has had on our community. Either she doesn’t know – which is remarkable, given the news about the rise in violent crimes committed against the gay and transgender community – or she intended it. Either way, I find it shameful.
Anyone that aspires to hold public office, has a responsibility to keep their communications and opinions of classes and people respectful – and I think this crossed the line – and at a bare minimum think she needs to apologize to the gay and transgender population in the city of Troy and in Michigan.”
Oakland County Commissioner Craig Covey posted a comment on his own Facebook page: “No mayor, of any city, particularly one as large and diverse as Troy, should ever use vulgar slurs to insult an entire community. She needs to apologize to the entire region for this nasty posting.”
Janice Daniel’s response?
“The groups that despise me are digging deep to try to find something to worry about. They probably should start worrying about how they can best work with a new Mayor who believes that we live in a free country and we all have first amendment rights to speak our minds on any and all issues that are before us.”
You can exercise your First Amendment Rights by contacting the Tea Party Homophobic Bigot Janice Daniels at 248.524.3500 or janice.daniels@troymi.gov and speak your mind.
Billy Canu and his partner are claiming that they were threatened by a United Airlines manager who they have identified as Rodney Hill stating that Hill called them “faggots” before threatening to kick the couple off their flight after they got in an argument with gate agents over access to United’s Gold Lounge at Denver International Airport. “We were completely shocked. We were shaking,”Billy Canu said.
Billy Canu
“The agents gave the couple “a very condescending, sort of rude answer. They were trying to figure out who was going to help us.”
When Canu and his partner complained about the handling of their question, a manager approached them and escorted them away from the area. Canu claimed the manager then escalated the situation.
“As we were walking away he goes ‘idiots,’” recounted Canu. “So, my partner turned around and started walking up to him and said, ‘I’m sorry. What did you say?'”
“He [Hill] says, ‘What f*****s,’” according to Canu. Canu said the manager even threatened to kick the couple off their flight to San Diego if they continued to complain.
United Airlines spokesperson Megan McCarthy has said. “We have received this complaint and are reviewing, and we will reach out to the customer directly. United does not tolerate discrimination of any kind,”
Last night during the New York Rangers v Philadelphia Flyers Hockey game during the first period, Philadelphia’s Tom Sestito rammed the Rangers’ Andre Deveaux into the boards from behind. In the aftermath of the hit, Simmonds and Avery wrestled and exchanged words, an exchange that continued after they separated and Simmonds was caught on video mouthing the words “fucking faggot” at Sean Avery
Avery, one of the few professional athletes to take a stand supporting LGBT Equality and Gay Marriage confirmed that Simmonds did indeed call him a homphobic slur But in the Flyers locker room later Siddons conveniently couldn’t remember what was said and took a very cavalier attitude about the whole episode.
Honestly, we were going back and forth for a while there, and I don’t recall every single thing that I did say to him. He said some things that I didn’t like, and I said some things that he didn’t like. But I can’t recall every single word I said…….
You know what? It’s something that happens every game. Guys say stuff, and you know what? It’s just the heat of the battle, of the game. It’s not necessarily things are said to hurt people. Sometimes it happens
I wonder if Siddons would feel differently and think it were a big deal if Avery called him a “Fucking N-word”?
Dan Savage appeared on Keith Olbermann’s new Current TV show the other night and now has some queens agashst over something that h said. Talking about The Book Of Mormon On Broadway, Dan used the term “I am like a musical faggot” describing himself and his love of musicals.
OMFG Mary! I am having the vapors.
Now I know there are some out there who are clutching their pearls and calling GLAAD, which they probably have on speed dial, as we speak. And there will be a whole discussion about how come Dan gets to say that but Tracy Morgan got in trouble. (And if you can’t tell the difference between the two you are seriously warped), But just remember he wasn’t calling someone else it and it wasn’t used in hate. The only boundaries IMO that Dan crossed is with the overzealous PC police.
That being said.
It’s a brillant conversation between Dan and Keith that also inclused a discussion on do people like Rick Santorum really hate gay people, homosexuality being a choice & gay people who stay in the closet because of religion.
