Topic: Media Research Center
We've highlighted the anti-LGBT hatred Media Research Center sports blogger John Simmons spewed earlier in the year. When Pride Month hit in June, Simmons ramped up the hate. He started things off on June 1 with a massive whine setting up the rest of the month for him:
It’s June 1st, which means that sports leagues across the nation can officially gush about celebrating Pride Month.
Predictably, the MLB and NHL have changed the logos on their social media pages to include all the colors of the LGBT flag (because no made-up community should be left behind).
Surprisingly, the NBA has yet to follow the MLB and NHL’s example. But what the NBA lacked in showing support for the LGBT community, the NFL made up for in spades.
Not wanting anyone to forget just how much they adore the gay agenda, the NFL posted this on all their social media platforms.
[...]
Prepare for more of this in the upcoming days, not just from sports leagues, but from countless businesses, celebrities, politicians, and others for the next 29 days.
Simmons never explained what this "gay agenda" is that he finds so offensive. On June 6, Simmons cheered that a group of baseball players were as hateful and homophobic as he is:
Because we are in the midst of Pride Month, it's unfortunately normal to see professional sports teams hold their annual Pride Nights. On Saturday, the Tampa Bay Rays had theirs, in which they included LGBT people in pregame events and handed out pride flags to the 19,000+ fans in attendance. In addition, the “TB” and sunburst logos on the Rays uniforms were rainbow-colored to show an added level of support.
However, several Rays pitchers decided not to participate in this gesture in order to stay true to their beliefs.
"So it's a hard decision…But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it's just a lifestyle that maybe -- not that they look down on anybody or think differently -- it's just that maybe we don't want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus, who's encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior,” Adam, the chosen spokesperson for this group of pitchers, said.
Notice how Adam worded this. He never said that he thinks he or his teammates are better than anyone in the LGBT community, because true and honest Christians would agree that everyone has “sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But the truly remarkable part of his response was that he and his teammates unwaveringly commit to their faith in a culture and time where it is incredibly easy to forsake it so you do not face backlash.
Simmons tried to further justify the hate by quoting the Bible himself: "Romans 1:26-27 states that homosexuality is unnatural and sinful and should not be condoned in any way by followers of Christ. Wearing pride flags or pride logos does just that." Simmons didn't explain why LGBT people must have hate spewed upon them everywhere at all times, which is what he seems to be advocating.
The same day, Simmons had a separate meltdown:
Carolina Panthers fans will have quite the surprise on the sideline during the upcoming season.
The Panthers became the first NFL team to hire an openly transgender athlete to it’s cheerleading team. The TopCats announced that Justine Lindsay, a man masquerading as a woman, will be on the sidelines performing on Sundays starting in the fall.
Lindsay came out as transgender in March, but TopCats director Chandalae Lanouette said that her decision to bring Lindsay on board has nothing to do with that.
When Lindsay posted a picture of herself on Instagram with the caption "“Understand that we are all Gods children, that he is an awesome God from sun up to sun down. I live through him. Negative hate stay away," Simmons took served up all the negative hate he could muster and hurled more Bible verses:
It’s funny that Lindsay mentions he lives through God, because nowhere in Scripture do we see that God condones or approves of anyone that changes their gender. God created all people to either be male or female (Genesis 1:27) and any attempt to switch your gender based on how you feel is an act of rebellion against his created order. So Lindsay isn’t doing something that pleases God, and his attempt to get others to empathize with him and his actions further adds to the twisted nature of his actions.
It’s disgusting that the NFL just continues to make a fool of itself by doing stuff like this.
But spewing hate at somone just because they're different from you isn't eve more disgusting, John?
In a June 7 post, Simmons touted the notoriously homophobic (his denials to the contrary notwithstanding) Franklin Graham as supporting those Tampa Bay pitchers who petulantly refused to wear the LGBT jerseys, going on to huff: "If anyone is offended by the gracious, humble, and truthful response these men gave, then that is on them for having an immature and unhealthy response. What these men have done is praiseworthy, something Graham recognized and we should too." Of course, hate delivered in a "gracious" and "humble" manner is still hate, and Simmons is cool with that.
On June 23, Simmons lashed out at yet another sports league for not hating LGBT people as much as he does:
The National Hockey League (NHL) was the last bastion for non-woke sports entertainment in America, but now, even they have gone completely off the deep end.
With Pride Month celebrations being over in eight days - which can't come soon enough - the NHL is using its influence to make sure that everyone continues to make LGBT members feel “safe.”
In a graphic titled “How To Be An Ally,” the NHL listed several ways to support LGBT members in their fight to be loved and supported - which they already are, but apparently not enough.
It’s funny that the tweet mentions them as a “marginalized” people, when all of corporate America, hundreds of “Christian” churches and millions of citizens support them through all the ways the graphic says to support them.
Calls to action like this fall short and mean nothing because everyone knows that the LGBT community is widely supported. Plus, who would want to support a community that belittles you if you show even a hint of what they would deem as hatred and rejection?
July 1st can’t come soon enough.
Not the scare quotes around "Christian," as if you're not a real Christian if you don't viciously hate LGBT people the way he does.
While the mere thought that there might be someone, somewhere who doesn't hate LGBT people might make Simmons a little itchy, you'd think he wouldn't want Pride Month to ever end because it gives him so much hateful copy that the MRC presumably pays him well to write. His hate is his paycheck!
