This football-playing dog is more open-minded than Tim Tebow. via ellenc995 @ flickr
For those who are justifiably pissed at Focus on the Family — better termed “Focus on the Patriarchy, Ignore Women’s Needs,” which I suppose is not very catchy –running an anti-choice Super Bowl ad starring college football star Tim Tebow and his mother, may I direct you to something more positive? A lovely reader pointed me, in another forum, to a New York Times article about NFL linebacker Scott Fujita.
Fujita plays for the New Orleans Saints, who will be facing off against the Indianapolis Colts in the big game on Sunday, and he is the only male athlete I can think of who is a vocal supporter of both a woman’s right to choose and LGBTQ rights. He’s spoken out about those issues, in part because of the flap over Tebow’s ad and a rejected ad for a gay dating service. (So, to recap: CBS approved an ad by an organization that wants to rescind an extant law that gives a woman control over her body, but rejected an ad so that bigots don’t have to think about the fact that two men are — again, legally — allowed to hook up. But bring on the ads of skimpily clad women!) Fujita is not content to just let this go without comment and justifiable criticism.
Regarding the Focus on the Family ad:
“It’s just me standing up for equal rights,” Fujita said. “It’s not that courageous to have an opinion if you think it’s the right thing and you believe it wholeheartedly.”
The Tebow ad suggests that Tebow’s mother was advised about having an abortion when she was pregnant with him, but chose instead to give birth.
“The idea of focusing on the family — who wouldn’t agree with that? But the means of doing so, he and I might not see eye to eye all the way.”
The issue is clearly one Fujita cares about a great deal. Given up for adoption by a teenaged mother, he reasons that “I’m just so thankful she had the courage and the support system to be able to carry out the pregnancy . . . I wouldn’t expect that of everybody.” His common sense reasoning is heartening, although it is simultaneously discouraging that this kind of talk is so rarely heard in the (dudely) athletic world.
As for the same-sex dating service commercial — produced by a company called ManCrunch — Fujita is similarly outspoken:
“The idea of doing it at the Super Bowl is going to raise some eyebrows,” Fujita said. “Do they have the right? Absolutely. Is it going to offend some people? Absolutely.”
Last fall, in an interview on the Sirius XM Satellite Radio show “Edge of Sports,” Fujita bluntly supported a march for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights.
“Just because I’m in favor of gay rights doesn’t mean I’m gay,” Fujita told the host, Dave Zirin. “I know who I am. My wife knows who I am.”
The über-dudely world of pro sports, particularly football, is one with a don’t-ask-don’t-tell attitude that rivals that of the military. There has never been an active, openly gay player in any of the four major team sports (baseball, football, basketball, and hockey), and when retired NBA player John Amaechi came out of the closet several years ago, there was the sadly predictable homophobic backlash. For a high-profile player like Fujita to come out, so to speak, as an advocate for LGBTQ rights is remarkable.
Fujita contends that while there does seem to be that don’t-ask-don’t-tell system in pro sports, “By and large, the players are more tolerant than they get credit for. It’s not a big issue. Some guys will think you are crazy for believing one way, but they’ll still accept you.” That may be, but there is still a prevalent, machismo-riddled mindset that prevents athletes from coming out in public. (I refuse to believe that out of the literally thousands of NFL, MLB, NHL, NBA, and NCAA athletes there is not one who is gay or bisexual.) I hope that Fujita’s vocal support of LGBTQ Americans will move more athletes to profess their own support, and maybe show that players who want to come out of the closet would receive support.
Who dat!
This kind of makes me not so bitter that the Saints knocked out my beloved Vikings. Thanks for the tip, darling!
Now I know who I’m rooting for on Sunday!
GEAUX SAINTS!
I salute a man unafraid to speak his mind. Whatever you make think of sports, Scott Fujita reminds us that not all male athletes are stuck in the Stone Age.
Well, there you go. A minute ago I didn’t give a shit about the Super Bowl. And now I do. Who dat? Dat Scott Fujita!
Makes me even more proud to be a New Orleanian and a Saints fan!! (Although I have to be my annoyingly pedantic self and mention that it’s SCOTT Fujita, not Sean Fujita.)
@erin!: Gack! Fixing now! I think I need more coffee, STAT.
@s.o.a.l.g: Who Dat Nation thanks you!
I’m with @Erin! I’m proud to be a Saints fan and a South Louisianian. I’d also like to point out that Fujita’s willingness to speak out might be even more admirable given that this region of the country is not exactly pro-choice heaven. Although New Orleans itself can be reasonably lefty, the demographic shifts as soon as you move into the outlying suburbs. A lot of the people who are buying tickets to see the Saints kick butt are likely to be more on the side of the Tebow ad. Add the Catholicism of S. LA to the mix and you’ve got a very outspoken man speaking to a market of pro-lifers. Go Scott Fujita!
yay, a reason besides being ABC (Anyone But the Colts!) to cheer for the Saints! i shall be a temporary member of the WHO DAT! nation sunday!
I was planning to root for the Saints this weekend–since my hometown team has failed to even make the playoffs for, like, ever–and this clinches it. Geaux Saints!
Ah, this made my day! I, too, am a South Louisiana native (recently relocated to Canada!), and this just gave me one more reason to be a proud Saints fan. Who dat, indeed!
Wow! This plus scores of Saints fans happily gender-bending in memory of Buddy D., New Orleans makes me happy.
Another reason to cheer for the Saints! What a gutsy guy Fujita is. Boys and girls, *that* is a role model.
I don’t care about the game either way (though I will probably drink some beer, y’know, just in solidarity), but I like this Fujita kid. If a Saints win gets this guy a larger platform, I’m all for it.
Good for this man. Nothing more difficult to find than a straight man surrounded by other manly men who sticks up for the Others.
Who dat indeed.
This is awesome.
It also reminds me of an interview I heard earlier this month on the BBC with Gareth Thomas, the Welsh rugby player who came out (publicly, he was already well out to family and friends) last year. Pretty amazing story, and makes me wonder about the pro sports closet. I hope it’s gone soon, but I doubt it will be.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/dec/19/gay-groups-applaud-gareth-thomas
That man makes sports more interesting to me! I was indifferent before but I am totally rooting for the Saints now!!! GO SAINTS!!!
[...] Not All Athletes Are Like Tim Tebow Fujita plays for the New Orleans Saints, who will be facing off against the Indianapolis Colts in the big game on Sunday, and he is the only male athlete I can think of who is a vocal supporter of both a woman’s right to choose and LGBTQ rights. [...]