Wrestling, Chick-Fil-A, and Homophobia - Enough

When do you finally say enough is enough and it's time for a change? Owen Hart's words ring so true in this day and age, when a lot of wrestling fans are getting fed up with being mocked (subtly or not so subtly), antagonised and outright shitted on because they are women, another race, or, increasingly, LGBT. Social media has broken what was left of kayfabe and thanks to Twitter, Facebook and other sites, we can see wrestlers at their best and their worst. True, we only see what they present for us to see, but if regular people are capable of abusing social media, or typing something in the heat of the moment, so are people in the entertainment world. We have seen it with actors and other sports figures - so too are we seeing it with wrestlers. Even if something offensive is posted and deleted, nothing is ever truly deleted from the internet. It only takes a moment for something to spread like wildfire.

Recently, someone I'm acquainted with on Twitter posted a response to something someone under the Twitter account "NWALegends" had said. What the person under that account said is below in screen caps. (Click to enlarge and read from bottom to top.)

I later found out that the man behind this account is Greg Price, someone who is well known in the wrestling world for organizing the NWA Fan Fests, as well as being the mastermind behind the short-lived NWA: New Beginnings, which was based out of Charlotte, NC. He is also the organizer of the NWA Wrestling Legends Hall of Heroes, which, while not being officially endorsed by the NWA, has been given permission to use the name. So while not working officially FOR the NWA, this is a man that has close ties with the long running, esteemed promotion.

Unfortunately this is nothing new, someone in wrestling commenting on homosexuality. We have seen several examples in the past, most notably with one half of the Ring of Honor tag team the Briscoe Brothers, Jay Briscoe, shooting off right before one of their iPPVs last year. (Cageside Seats has the story: http://www.cagesideseats.com/2011/6/27/2247315/rohs-jay-briscoe-shows-questionable-twitter-judgement ) March of 2011 saw one of WWE's most prominent figures, Michael Cole, tweet his college Josh Matthews, calling him a 'faggot' - the tweet was later deleted and Cole apologised, as did WWE. (TMZ reported it http://www.tmz.com/2011/03/26/wwe-glaad-gay-slur-homophobic-twitter-michael-cole-josh-mathews/ ) Just last month, WWE Hall of Famer Shawn "The Heartbreak Kid" Michaels tweeted to a fan who had asked about his hairline "Another dude obsessed w/my hair #homo". As is par for the course, HBK deleted it after negative feedback. (http://www.prowrestlingscoops.com/wwe/wwe-news/hbk-tweets-homophobic-remark-alicia-fox-pics/) And TNA star AJ Styles has long made his opinions on homosexuals known.

However, the recent controversy with Chick-Fil-A has apparently made some wrestlers bold enough to state that they stand with the company, citing that it's an issue of "freedom of speech" rather than one of bigotry, hatred or homophobia. Yesterday, August 1st, was announced as "Chick-Fil-A Appreciation Day" by former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, and people were urged to eat there to show their support for the beleaguered company. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/24/mike-huckabee-chick-fil-a-appreciation-day_n_1696648.html) Some wrestlers showed their support by posting pictures of them eating at the fast food chain, such as Brad Cain aka Lodi (of Lenny and Lodi fame) https://twitter.com/lodi1brad/status/230746827639623680 Several wrestlers took to their twitter to sound off.

Here are tweets from Kirby Mac:

Scorpio Sky (who has previously made homophobic statements on Twitter last year; however, I am unfortunately unable to locate them) - note that the Young Bucks, Matt and Nick Jackson agreed with Sky:

The Twitter exchange with Greg Price/NWALegends was listed at the start of this post. Former WCW star (if you can call him that) Lash LeRoux posted this on his Facebook page (http://www.gerweck.net/2012/08/02/former-wcw-star-comments-on-the-chik-fil-a-controversary/):

Congratulations on such a phenomenally successful Appreciation Day, Chick-fil-A! I have noticed a few people posting derisive remarks and quietly scoffing at the outpouring of support Chick-fil-A received yesterday. Most such commentary seemed to be initiated by those who agreed with Chick-fil-A’s position in principle, yet they cynically viewed the Appreciation Day as a marketing ploy by the fast food giant in an attempt to capitalize on the current controversy. The implication is those who stood in lines for hours were duped by franchise owners who sought nothing more than a spike in profits. However, such a jaded view overlooks the heart of the issue: Christians and conservatives who have increasingly faced insults, mockery and verbal abuse for their fundamental beliefs and convictions. On Wednesday, August 1, 2012, that silent majority stood up and made their voices heard through the power of their purse.
Now a day removed from this massive outpouring, I find it ironic that those who think such efforts were insignificant and trivial seem to be the same who lament that our nation sat quietly by while prayer was removed from school, the Ten Commandments torn out of the courtroom and God was no longer welcomed in the public square. Our generation has learned an indispensable lesson: Silence is capitulation and conviction is not hate.

Now this is only a taste of what is out there. Imagine being a wrestling fan who is also gay and has for years put up with the fact that there is homophobia in wrestling and homophobic wrestlers. Imagine trying to keep your passion alive as it is something that you've loved for years. Now imagine going online during all this controversy to see so many people speaking out in support of CFA, seeing it Tweeted and Facebooked until all the noise, the vitriol and the hatred swirls around in your head until there's a veritable tornado in your mind. And you just cannot take it anymore.

This is what happened to my acquaintance Caelen (WrestlingUpdate on Twitter) yesterday. He had also been one of the people tweeting Mr. Price about his comments. We all have our breaking points and his was yesterday. He posted this for everyone to see and ReTweet:

NEWSFLASH: THE GAYS ARE FANS TOO. (PLS RT)

For so long now I have bitten my lip, simply reporting on Professional Wrestling and keeping my personal life and politics well away from this twitter account.

A few months back I challenged a pro wrestler on homophobic subtext to their blog, they replied with a polite, friendly response but otherwise not adressing any of the points I made - I decided not to take this any further with them as I believed there was no malicious intent. Around the same time I witnessed a blatant display of hate speech coming from one half of a very well known tag-team, I simply unfollowed as I found the content rather disturbing - he has since apologised.

Since then I have seen more and more attacks on homosexuality, much of it masked by "religion" "free-speech" or "MY opinion" which leads me to yesterday.

A well known wrestling organisation professed it's support to Chick-Fil-A as well as it's support for "traditional" marriage - comparing two men or two women marrying to paedophilia. I challenged this to no reply, then a short while ago I noticed the original wrestler I discussed claiming #unity in supporting Chick-Fil-A defiantly on twitter. I'm done. THIS is where I draw the line and speak up.

Chick-Fil-A corporate profits support the Family Research Council. The FRC is officially listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center - along side the KKK, Westboro Baptist Church and American Nazi Party. In 2010 The FRC spend $25,000 lobbying congress NOT to condemn Uganda's "Kill the gays" bill.

I am a wrestling fan, I buy merchandise, DVDs, BluRays, tickets to events, promote said events online, promote wrestlers online - my money goes into YOUR pockets each and every week, and I just so happen to be gay.

I knew I was a wrestling fan before I knew I was gay, there's no seedy interest (if you were to see my partner you would certainly see he is NOT wrestler build) I just love the sport, has been a passion for as long as I can remember.

They say to never meet your idols, well never add them on twitter either - in the past week I have been nothing but disappointed by pro-wrestlers using their position to support causes which discriminate towards homosexuals, so much so it has made me not only consider walking away from this twitter account but walking away from wrestling entirely - I am just utterly despondant that these people who I SUPPORT persist on supporting the criminality of equality.

I am starting to see how the frustration Chris Kanyon felt would take him to such low places, some of these people even claimed to have been his friends!

Religion or personal beliefs are no excuse to discriminate against a person due to their sexuality, race or sex - it's 2012, it's not acceptable.

Caelen is from the United Kingdom, where he is currently engaged to his boyfriend. He's been a wrestling fan since 1983, and he is by no means alone in his disgust with this issue. Wrestling is a niche product as it is, so it is astounding that wrestlers and promotions think they can afford to alienate part of their fan base. Then again, given how companies like World Wrestling Entertainment treat their gay fan base (as well as their female fan base and their minority fan base {see: the lack of talented female wrestlers on television; the Abraham Washington rape joke from July 30th 2012 RAW; Jerry Lawler's racist comment on the same broadcast; Lord Tensai's racist Tout from July 31st 2012; and the many, many racist gimmicks minorities have been cast to work}), this is probably not as surprising it may sound.

However, the Chick-Fil-A controversy goes much deeper than freedom of speech, despite what people want to believe. After all, if you speak your mind in the United States, that's fine. However, words have consequences and so do actions. It is Dan Cathy's actions, as president of CFA that have drawn the most criticism.

This stemmed from an interview done with K. Allan Blume for the Biblical Recorder and posted on the Baptist Press. The link can be found here: http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=38271 What drew notice was his stance at the bottom on supporting "traditional marriage." Cathy says,

Some have opposed the company's support of the traditional family. "Well, guilty as charged," said Cathy when asked about the company's position.

"We are very much supportive of the family -- the biblical definition of the family unit. We are a family-owned business, a family-led business, and we are married to our first wives. We give God thanks for that.

"We operate as a family business ... our restaurants are typically led by families; some are single. We want to do anything we possibly can to strengthen families. We are very much committed to that," Cathy emphasized.

"We intend to stay the course," he said. "We know that it might not be popular with everyone, but thank the Lord, we live in a country where we can share our values and operate on biblical principles."

Some writers did some investigation, and it turns out that this is more than Cathy supporting traditional marriage and strengthening families. The New Civil Rights Movement website published this report on July 19th (http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/chick-fil-a-so-whats-the-big-deal-its-just-some-chicken-right/politics/2012/07/19/44029):

Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-Fil-A, recently was reported as saying in an interview with the Baptist Press that he and Chick-Fil-A are “guilty as charged” when defining family units as one man and one woman. His verbal support of this corporate philosophy validates concerns expressed for well over a year by many LGBT organizations. Chick-Fil-A actively donates and supports organizations working to strip rights away and exclude gays and lesbians from such things as job protection, hospital visitation, inheritance rights, adoption, and marriage.

Equality Matters released information on Chick-Fil-A’s $2 million in donations in 2010 to anti-gay and anti-gay marriage organizations in the United States. It is important to note that all of the organizations referenced have taken an active role toward the discrimination of gays and lesbians.

• Exodus International
• National Christian Foundation
• Fellowship of Christian Athletes
• Family Research Council
• Marriage and Family Foundation
• Georgia Family Council

The largest donation of over $1 million was reported to have gone to Marriage and Family Foundation (focused on fighting against gay marriage).

The organizations referenced mask their intentions as being family-focused and of Christian orientation.  This type of positioning is reminiscent of the arguments used to protect Klu Klux Klan organizations during the 50’s/60’s/70’s. Hate groups used the concept of “preservation of family” and “Christian values” to defend their racist agendas/ambitions. Over time these organizations dehumanized entire classes of people, often leading to violence.
One important point: some of the organizations mentioned also provide a variety of quality services for families and Christian communities. Their mission and intention are not exclusively anti-gay.

This information from EqualityMatters.org was published in November of 2011, but it did not make the waves that Cathy's recent statements have. Now, finally, it seems to be making headway thanks to the controversy his statements have stirred up. Here is the link to the facts about where Cathy's donations (money that CFA has made from the consumers - meaning, money from people who may not have known where their cash was going) are going: http://equalitymatters.org/factcheck/201111010001 Excerpts from the article:

WinShape Is Chick-Fil-A's Charitable Arm. The WinShape Foundation is Chick-fil-A's charitable arm, created by Chick-fil-A founder and chairman S. Truett Cathy in 1984. WinShape has received a substantial amount of funding from Chick-fil-A: in 2009 alone, WinShape received $7,814,788 from Chick-fil-A Inc. [Winshape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 10/28/11] 

WinShape Gave Over $1.7 Million To Anti-Gay Groups. In 2009 alone, WinShape donated $1,733,699 to multiple anti-gay groups:

• Marriage & Family Legacy Fund: $994,199
• Fellowship Of Christian Athletes: $480,000
• National Christian Foundation: $240,000
• Focus On The Family: $12,500
• Eagle Forum: $5,000
• Exodus International: $1,000
• Family Research Council: $1,000

[Winshape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 10/28/11]

Fellowship Of Christian Athletes (FCA)

Fellowship Of Christian Athletes Conference Has "Freed" People From Homosexuality. Every year, the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) holds a National College Conference that Danny Burns, the conference Program Director, described as one in which "God freed some people from homosexuality, sexual sins, addictions and even ushered newcomers into His Kingdom." Burns’ comment has since been edited on FCA’s website. [Equality Matters, 3/22/11, Fellowship of Christian Athletes, accessed 10/28/11]

Fellowship of Christian Athletes Website Highlights Coach Who Was “Delivered From Homosexuality. [Fellowship of Christian Athletes, accessed 10/28/11]

 

FCA Ministry Leader Application Condemns "Impure Lifestyle" of Gays. The application to become an FCA Ministry Leader requires applicants to agree with the FCA's Sexual Purity Statement, which condemns gays as engaging in an "impure lifestyle":

God desires His children to lead pure lives of holiness. The Bible is clear in teaching on sexual sin including sex outside of marriage and homosexual acts. Neither heterosexual sex outside of marriage nor any homosexual act constitute an alternate lifestyle acceptable to God.

While upholding God’s standard of holiness, FCA strongly affirms God’s love and redemptive power in the individual who chooses to follow Him. FCA’s desire is to encourage individuals to trust in Jesus and turn away from any impure lifestyle. [FCA Application, accessed 10/28/11]

WinShape Donated $480,000 To Fellowship of Christian Athletes. WinShape donated $480,000 to the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 2009. [Winshape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 10/28/11]

Eagle Forum

Eagle Forum Is An Extreme Right-Wing Anti-Gay Group. Phyllis Schafly’s Eagle Forum consistently promotes disparaging claims about LGBT people. The group opposed the Supreme Court’s decision to decriminalize homosexuality in 2003 and has railed against courts for promoting a “gay agenda” in schools. [Eagle Forum, 7/18/03, August 2006]

WinShape Donated $5,000 To Eagle Forum. WinShape donated $5,000 to Eagle Forum in 2009. [Winshape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 10/28/11]

Exodus International

Exodus International Promotes “Ex-Gay” Therapy. Exodus International is one of the world’s largest promoters of “ex-gay” therapy,  the practice of trying to change a person’s sexual orientation from gay to straight. The organization refers to being LGBT as “perverse” and a form of “sexual brokenness.” [Truth Wins Out, accessed 10/28/11]

WinShape Donated $1,000 To Exodus International. WinShape donated $1,000 to Exodus International in 2009. [Winshape 2009 Publicly Available IRS 990 Form via Foundation Center, accessed 10/28/11] 

Is it clear yet why this is not an issue of free speech? Is it clear yet why Chick-Fil-A donating money to these organizations is a problem? All the money is documented in the public IRS forms. This is not a lie, a scam or false accusations. CFA is guilty of donating consumer money to anti-gay organizations. "So what?" you may say. "Other businesses donate money to organizations I may not agree with." Fair enough, but it's worth pointing out that Exodus International promotes "Conversion Therapy" (otherwise known as "Reparative Therapy"), which is therapy that seeks to change the sexual orientation of people. It's built around the assumption that homosexuality is a mental disease and can be 'fixed' via different types of therapy which include masturbatory reconditioning; social skills training; prayer groups and even aversive treatments, like the application of electric shock to the genitals.

Former 'patients' of Exodus have claimed to have been subjected to such shock treatment. All this, despite the fact that in 1973 the American Psychiatric Association declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder. The American Psychological Association Council of Representatives did the same in 1975 and other major mental health organizations followed until, in 1990, the World Health Organization declassified it as well. Yet, these groups still insist that it is a mental disorder that can be and needs to be corrected.

Imagine being a gay teenager dragged off to one of these groups and subjected to such "therapy." Imagine being told that your love for a person of your own sex is "unnatural" and a "mental disease" along the lines of schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder. Now imagine being a wrestling fan since 1983 and being faced with such blatant homophobia from people that you admired and respected, and said homophobia is not only tolerated in the sport you love but in some places actively encouraged. This is nothing new, of course, since the "gay stereotype" is a trope in wrestling story lines - but this is no stereotype speaking, these are the people behind the characters that are speaking out now. Letting their dislike and disgust for LGBT people shine openly.

Is it any wonder that Caelen, along with hundreds of wrestling fans that are also gay, have finally had enough? The only wonder is that it did not happen sooner, although with the explosion of social media in this day and age, it is easier to catch a glimpse into a famous person's mind than ever before. Some people have said, "It's not a big deal, it's always been this way." Many things have "always been this way" - slavery, women and African Americans being unable to vote, minorities being unable to hold certain jobs, so on and so forth.

There is absolutely no excuse for homophobia in wrestling. Not if wrestlers and promotions want to continue to exist. You cannot afford to alienate your fan base and make no mistake - you have LGBT fans in your audience. They exist. Why alienate them? You have an opinion about gay people? Keep it to yourself and off social media, unless you want to lose money. I personally stopped supporting Ring of Honor after Jay Briscoes'  tweet last year. In recent years, any promotion that utilizes their female talent in a degrading, humiliating way I drop all support for. I'm one person, but if more people start using their power and their voices yes, things can change.

Power lies in the wallet. If we want these wrestlers and promotions to stop alienating parts of their fan base, we must use this power. Stop purchasing DVDs, stop watching their television programs, stop buying their merchandise and start speaking out on social media. Things do not change unless we make them.

This has been a long post, but I feel it appropriate to end it with Caelen's own post (http://wrestlingupdateplus.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/the-gays-are-fans-too-blog.html) since he inspired this.

Yes, I know.. for years now I said @WrestlingUpdate would always be a stand alone feature, no website, no blog, no facebook.. a lone twitter entity. Well, that changed - I am primarily posting this due to being asked so many times about a tweet I made a few days ago, here it is, in it's entirety.

NEWSFLASH: THE GAYS ARE FANS TOO. (PLS RT)

For so long now I have bitten my lip, simply reporting on Professional Wrestling and keeping my personal life and politics well away from this twitter account.

A few months back I challenged a pro wrestler on homophobic subtext to their blog, they replied with a polite, friendly response but otherwise not adressing any of the points I made - I decided not to take this any further with them as I believed there was no malicious intent. Around the same time I witnessed a blatant display of hate speech coming from one half of a very well known tag-team, I simply unfollowed as I found the content rather disturbing - he has since apologised.

Since then I have seen more and more attacks on homosexuality, much of it masked by "religion" "free-speech" or "MY opinion" which leads me to yesterday. A well known wrestling organisation professed it's support to Chick-Fil-A as well as it's support for "traditional" marriage - comparing two men or two women marrying to paedophilia. I challenged this to no reply, then a short while ago I noticed the original wrestler I discussed claiming #unity in supporting Chick-Fil-A defiantly on twitter. I'm done. THIS is where I draw the line and speak up.

Chick-Fil-A corporate profits support the Family Research Council. The FRC is officially listed as a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center - along side the KKK, Westboro Baptist Church and American Nazi Party. In 2010 The FRC spend $25,000 lobbying congress NOT to condemn Uganda's "Kill the gays" bill.

I am a wrestling fan, I buy merchandise, DVDs, BluRays, tickets to events, promote said events online, promote wrestlers online - my money goes into YOUR pockets each and every week, and I just so happen to be gay.

I knew I was a wrestling fan before I knew I was gay, there's no seedy interest (if you were to see my partner you would certainly see he is NOT wrestler build) I just love the sport, has been a passion for as long as I can remember.

They say to never meet your idols, well never add them on twitter either - in the past week I have been nothing but disappointed by pro-wrestlers using their position to support causes which discriminate towards homosexuals, so much so it has made me not only consider walking away from this twitter account but walking away from wrestling entirely - I am just utterly despondant that these people who I SUPPORT persist on supporting the criminality of equality.

I am starting to see how the frustration Chris Kanyon felt would take him to such low places, some of these people even claimed to have been his friends! Religion or personal beliefs are no excuse to discriminate against a person due to their sexuality, race or sex - it's 2012, it's not acceptable.

There was so much more I wanted to say but was aware if I rambled and went on forever, no-one would read - this said I was taken aback by just HOW MUCH it was read, I recieved hundreds and hundreds of retweets yesterday- many from wrestlers who have been in WWE/TNA/ROH.

I have never been easy to offend or overly dramatic as I am sure my followers will attest to, I have never really been exposed to such a level of homophobia - masked or otherwise as my family, friends and community see me as I am, not who I sleep with. I have no problems with acceptance - in life it is all I know.

With all that said, I never believed that the one constant in my life since 1983 would be the first exposure I had to real hatred, hatred of something which is a part of me. This has been lifted by the masses of support recieved but a part of me will always remember that those people, whose pockets I lined with money do not see me as their equal.

I am going to call this a day now, I never intended to become some sort of gay, caped wrestling crusader or the voice of the people- I just wanted people to hear the voice of me. I had never intended to flood peoples timelines or end up in a heated debate with Tatanka (yes, it was as bizarre as it sounds) over freedom of speech - I just needed for 5 minutes to express myself as Caelen King, not @WrestlingUpdate.

That said, the question remains: how to strike the balance between free speech and mutual respect in this mixed-up world, both blessed and cursed with instant communication? We should not fight fire with fire, threats with threats.
Timothy Garton Ash