Opinion: Tracy Morgan’s rant: Offensive or forgivable?
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Tracy Morgan’s recent rant against gays prompted the editorial board to address that fine line comedians sometimes cross when pushing boundaries. That’s not to say the board thought Morgan was pushing boundaries by ranting he’d “take out a knife and stab” his son for being gay; quite the contrary. The board felt strongly that Morgan ought to be taken to task and that the incident should become a teachable moment for the comedian, and also for our society.
Readers, however, are questioning what makes anti-gay comments worse than rants about other groups. Here are their thoughts on selective outrage:
Aside from Tracy Morgan’s rant from being insulting to all, the lesson to be learned from recent events is that it isn’t what you say, but who you insult: white, male, conservatives are still OK, but left-wing causes and groups are officially off limits. --TimBowman Well, let us see if Tracy Morgan’s rant is treated the same as the Michael Richards rant in an LA comedy club back in 2006. I would guess or hope there should be no difference and the level of outrage should be the same. -- east-coast-scout What’s funnier AND more disgusting than Tracy Morgan’s routine is the overall dishonest and self-righteous reaction to it by the usual hypocritical suspects on the Left. If Morgan would have swapped the descriptive ‘homosexual’ for ‘Christian’ or even ‘Republican’...we’d be able to hear a mouse urinating on a cotton ball. Selective morals are no morals at all. -- mcfloyd Adult gay men and women can live with Mr Morgan’s rant. Unfortunately, while things are getting better and better we are all to use to this sort of thing. What is frightening though is the fact that Mr Morgan has 3 children. One has to wonder if his rant was triggered because he suspects one of them might be gay? And if not what if one of them is anyway? Mr Morgan’s statement that it is a choice shows an amazing amount of ignorance on the subject for this day and age. Being gay...sexually oriented to the same sex...is not a choice. Actually having sex with someone of the same sex is a choice, but trying to hide or avoid your sexuality doesn’t usually lead to a good life, or a good result. I wonder if Mr Morgan knows that gay teenagers attempt suicide at as much as 3 times the rate of straight teens? If one of his children is gay, and knows that he would rather stab them to death than accept it, what is their life going to be like. Also Mr Morgan is famous. How many gay teenagers watch his highly rated show, and will now wonder if their family and friends feel the same way Mr Morgan says he does. That they would rather see them dead than know they are gay? Mr Morgan should think about doing more than an apology. He should get some education about the subject, and try and repair what could be very deadly damage for some confused teenager/s! --valwayne
*Spelling errors in the above comments were corrected.
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