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Time for Dungy
to end his silence on gays
By
Jim Buzinski
(Editor's note: Update of Dungy's speech at the bottom).
Tony
Dungy has every right to speak at a dinner of the Indiana
Family Institute, which opposes gay rights. But he needs to
be accountable for whether he shares the group's political
goals.
 Dungy,
head coach of the Super Bowl champion Indianapolis Colts,
has raised eyebrows by being the honored guest at the IFI's
$75-a-plate "Friends of the Family" benefit on March 20. The
event is expected to draw 700 people and raise $50,000, the
Indianapolis Star reported. Dungy gives the dinner real
star power since no previous event has drawn more than 440
people, the Star said.
IFI is a
political advocacy group with a very clear agenda, summed up
on its
website: "Throughout its 16-year history, the Indiana
Family Institute has sought to bring Biblical values and
Biblical ethics to the public policy making process in
Indiana. To this end, we have opposed all efforts to create
or advance special civil or legal rights for homosexuals."
The group
is very active in trying to push an amendment to the Indiana
constitution that would ban same-sex marriage. It also
opposed the decision by Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels in
2005 that added sexual orientation to the list of protected
categories in state employment. There is no mistaking what
the IFI stands for when it comes to gay rights – it opposes
them in every instance.
Does Dungy
share these beliefs? We don't know because he's not talking
and this is very disappointing. The Colts did not respond to
three separate requests from Outsports for an interview, and
the Indianapolis Star and AP were also turned down.
Is Dungy a
homophobe? I won't label him as such until I hear his views
on gay issues. IFI President Curt Smith, perhaps trying to
give the coach cover, told the Star that "he hasn't
discussed public policy with Dungy and is unaware of the
coach's views on the marriage amendment. He said it would be
wrong to assume anything about Dungy's views on that issue."
Smith said that, "The goal of this award is to celebrate
people who live out the family ethic that we think is
essential to healthy families. You don't have to agree with
us on all of our public policy issues." (The Colts are
keeping their distance, telling AP: "The Colts do not
endorse any political or religious position taken by any
group that any Colts employee decides to speak or lend his
or her name to.'')
Why the
silence from Dungy? He has always been very vocal about his
strong Christian beliefs, and regularly cites God when he
talks, including after winning the AFC title game and the
Super Bowl this past season. "The Lord orchestrated this,"
Dungy said on the NFL Network about Indy's Super Bowl
season.
When the
coach of the Super Bowl champs accepts an award from a group
that actively opposes gay rights, he can't hide behind the
Colts PR department, which told the Star he was too busy to
comment. His appearance at the dinner is endorsing IFI and
raising it more money than any previous event. These are the
unanswered questions we sent to Colts PR head Craig Kelley
about which we wanted Dungy to answer:
--Does he
endorse IFI's views on gay rights and gay marriage? What are
his views on the subject?
--What is
his purpose for speaking before IFI? The group is very up
front about its desire to have a political impact and does
he share that advocacy?
--Does he
agree or not with Chicago Bears coach Lovie Smith's take on
having a gay player: "We don't try to judge people's
lifestyles and things like that. We don't get into people's
personal lives in that way. We judge players based on one
thing: Can they play football? If you can play football, you
can get into the locker room."
--Has he
ever coached a player as an assistant or head coach he knew
was gay, and if so, did his relationship change with this
player and how so?
Those are
pretty simple questions that Dungy can easily answer. Many
of the people on various Colts message boards who support
Dungy are claiming that gay people are trying to deny him
his 1st Amendment rights. Nothing can be further
from the truth.
I defend
Dungy's right to say and believe anything he wants and to
speak to whomever he wants. But I also have a right to ask
for answers from a person who is accepting an award from a
group that is political in nature and seeks to influence
public policy. Silence won't cut it. This is akin to
politicians like George W. Bush and John McCain, who were
forced to publicly defend their appearances at Bob Jones
University, a school that had a tradition of racist
policies.
Dungy's
supporters on Star
message boards (more than 600 comments were posted
about his dinner appearance) assume he believes like they
do. "Dungy not only has the right to oppose homos, he should
be THANKED for representing our God-fearing city the way
most of us would want him to," read one post that was,
sadly, representative of majority opinion on the subject
("You don't have to be a right-winger to be repulsed by
homosexuality," said another poster).
As a Colts
fan who watched virtually every play of the glorious 2006
season, I've always been impressed by Dungy's demeanor and
class. He's someone who has proved you don't have to be an
arrogant, anti-social control freak to be a successful head
coach, and I am always impressed about how his players –
past and present – speak of him with a mixture of awe and
reverence.
Dungy
has never come across as a hater.
I would
like to think that Dungy does not embrace the views of his
"supporters" who write things like, "I feel BAD for queers.
They're seriously like retarded or something." Until he
clearly articulates his thoughts on the issue of gays and
gay rights, though, I can only conclude that he shares the
same world view, if not the vile language. Dungy needs to
defend the company he keeps or distance himself from it.
March 21
update: Here is what Dungy said at the March 20 IFI
dinner about the group's support for gay marriage: ""I
appreciate the stance they're taking, and I embrace that
stance. ... IFI is saying what the Lord says. You can take
that and make your decision on which way you want to be. I'm
on the Lord's side."
The coach said his comments shouldn't be taken as gay
bashing, but rather his views on the matter as he sees them
from a perspective of faith, the
Indianapolis Star reported.
"We're not anti- anything else. We're not trying to
downgrade anyone else. But we're trying to promote the
family -- family values the Lord's way," Dungy said.
That pretty
much clinches it for me: Dungy is a homophobe. He "embraces"
the agenda of a political group that pushes anti-gay
legislation and endorses policies to "cure" homosexuals. His
appearance at the dinner raised $70,000 -- $50,000 in ticket
sales and $20,000 from the sale of autographed Colts
merchandise. He may want to believe his stand does not
amount to gay bashing but he's wrong. Actively endorsing and
raising significant money for an anti-gay group makes you
anti-gay, and no amount of spin will change that. (--Jim
Buzinski)
Discuss this story
Related: Dungy raising money for anti-gay group
Dungy opposed to gay marriage
March 12, 2007
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