I saw this last week, but it is all over the place now and just thoroughly vulgar and disgusting. 

The reputation of the Pittsburgh Steelers likely took another hit today with the news that Steely McBeam, the team's official mascot, has been accused of sexual assault in an incident late last night at a downtown Pittsburgh gay bar.

According to a police report, McBeam was performing in a Village People revue at Steel Rodds Bar. During a brief intermission, he followed another performer into a small bathroom where they were planning to change -- McBeam into the Indian costume, his accuser into the construction worker -- and allegedly forced himself on the man. 

"The accuser describes the assailant as 6-foot-4 with a large, cotton-poly blend, stuffed penis," said Pittsburgh police chief David Palambo at a press conference this morning. "He claims McBeam held him down with a Styrofoam, faux-steel bar and assaulted him."

I realize it is intended to be a joke, but it isn't funny.  It might be funny if Steely were caught sending stupid text messages like Santonio or making a jackass out of himself like Jeff Reed, but rape?  Really? And it has to be in a gay bar because it is FUNNY that the Steelers mascot is gay.  Or likes gay sex. Or has a giant styrofoam penis.  Funny.

Ha.

The PG's Bob Smizik takes Penn State to task for allowing Portland to ride roughshod over university standards, policies and common decency.

It's not like the Harris incident was the first against Portland. She had a long and documented history on the subject. As far back as 1986, Portland was quoted making an anti-lesbian statement. In such a comparatively unenlightened era, such behavior might be understandable. But to maintain such an attitude over some 20 years speaks to the ignorance of a closed mind -- something that should not be tolerated among leaders at a major university.

And what does the big mac-Daddy of PSU sports himself have to say about the whole thing (he hired Portland back in the day when he was athletic director)?

"She is doing what she wants to do," said Paterno, who hired Portland in 1980 when he was athletic director. "I hired Rene and have always been fond of Rene. I think she has done a great job. If she wants to get out of it, then that is up to her."

Uh huh.  Well, fortunately, he won't be hiring the next coach.  Rumor has it that Pittsburgh's own Suzie McConnell-Serio is at the top of the consideration list.  Now that would be very romantic, but I'd suggest PSU take a moment to ensure that McConnell-Serio "gets" it on LGBTQ issues.  She's on the record as stating that sexual orientation is a "personal choice" and that she'll respect personal choices.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement for affirming lesbian players, but a far cry from the Portland-menace approach.  If McConnell-Serio can keep her attention on the game and the players' behavior related to the game, more power to her. 

But wouldn't it be cool if Penn State hired an openly lesbian coach? 

Here's a tidbit of good gay-tidings!

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- Penn State women's basketball coach Rene Portland resigned today, ending a 27-year tenure in which she won 606 games but battled allegations that she discriminated against lesbian players.

Portland resigned last night, the university said in a statement this morning.

Hurrah!  Hurrah!   More later ....

dsf

Imagine if Joey Porter mated with Ann Coulter ... they could spit out homobigot puppies left and right, well mostly just right. 

I just had to chime in on this.  The Tribune Review printed a list of Joey's highs and lows during his Steeler tenure. I won't recant all the amazing athletic feats he accomplished -- bully for him for doing the job he was amply compensated to do.  But here's how Scott Brown sums up Porter's homophobia:

The outspoken Porter made comments that some said were offensive last December, when he called Cleveland Browns tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. a derogatory name for a homosexual man during a post-game interview. Porter apologized for the word he used, though not to Winslow, and was fined $10,000 by the NFL.

WTF?   Outspoken?  Some said were offensive?  In what reality is calling Kellen Winslow Jr. a fag not offensive?   He was trash talking so everything he said was intended to be offensive. 

Brown was more outraged by Porter's horse-murdering dogs than his blatant bigotry.  Nice, huh? 

Now if I could just connect this to police secondary employment, the mayoral endorsement or Dennis Regan ...

Sometimes greed can be a dyke's best friend.  In this case, it means Joey Porter will take his trash-talking bigotry and hit the road for greener pastures.  I don't care if he made 879 tackles last year and was Most Valuable Stud three years running or even if he did single-handedly hold back the entire Steeler team so Jerome Bettis could have his moment in the sun ... I don't even care that his team mug shot is plastered all over the city on the anti-homicide billboards urging people to report murders.

I think we're better off without him and his arrogant disrespect for any creature other than himself.  We are not fans of Joey Porter.

This lesbian couldn't be happier. 

h/t Pitt Girl

Local opinion seems to be that our own con-alternative paper, the Tribune Review, is pretty anti-gay.  The fact, however, is that most of their gay coverage has been consistent with mainstream thought on gays -- we aren't so bad after all, its not such a big deal, don't we have better things to worry about (usually the libertarian columnists), and an abhorence of violence against gays.  Its a benign quasi-tolerance that keeps us fimly in our second-class seats, but protects us (mostly) from being bashed by pipe wielding maniacs.  They may not want their sons to be gay, but it would be okay if their daughters have a quirky gay confidante. Who could ask for anything more than that?  (I'm being ironic here b/c a 72 year old harmless man was killed by a pipe wielding maniac in spite of the fuzzy Will and Gracism pervading pop culture).

Two Trib columnists have tackled gay stories of late.  In an interesting display of better late than never, Matt Sober weighs in on the Tim Hardaway furor.  Sober went to Penn State with John Amaechi, the former NBA player who recently came out.  Sober recalls Amaechi as a very bright guy who probably appreciates the tough conversations his coming out have inspired throughout the sports world.  Then Sober takes an interesting twist:

And the lesson here is that declaring you hate gay people is just as silly as, well, declaring you love gay people.

Either way, the implication is that it's possible to know an individual based on some larger group identification.

Gay. Black. Immigrant.

Pitt grad.

Saying you hate gay people is silly -- that's the teachable moment Sober draws from all this?  Huh.  Declaring you love gay people is silly?  Its unfortunate that Sober opted for a jab at Pitt fans in lieu of actually saying something meaningful about the pervasion of homophobia in the sports world.  Its great that he's a fan of John Amaechi, but he trips right over his blase attitude into the treacherous world of "let's pretend there are no difference and see everyone as the same." 

Columnist Tom Purcell uses gay sheep experimentation to underscore the collapse of civilization.  Not because of gay sheep, but because of America's obsession with gay sheep and Anna Nicole Smith.  Some researchers were exploring the sexuality of sheep.  Hue and cry ensued about the ethics of such research, bringing the attention of such entities as PETA and Martina Navritalova.  Purcell takes the obligatory "nutty advocacy group" shot at PETA, dismisses any possibility that genetic research on sexual orientation could possibly be used against gays and then wraps up his analysis with this overreaching comparison:

Evil dictators are stifling freedom and torturing millions. Ethnic hatred and genocide are killing millions. Pestilence and disease are killing millions more. But we're more attuned to things that don't matter, such as "American Idol."

And we're at war. Western civilization is in a battle of wills with fanatics who hope to restore 6th century values. They intend to get their hands on some frighteningly powerful bombs to make us bend to that will.

I'm sorry, Tom, but in a nation that has collectively handed over our welfare to a despotic idiot, I'm feeling pretty good when groups like PETA bring our attention to potential landmines.  Especially when I look at your previous columns which don't seem to focus on evil dictators, torture or genocide.  But they do feature a lot of italicized words and exclamation points.  Its practically the same thing.

So more gay-benign pablum from the Tribune-Review.

"I don't hate gay people," [Tim] Hardaway said. "I'm a goodhearted person. I interact with people all the time. ... I respect people. For me to say 'hate' was a bad word, and I didn't mean to use it."

That's apology-take two.  He didn't mean to hate on us.  And he's surprised at the reaction --- as if he had killed somebody.  He even lost an endorsement. 

How much you willing to wager that he ends up in "rehab" like Isaiah Washington, Mel Gibson and Michael Richards?

The PG editors chime in on Tim Hardaway's banishment from the NBA All-Star weekend in response to his "I hate gay people" comments.

Former Orlando Heat basketball star Tim Hardaway showed just how profoundly ignorant a millionaire athlete can be and still tie his own shoes in the morning.

That's a great line.

This is just too delicious.  The Concerned Women for America are taking former NBA player Tim Harding to task for his recent homophobic rant.  The CWA fears that Harding's blatant bigotry will taint the anti-gay movement.  Or something like that.  Just check this out:

"Hardaway’s comments are both unfortunate and inappropriate,” said Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues. “They provide political fodder for those who wish to paint all opposition to the homosexual lifestyle as being rooted in ‘hate.’ It’s important to note that Hardaway’s words represent the feelings of Hardaway. His words do not represent the feelings of the vast majority of people opposed to the homosexual agenda.

“It’s perfectly natural for people to be repelled by disordered sexual behaviors that are both unnatural, and immoral,” said Barber. “All too often those behaviors are accompanied by serious physical, emotional, and spiritual pitfalls. However, the appropriate reaction is to respond with words and acts of love, not words of hate. Jesus Christ offers forgiveness and freedom for all sinners, and that is the heart of the Gospel message.

“Thousands of former homosexuals have been freed from the homosexual lifestyle through acts of love. Hardaway’s comments only serve to foment misperceptions of widespread homosexual ‘victimhood’ which the homosexual lobby has craftily manufactured.”

I can't make this shit up.

This is the kind of Christian-flavored bigotry that makes me puke.  As I was trying to explain to H's Mom in an earlier post, hate is a slippery slope.  H's Mom and her fear of lesbian-association for her daughter might seem a far cry from "I hate gay people," but if you interject the intermediary step described above ... its not so crazy a leap is it?

From today's Sports Mailbag, Harriet L. Schwartz of Squirrel Hill:

Penn State coach Rene Portland is an adult working on a college campus who has created a hostile and intimidating environment for students. As a university educator, she has harassed students, and continues to get away with it. As a longtime educator, I cannot comprehend that a university administration would allow this to continue.

Well put, Harriet.