As Derrick Gordon transfers, Seton Hall at center of LGBT rights battle
BY Michael O'keeffe
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Gerry Broome/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay player in Division I, transferred to Seton Hall over the weekend.
When it comes to homosexuality, Seton Hall apparently hates the sin but loves the sinner — especially if he can shoot from the top of the key.
The Roman Catholic university has found itself squarely in the middle of the ongoing debate over LGBT rights and marriage equality this week when Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay Division I men’s basketball player, announced over the weekend that he would transfer from UMass to Seton Hall.
Gordon’s announcement came just days after a priest claimed he lost his job as director of campus ministry because he posted his support of LGBT equality on Facebook.
“The fact that someone can lose their job for supporting equal rights is disturbing,” said Jeff Parshley, the co-founder of the NOH8 Campaign, founded in 2008 to promote LGBT equality. “It is hypocrisy and it is not fair.”
Rev. Warren Hall said on his Twitter account last week that he was fired from Seton Hall for expressing his support for NOH8 on Facebook.
“I’ve been fired from SHU for posting a pic on FB supporting LGBT ‘NO H8.’ I’m sorry it was met with this response,” Hall said on Twitter. “I’ll miss my work here.”
Gordon told NJ.com that he knew that Hall had claimed he had been fired because of his support of gay equality, but his decision to transfer to Seton Hall was based on basketball.
“All that other stuff is irrelevant to me right now,” he said.
Some gay activists have criticized Gordon for transferring to Seton Hall, Outsports editor Cyd Zeigler said, but he thinks Gordon made the right call. Playing ball at a Big East school will allow him to show the world that gay athletes belong in big-time sports.
“This gives him an opportunity to build a dialogue on these issues,” Zeigler said.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark, which governs Seton Hall, disputed Hall’s claim that he was fired from his campus-ministry job because of his support for gay rights. Instead, he will be transferred to another position.
“What the father said is inaccurate, and he needs to answer for that,” spokesman Jim Goodness said. “He is misleading you.”
In a statement emailed to the Daily News, Goodness said that Hall was not fired for advocating tolerance. But the church also teaches that marriage is a union between men and women, and the director of campus ministry needs to be someone who can articulate that position clearly.
Zeigler, however, said churches, universities and other large institutions often say one thing and do another.
“Every religious institution is full of hypocrisy,” Zeigler said. “They apply the Bible when and where they choose to target specific classes of people.”
The university, meanwhile, issued a statement saying it is a welcoming academic community with a diverse array of students, and Zeigler said that is undoubtedly true.
“There are plenty of LGBT students and athletes at schools that try to ban their existence,” he said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/c...hall-center-lgbt-rights-war-article-1.2228787
BY Michael O'keeffe
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Gerry Broome/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay player in Division I, transferred to Seton Hall over the weekend.
When it comes to homosexuality, Seton Hall apparently hates the sin but loves the sinner — especially if he can shoot from the top of the key.
The Roman Catholic university has found itself squarely in the middle of the ongoing debate over LGBT rights and marriage equality this week when Derrick Gordon, the first openly gay Division I men’s basketball player, announced over the weekend that he would transfer from UMass to Seton Hall.
Gordon’s announcement came just days after a priest claimed he lost his job as director of campus ministry because he posted his support of LGBT equality on Facebook.
“The fact that someone can lose their job for supporting equal rights is disturbing,” said Jeff Parshley, the co-founder of the NOH8 Campaign, founded in 2008 to promote LGBT equality. “It is hypocrisy and it is not fair.”
Rev. Warren Hall said on his Twitter account last week that he was fired from Seton Hall for expressing his support for NOH8 on Facebook.
“I’ve been fired from SHU for posting a pic on FB supporting LGBT ‘NO H8.’ I’m sorry it was met with this response,” Hall said on Twitter. “I’ll miss my work here.”
Gordon told NJ.com that he knew that Hall had claimed he had been fired because of his support of gay equality, but his decision to transfer to Seton Hall was based on basketball.
“All that other stuff is irrelevant to me right now,” he said.
Some gay activists have criticized Gordon for transferring to Seton Hall, Outsports editor Cyd Zeigler said, but he thinks Gordon made the right call. Playing ball at a Big East school will allow him to show the world that gay athletes belong in big-time sports.
“This gives him an opportunity to build a dialogue on these issues,” Zeigler said.
A spokesman for the Archdiocese of Newark, which governs Seton Hall, disputed Hall’s claim that he was fired from his campus-ministry job because of his support for gay rights. Instead, he will be transferred to another position.
“What the father said is inaccurate, and he needs to answer for that,” spokesman Jim Goodness said. “He is misleading you.”
In a statement emailed to the Daily News, Goodness said that Hall was not fired for advocating tolerance. But the church also teaches that marriage is a union between men and women, and the director of campus ministry needs to be someone who can articulate that position clearly.
Zeigler, however, said churches, universities and other large institutions often say one thing and do another.
“Every religious institution is full of hypocrisy,” Zeigler said. “They apply the Bible when and where they choose to target specific classes of people.”
The university, meanwhile, issued a statement saying it is a welcoming academic community with a diverse array of students, and Zeigler said that is undoubtedly true.
“There are plenty of LGBT students and athletes at schools that try to ban their existence,” he said.
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/c...hall-center-lgbt-rights-war-article-1.2228787
