Celebrity lawyer Gloria Allred delivered a letter to the NFL Thursday demanding to know why Roy Simmons, a former lineman for the Giants, was denied a media pass to the Superbowl. The pass was requested three days before the game.
Simmons’ request was declined because NFL officials reportedly told him there were no more credentials available, yet Allred claims others received passes after Simmons was denied his.
Simmons believes the facts that he is gay and HIV positive are the reasons he was denied. “I was once part of the inner circle — now I’m standing on the outside looking in,” he told reporters. In Allred’s letter, she asked if the NFL “is inherently homophobic and prefers that a gay football player remain in the closet.”
Simmons came out in 1992, disclosing his HIV positive status 10 years later. There are currently no openly gay players in the NFL.
Gay Ex-Giant Alleges Bowl Discrimination [abc sports]
