New Orleans Saints linebacker Scott Fujita, who has been vocal in his support for gay rights in the past, spoke to reporters about the 'Focus on the Family' Tim Tebow ad, the NYT reports:
"The issue resonates with Fujita because he was adopted, and Fujita said he respected Tebow for standing up for what he believed in.' The idea of focusing on the family — who wouldn’t agree with that?' Fujita said. 'But the means of doing so, he and I might not see eye to eye all the way.'
When Fujita was born in 1979, his biological mother, he said, was in her teens and she gave him up for adoption because she did not have the means to raise a child. 'I’m just so thankful she had the courage and the support system to be able to carry out the pregnancy,' Fujita said. 'I wouldn’t expect that of everybody.'"
As for the ad's timing, Fujita said, "The idea of doing it at the Super Bowl is going to raise some eyebrows. Do they have the right? Absolutely. Is it going to offend
some people? Absolutely."
Fujita also talked about having progressive gay rights views and speaking openly about them within the NFL:
"By and large, the players are more tolerant than they get credit for. It’s not a big issue. Some guys will think you are crazy for
believing one way, but they’ll still accept you….It’s just me standing up for equal rights. It’s not that
courageous to have an opinion if you think it’s the right thing and you
believe it wholeheartedly.”
Fujita made similar statements in an October '09 interview in the Huffington Post:
"I have no concern about [being stigmatized] whatsoever. I know who I am. My wife knows
who I am. I don't care one way or the other Dave. I imagine that when
some of this gets out guys in the locker room might give me a hard
time, and they always give me a hard time. They call me the Pinko
Communist Fag from Berkeley. I'm used to it. I can take it all."
And his most salient point:
"By and large in this country the issue of gay rights and equality
should
be past the point of debate. Really, there should be no debate anymore."
