Roland Martin Makes Excuse for Homophobic Tweets in Statement

CNN contributor Roland Martin has released a statement on his blog following outrage over several of his tweets during the Super Bowl, one in which he advocated violence against 'dudes' who like David Beckham's underwear ad, and another in which he mocked a photo the network ran of a New England patriot in a pink suit.

Said Martin in the tweets:

If a dude at your Super Bowl party is hyped about David Beckham's H&M underwear ad, smack the ish out of him! #superbowl

Who the hell was that New England Patriot they just showed in a head to toe pink suit? Oh, he needs a visit from #teamwhipdatass

Now, Martin has responded in a blog post:

Fam, let me address the issue that some in the LGBT community have raised regarding some of my Super Bowl tweets yesterday.

I made several cracks about soccer as I do all the time. I was not referring to sexuality directly or indirectly regarding the David Beckham ad, and I'm sorry folks took it otherwise.

It was meant to be a deliberately over the top and sarcastic crack about soccer; I do not advocate violence of any kind against anyone gay, or not. As anyone who follows me on Twitter knows, anytime soccer comes up during football season it's another chance for me to take a playful shot at soccer, nothing more.

GLAAD is not having Martin's excuse, noting that Martin has a history of anti-gay statements. Martin has compared being gay to being an alcoholic, has bragged about his wife leading men and women away from the homosexual 'lifestyle; and defended Tracy Morgan's stand-up joke about killing his gay son.

Sharon Lettman, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, the nation's largest black LGBT civil rights organization, released a statement with regard to Martin's tweet:

“Even if he meant it in a jovial manner, Roland Martin's words carry a real impact on the everyday lives of Black LGBT people, especially our youth. Given the number of rash murders, attacks and violent acts involving LGBT people of color, we cannot let statements such as this go unchecked. Silence is a form of acceptance and only perpetuates the problem.”

GLAAD has called on CNN to fire Martin.