Basketball Hall of Famer Charles
Barkley agrees with Sean Avery's endorsement of gay marriage.
The 31-year-old hockey player currently
with the New York Rangers recorded
a video released on Saturday for the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC)
New Yorkers for Marriage Equality campaign.
The endorsement was panned by Todd
Reynolds, who represents several NHL players and Canadian-based
cabler Rogers Sportsnet on-air personality Damian Goddard. On
Wednesday, Sportsnet
fired Goddard.
The 48-year-old Barkley dished on the
controversy during an appearance on SiriusXM Radio.
“If somebody is gay, that's their own
business,” Barkley said. “But it bothers me how people try to
say that jocks are not going to like a gay.”
“I think gay people should be allowed
to get married and God bless them, that's their own business.”
“Listen, if a guy can't play that's
the only time we don't want to play with him,” he added. “We
don't care about all that extracurricular stuff.”
This is the second time Barkley has
offered support for gay rights. During a January pre-game tribute to
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. broadcast on TNT before the Los Angeles
Lakers took on the Oklahoma City Thunder, Barkley said he loved gay
people.
“People try to make it about black
and white. He talked about equality for every man, every woman. We
have a thing going on now – people discriminating against
homosexuals in this country. I love the people. God bless the gay
people. They are great people. We have discrimination against
Hispanics in this country right now. We need to answer to that.”