The Phoenix Suns is leading the
National Basketball Association (NBA) in gay acceptance. In addition
to its CEO and President Rick
Welts announcing he's gay on Sunday, two players, Grant Hill and
Jared Dudley, appeared in an anti-gay bullying ad for the Gay,
Lesbian and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) over the weekend.
In the ad, Hill and Dudley correct a
ballplayer when he says, “Your moves are just gay.”
“Using 'gay' to mean dumb or stupid –
not cool,” Hill says.
“Not in my house,” Dudley says.
“Not anywhere.”
“It's not creative,” Hill says.
“It's offensive to gay people,”
Dudley adds.
“Ad you're better than that,” Hill
concludes. (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)
The ad directs viewers to the website
ThinkB4YouSpeak.com,
which urges young people to consider the impact of using words such
as “gay” and “that's so gay.”
“NBA players like Grant Hill and
Jared Dudley know that words are powerful and they understand the
impact they can have by encouraging young fans to think before they
speak,” Kathy Behrens, NBA Executive Vice President of Social
Responsibility & Player Programs, said in a statement.
The PSA was created pro bono by ad
agency ArnoldNYC. More than 1,6000 nationwide stations have donated
time to air the PSA being distributed by the Ad Council. The NBA
will support the campaign through social media, NBA.com and on NBA
TV.
The ad released over the weekend also
features the track Make Some Noise from the Beastie Boys'
recent studio album Hot Sauce Committee Part Two.