Comedian Tracy Morgan on Friday backed
up his
earlier apology for an anti-gay rant by visiting LGBT teens in
Brooklyn.
In a routine delivered in Nashville,
Morgan, the star of NBC's 30 Rock, condoned anti-gay bullying
and said he would stab his son to death if he found out he was gay.
Morgan subsequently apologized and
agreed to meet with troubled LGBT youth from the Ali Forney Center in
New York City. He's also committed to participate in GLAAD's
upcoming Amplify Your Voice video campaign to combat anti-LGBT
bullying and will return to Nashville with hip-hop mogul Russell
Simmons to make a public statement in support of gay rights.
On Friday, Morgan sat down for an hour
to hear the stories of previously homeless gay and transgender youth
now living at the center.
Raciel Castillo, 19, told Morgan that
his father sent him to reparative therapy when he came out gay at the
age of 12 and eventually kicked him out of the house. Another young
person, Jayden Love, 20, said she was forced to live at her job after
she was put out on the streets by her family for being gay.
Castillo told The Wall Street
Journal that he believes Morgan, whom he said left in tears, was
sincere.
“I felt like he really did want to
change his message,” Castillo said.
“Today, Tracy saw firsthand the toll
that homophobia and anti-gay violence can take on a person's life,”
said Jarrett Barrios, president of GLAAD. “By meeting with LGBT
teens left homeless because of who they are, we hope that Tracy has
come to understand that so-called 'jokes' about gay youth are not
just irresponsible, they are damaging.”