Good grief, Tim Hardaway!

By now, I am sure everyone has heard of the nonsense that came from ex-basketball player Tim Hardaway regarding gay people:

"You know, I hate gay people, so I let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people," he said while a guest on Sports Talk 790 The Ticket. "I'm homophobic. I don't like it. It shouldn't be in the world or in the United States."

Sir bigmouth's comments are going to be dissected over and over again so I won't talk about them too much.

Rather, I am going to roll my eyes and batten down my hatches. Here we go again with yet another reason for the gay and African-American community to go to war. When the shock of what Hardaway said goes away, someone is going to analyze his comments and actually try to find some good in them.

No doubt, someone like Rush Limbaugh or Glenn Beck will talk about how Hardaway's comments were a bastardized version of how strict the African-American community is regarding homosexuality. In short, his comments were nasty but they reflect a positive degree of morality.

The cynic in me kind of hopes this does happen. Maybe those two will give Senator Barrack Obama a break and stop trying to attack his "lack of blackness" for a change.

Then there is enterprising ignorance in the gay community. Don't get me wrong because I love my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters. However, in situations like this, many gays and lesbians will go for the easy, visceral parts of this controversy and not even attempt to hold their tongues before fully analyzing the situation.

In other words, I can be sure to hear all sorts of comments of "how can a black man put down gay people like white racists put down black people" until the cows come home, so to speak.

Want to know what I see in the Tim Hardaway situation?

Yet another reason why lgbt African-Americans will be put in the middle of a controversy between the white gay and lesbian and heterosexual African-American community. Both are going to be pulling us but neither will be acknowledging us.

So I am angry at Tim Hardaway having such an ugly idea of gay people. But I don't get too angry at him.

I have a feeling that I am going to have to save some of my anger for other parties: a little bit for the African-American community which creates circumstances for Hardaway's comments to be allowable and a little bit of anger for the gay and lesbian community whom I know will not use this opportunity to see how us lgbts of color are caught in two worlds of dual invisibility. This is because many of them will be exploiting their time to have "righteous indignation."

I swear, if something like this happens again, I am going to hide under my bed with a baseball bat.