Contact: Stacey Holliday, Concerned Women for America, 202-488-7000 ext. 126

WASHINGTON, Feb. 16 /Christian Newswire/ -- A former NBA star has made disturbing and harmful comments about his feelings toward people trapped in the homosexual lifestyle.  Interviewing with a Florida sports radio show, former Miami Heat player Tim Hardaway said that he “hates gay people” and that he distances himself from them because he is “homophobic.”  Concerned Women for America (CWA) is disappointed that a man who is respected by many sports fans would make such inflammatory remarks. 

“Hardaway’s comments are both unfortunate and inappropriate,” said Matt Barber, CWA’s Policy Director for Cultural Issues.  “They provide political fodder for those who wish to paint all opposition to the homosexual lifestyle as being rooted in ‘hate.’  It’s important to note that Hardaway’s words represent the feelings of Hardaway.  His words do not represent the feelings of the vast majority of people opposed to the homosexual agenda.   

“It’s perfectly natural for people to be repelled by disordered sexual behaviors that are both unnatural, and immoral,” said Barber.  “All too often those behaviors are accompanied by serious physical, emotional, and spiritual pitfalls.  However, the appropriate reaction is to respond with words and acts of love, not words of hate.  Jesus Christ offers forgiveness and freedom for all sinners, and that is the heart of the Gospel message.

“Thousands of former homosexuals have been freed from the homosexual lifestyle through acts of love.  Hardaway’s comments only serve to foment misperceptions of widespread homosexual ‘victimhood’ which the homosexual lobby has craftily manufactured.”

Concerned Women for America is the nation’s largest public policy women’s organization.