In all seriousness, I admire Dabo for doing this.
Posted on 05/23/2015 3:26:12 PM PDT by Gamecock
Clemson University head football coach Dabo Swinney should not appear at a fundraiser for a S.C. group that opposes gay marriage, the top Democrat in the S.C. House said Friday.
Swinney is scheduled to appear June 2 at the Columbia event for the Palmetto Family Council, a conservative advocacy group that opposes same-sex marriage and abortion, and often allies itself with S.C. Republicans.
“I find it highly inappropriate that Coach Swinney would appear at a fundraiser for an organization that is so openly discriminatory and politically motivated,” House Minority Leader Todd Rutherford, D-Richland, said in a statement. “I cannot fathom why Coach Swinney or anyone else would knowingly assist a group whose mission is to fight against equal rights and equal treatment of others.”
Family Council president Oran Smith, who helped craft South Carolina’s 2006 gay-marriage ban amendment, said Swinney will be honored for his Christian testimony, not political reasons.
“Like any other South Carolina citizen, he should be free to speak where he would like to,” said Smith, who has led the Palmetto Family Council for 14 years.
Jeff Ayers of S.C. Equality, a gay rights advocacy group, said he is disappointed Swinney accepted an invitation to appear at a fundraiser for an organization that has been outspoken against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. “It’s sending the wrong message to the LGBT students, and faculty and supporters of Clemson.”
At the event, the Palmetto Family Council also will recognize “faithful defenders of religious liberty in South Carolina,” including at least one “prominent Gamecock,” according to the organization’s Facebook page.
Smith said that statement is a reference to Gamecock fan and state Solicitor General Bob Cook, who co-wrote a legal brief regarding public prayer.
USC athletics director Ray Tanner previously has spoken to the organization, according to the Family Council’s website. The council recognized Tanner's foundation for its work on behalf of “economically and medically disadvantaged” S.C. children, said USC spokesman Wes Hickman.
Clemson spokeswoman Robin Denny said Swinney was notified several months ago that he would receive an award from the Family Council, based on personal factors, including the work of his foundation. “As far as we can surmise it is not a speaking engagement, merely an acceptance of an award.”
The Palmetto Family Council is the S.C. associate of the Family Research Council, a national group that the Southern Poverty Law Center calls an anti-gay lobby and hate group.
Swinney, like Tanner, is a state-paid employee, state Rep. Rutherford noted. “As a state employee, national figure and role model to kids all over the state, Coach Swinney should send a message that he has zero tolerance for discrimination and cancel his appearance.”
Other state-paid employees — from Gov. Nikki Haley to Attorney General Alan Wilson, both Lexington Republicans, to legislators — have been outspoken in their opposition to gay marriage.
House Majority Leader Bruce Bannister, R-Greenville, defended Swinney.
A state employee — whether a head football coach, head baseball coach or director of an agency — does not give up their right to free speech, he said.
“Dabo Swinney has been nothing but professional and positive,” Bannister said. “The fact that he has a very strong faith and wants to talk about it on his time is absolutely appropriate and acceptable.”
Nearly a year ago, Clemson’s athletic program took heat from the Freedom From Religion Foundation. That organization, sent a five-page complaint to the university stating it was concerned that Swinney and Clemson were “co-mingling ... religion and athletics results, not from student initiative, but rather from the attitudes and unconstitutional behaviors of the coaching staff.”
A Clemson attorney responded the foundation’s complaint “misconstrued important facts and made incorrect statements of the law.” However, the foundation’s concerns would be included in reviews of Clemson’s programs, the letter said.
In an interview last year, Swinney said he played football with gay teammates when he played as a wide receiver at the University of Alabama, according to a CBS Sports article.
“Those are personal decisions that people have to make,” Swinney said in the interview. “I mean everyone will be judged one day, but it's not up to me to judge somebody."
Rutherford commended Swinney for speaking out against judging others based on their sexual orientation. “(B)ut the fundraiser he's attending is for a group whose sole mission is to judge and discriminate based on sexual orientation.”
SC Ping?
In all seriousness, I admire Dabo for doing this.
they use the word discriminate in the wrong context constantly. We discriminate against violent felons. We discriminate against child molesters. And we discriminate against absurd nonsense like men marrying men. Perhaps they should look up the origin of the word matrimony.
Ping to 3.
so the problem seems to be originating from cock fans?
Tolerance does not mean acceptance. There is still freedom of religion and speech.
Do queers have to whine about everything? Haven’t you guys got some fudge to pack?
I'll chip in $20 to defray his expenses...
But the LIVs hear the word “discrimination” and it’s like the plague to them. No, no, we can’t have THAT!
We have done a very poor job in outlining WHO is actually being “discriminated” against. Anti-discrimination laws are on their faces, discriminatory. Someone is telling someone else who they must hire/can’t fire, who they must/can’t associate with.
A free country includes freedom of religion and freedom of association. It always trumps ANY statutory “civil rights” legislation.
And there it is. The Insidious lie which they keep repeating as if acceptance of homosexual sodomy hasn't been forbidden since recorded history. First they steal words from the English Language, and then they pervert them for an immoral purpose.
They have been trying to compare sexual perversion to being black for a very long time, and for the last decade, the media has been helping them do it. They constantly repeat this Goebbels like lie till a large portion of the stupid have come to believe it.
This man needs to be beaten down, and then told to stop comparing perversion to being black. People can stop buggering men's buttholes, but people can't change their color. This behavior is a sickness, and people need to stop comparing it to something benign, like color or nationality.
Good point. I think Ted Cruz is the only one who can articulate the talking points that you and other freepers make.I would vote for Walker. however I think we need Ted Cruz’ intelligence to really squash some of their nonsensical arguments
I’m a Gamecock too - and I say good for Dabo on this.
Calling the FRC (and their SC affiliate) a hate group is just absurd and obscene. This group has been around far longer than the gaystapo has....
They do it on purpose, and the media, rather than correcting anyone, is leading the charge for this misuse of the word.
What is changing public opinion is the constant propaganda onslaught from the News and Entertainment Industries. Had they tried this stuff in the 1950s, they would have likely gone to Jail, but nowadays we don't maintain review boards over people incapable of regulating themselves.
The existing news and entertainment industries need to be destroyed. They are driving this, and it's long past time that they should have been held accountable.
Yep, and I’m VERY discrimminating - in my taste in women (gorgeous wife), scotch (single malt, 12 YO or more) seafood, sushi, red wine, friends, etc.
I wouldn't go that far. The "Gaystapo" is at least as old as the bible, which mentions two separate incidents (Sodom and Gomorrah, and the City of Benjamin) where the homosexuals gathered round and tried to rape male visitors.
It is inherent in the character of homosexuals to be vicious and domineering. This characteristic simply doesn't manifest until they acquire sufficient numbers.
The real Nazis were also homosexuals too. The Nazi party was FOUNDED in a homosexual club by a bunch of homosexuals.
all true in a historical sense, but I meant the modern version of the gaystapo - that’s tormenting the US today...
South Carolina Ping
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Ping PS - Did you know SC is on the list of 25 states suing nobama over his amensty order? Read more here.
< /kristallnacht mentality>
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