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US: New York LGBT group attacks Giants for hiring former NOM spokesman as coach

Jul 26 2014
Written by Nick Duffy

An LGBT group has attacked the New York Giants, for hiring a former National Organisation for Marriage spokesman as a coach.

The NFL team recently took on former player David Tyree as director of player development.

Tyree has previously been a spokesperson for the National Organisation for Marriage anti-gay group, and claimed same-sex marriage would lead to “anarchy”.

Sheilah Sable, of Empire State Pride Agenda, said: “Tyree’s hiring says to them that it’s OK to hate someone because of who they are.

“A former spokesperson for the National Organization for Marriage (NOM), or one of the most prominent opponents to marriage equality, Tyree has a long history of making outlandish and ignorant comments about LGBT identities and experiences.

“Most recently, Tyree spoke out against the bill in New Jersey to protect LGBT youth from conversion efforts, claiming that he’d met ‘former homosexuals’ and that there’s ‘no scientific data to support the claim of being born gay’.

“The Giants and the NFL should be concerned that hires like Tyree may result in scaring players back into the closet and disengaging young LGBT fans and future stars.

“They need to make decisions about who joins their ranks based on how they will best represent the players, the brand, the fans, the sport, and the values of the team’s home state. There’s no room for discrimination in that.”

Despite the outcry over his views, Tyree claimed yesterday: “I would absolutely support any player on the Giants who identified as gay, in any way I could.”