Kid Rock during a visit to the White House – Photo: The White House.
Rapper, songwriter and musician Kid Rock has doubled down on the anti-gay slur that earned him criticism earlier this month.
On June 5, Rock was caught on tape by the tabloid news outlet TMZ hurling homophobic slurs at fans during a recent show in Tennessee.
Gazing into one fan’s phone, Rock can be heard yelling, “F–k your iPhone, yeah!” in the video clip. He then turns to the crowd and yelled, “You f–king f—-ts with your iPhones out!”
Rock was barraged with criticism on social media from people offended by the homophobic slur. But just as the controversy appeared to be dying down, the 50-year-old musician put his foot in his mouth again, reports the New York Post.
“If Kid Rock using the word f—-t offends you, good chance you are one,” he tweeted, attributing the statement to his real name, Bob Ritchie. He added: “Either way, I know he has a lot of love for his gay friends and I will have a talk with him. Have a nice day.”
“Someone with gay friends wouldn’t use that word as an insult,” wrote one of Rock’s critics. “Enjoy the continued loss of fans and income.”
“Cool can you also ask him to write decent music someday?” quipped another, highlighting Rock’s referencing of himself in the third person.
“I am not gay, but my child is. & that term doesn’t offend me as much as it cuts my heart,” tweeted another. “[I]t’s hateful rhetoric, a hate-filled term. You know it. Trying to spin it as ‘cute’ is even uglier.”
I am not gay, but my child is. & that term doesn’t offend me as much as it cuts my heart
An Oklahoma Republican running for the State Senate went on an unhinged rant about celebrating Pride Month earlier this week in which he wished that the Rapture would occur and God would met out his vengeance against sinners, including the LGBTQ community.
Jarrin Jackson, a Christian nationalist running for the GOP nomination for the District 2 seat, located in the exurbs of Tulsa, posted an hour-long video to the right-wing platform Rumble. In the video -- which touches on a number of topics and conspiracy theories popular among the right-wing, including the Religious Right and people with anti-government views -- Jackson starts off with a rant about Pride Month, calling homosexuality "unnatural" and "disgusting."
Republican lawmakers in Florida and Texas have promised to introduce a bill in the next legislative session that would ban children from drag shows, in response to conservative outrage over a viral video showing children attending a drag show in a Dallas gay bar.
The event, "Drag Your Kids to Pride," was held at Mr. Misster Dallas, and was promoted as a "family-friendly Pride experience." Conservative media went into a rage after video from the event was shared widely, showing children getting up on stage or handing money to drag performers.
Opponents of the event criticized scantily-clad drag queens for dancing provocatively, as well as the general atmosphere of the bar, which was playing expletive-filled music during the show and has a neon sign posted on a wall reading: "It's Not Going to Lick Itself!"
A minister who regularly preaches against homosexuality, and has advocated for the death penalty to punish people who engage in homosexual behavior, recently railed against Pride Month at a city council meeting in Arlington, Texas.
"God's already ruled that murder, adultery, witchcraft, rape, bestiality, and homosexuality are crimes worthy of capital punishment," Jonathan Shelley, the pastor of Stedfast Baptist Church in Fort Worth, said at last week's council meeting.
Shelley made the remarks during a public comment period along with several dozen other people who had come to the May 26 council meeting to demand that their elected officials stop recognizing June as LGBTQ Pride Month and remove displays about LGBTQ topics from local public libraries.
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Rapper, songwriter and musician Kid Rock has doubled down on the anti-gay slur that earned him criticism earlier this month.
On June 5, Rock was caught on tape by the tabloid news outlet TMZ hurling homophobic slurs at fans during a recent show in Tennessee.
Gazing into one fan’s phone, Rock can be heard yelling, “F–k your iPhone, yeah!” in the video clip. He then turns to the crowd and yelled, “You f–king f—-ts with your iPhones out!”
Rock was barraged with criticism on social media from people offended by the homophobic slur. But just as the controversy appeared to be dying down, the 50-year-old musician put his foot in his mouth again, reports the New York Post.
“If Kid Rock using the word f—-t offends you, good chance you are one,” he tweeted, attributing the statement to his real name, Bob Ritchie. He added: “Either way, I know he has a lot of love for his gay friends and I will have a talk with him. Have a nice day.”
“Someone with gay friends wouldn’t use that word as an insult,” wrote one of Rock’s critics. “Enjoy the continued loss of fans and income.”
“Cool can you also ask him to write decent music someday?” quipped another, highlighting Rock’s referencing of himself in the third person.
“I am not gay, but my child is. & that term doesn’t offend me as much as it cuts my heart,” tweeted another. “[I]t’s hateful rhetoric, a hate-filled term. You know it. Trying to spin it as ‘cute’ is even uglier.”
See also:
Rochester residents report their Pride flags have been torn, bent, or burned
Wisconsin governor prohibits government funds from being used to pay for conversion therapy
Wisconsin governor prohibits government funds from being used to pay for conversion therapy
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