If you’re familiar with the body of work of AFL Footy Show host Sam Newman, it may not surprise you to find out that he has an opinion on gay American football player Michael Sam kissing his boyfriend and that opinion is not a positive one. It may be completely unsurprising to you! And in that case, please get your face ready to do your best unsurprised expression, because Sam Newman has indeed weighed in on the kiss that launched a thousand homophobic tweets: it was an “annoyingly gratuitous act”.
If you’ve just got back from a holistic retreat in the country and aren’t familiar with the story, here it is in full:
That’s it! A man kissing his boyfriend after he got some good news about his career. What made it more complicated, of course, was the fact that it was on TV, because it gave homophobes a straw man to attack. That’s exactly what Sam Newman did: “No heterosexuals do that when they’re drafted”, he insisted.
Happily, Newman didn’t have to wait for the ACMA or a gay activist to tell him he was being a dick again: his colleagues and audience did that for him, booing and calling him “homophobic” and “off the pace”. Co-host Garry Lyon disputed his bullshit theory, pointing out “You always see shots of players drafted in basketball or footy, whether they’re with their girlfriends, wives, partners — of course they embrace and kiss”.
In 2004, Newman was taken to court after saying Melbourne didn’t need “mincing, lisping, parading people wandering all over the country”. Maybe this time he can be fired?
In other Michael Sam news, the St Louis Rams draftee will be the subject of a “docuseries” (that’s a documentary series) on the Oprah Winfrey Network. The as-yet-untitled series will focus on Sam and “his historic journey as he prepares to enter the biggest professional sports league in America.”
Image via Lucas Dawson for Getty Images Sport
