ISBLAsshat of the Week: Drew Brees

In the interests of fairness, y’all know I don’t follow The Volleyball, so I didn’t know from Drew Brees, the quarterback for the New Orleans Saints. But I do know one thing about him, he’s the ISBL Asshat of the Week, and here’s why …

Brees recently recorded a video for -LGBTQ group Focus on the Family. Focus on Family hates, among other things, same-sex marriage and adoption by gay couples; Focus on Family supports gay conversion therapy and believe transgender people are “mentally ill” and “suffer from a devastating condition.” Focus on the Family says anti-bullying groups in schools are promoting homosexuality. Focus on the Family says legislation prohibiting anti-LGBTQ workplace discrimination must be stopped and believes business owners have the right to discriminate against gay people based on religious beliefs.

Clearly, Focus on the Family hates The Gays; enter Drew Brees. In a video for Focus on the Family, Brees promotes “Bring Your Bible to School Day” which is set to be held on October 3, never mind the whole Separation of Church and State nonsense, I’m guessing. Brees has been involved with Focus on the Family for nearly ten years, and you’d think would be proud of that, but oddly enough, his video for “Bring Your Bible to School Day” was hidden from the group’s Facebook timeline shortly after it was published, though it can be seen on smaller church pages—where fewer people might watch—as well as the Focus on the Family YouTube channel.

Naturally, people who saw the video, and know about Focus on the Family’s hate-filled anti-LGBTQ rhetoric, took Brees to task for his support, and Brees is, trying, to fight back, even going on a social media rant to defend his indefensible actions:

“There’s been a lot of negativity spread about me in the LGBTQ community recently based upon an article that someone wrote with a very negative headline, that I think led people to believe that somehow I was aligned with an organization that was anti-LGBTQ and so on and so forth.”

Um, Drew? Honey? You filmed a video for Focus on the Family, which is a group that seeks to deny LGBTQ Americans rights, seeks to torture LGBTQ youth through conversion therapy, and thinks it should be legal to discriminate again LGBTRQ people because of God, so don’t act like this is a shock; you supported them by making that video and you’ve been affiliated with them for ten years. But then he goes on …

“I’d like to set the record straight. I live by two very simple Christian fundamentals—and that is Love the Lord with all your heart, mind and soul and love your neighbor as yourself. I think the first is very self-explanatory, the second one, Love Your Neighbor as Yourself, what does that mean? That means love all, respect all and accept all so that is actually how I live my life. That is what I try to do with my family, with my teammates, with the people in my community, with my friends – all people, no matter your race, your color, your religious preference, your sexual orientation, your political beliefs, it doesn’t matter.”

But again, Drew, you filmed a video for a Hate Group; why aren’t you commenting on Focus on the Family and their hate for the LGBTQ community? That certainly doesn’t look like “love all, respect all and accept all.” Brees continued:

“What I did, is I filmed a video recently that was encouraging kids to bring their Bibles to school for National Bring Your Bible to School Day. To be able to live out your faith with confidence and I even gave one of my favorite Bible verses. It was as simple as that, so I’m not sure why the negativity spread or why people tried to rope me into certain negativity. I do not support any groups that discriminate or that have their own agendas that are trying to promote inequality. So, hopefully that will set the record straight and we can all move on, because that’s not what I stand for. Have a great day.”

First off, Drew, what about the kids who don’t believe in the Bible? Or the kids who study the Torah or the Quran? Bibles don’t belong in schools unless it’s a religious school, and you trying to turn your support for Focus on Family into some innocuous little Bible video is the height of hypocrisy.

The KKK hates The Gays, but many in that group are people of faith; would you film a video for them? You have aligned yourself, for nearly a decade with an anti-LGBTQ hate group, and you cannot pick and choose what they stand for that you agree with; if you stand with a hate group, you stand for hate; if you film a video for a hate group, even one as ridiculous as Bring your Bible to School, then you look like you support hate.

And that’s not a good look, and that’s why you are the ISBL Asshat of the Week.