GLAAD Issues Statement to TMZ Regarding Mickey Rourke’s Tirade
October 9, 2009 by Taj Paxton, GLAAD's Director of Entertainment Media
Earlier today, TMZ alerted GLAAD to a video on their site of Academy Award nominated actor Mickey Rourke lamenting being unable to use the F-word freely. He proceeds to use the offensive anti-gay slur numerous times.
GLAAD issued a statement to TMZ today in response to their post showing Rourke repeatedly using and defending the F-word. Rourke is a part of a small list of celebrities who see the word as harmless. GLAAD does not agree. President Jarrett Barrios said:
“This is a slur that, regardless of what Mickey Rourke has convinced himself that it means, is often the last word that gay people, and gay youth in particular, hear before they’re bullied, harassed or assaulted.
Rourke is showing himself to be painfully ignorant of how this vulgar, abusive slur feeds a climate of anti-gay hatred, intolerance and violence.
Rourke either needs to figure this out, or media needs to stop giving him a platform for promoting these kinds of slurs.”
[...] Jarrett Barrios of GLAAD was swift to respond… “This is a slur that, regardless of what Mickey Rourke has convinced himself that it [...]
[...] anti-gay meaning. However, the spread of the word in this manner does not make it okay to use. Mickey Rourke and Kansas City Chiefs running back Larry Johnson recently learned this lesson as GLAAD reiterated [...]