That didn’t take long.
On Monday, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Carl Nassib came out as gay, winning plaudits from gay activists as Pride Month draws to a close.
Across media, the praise for Nassib’s “courage” rolled in. Newsweek said his announcement was a “big LGBTQ win.” USA Today declared, “It was a monumental moment for the league and, hopefully, a sign of growth.” The Washington Post noted that Nassib’s “presence is a symbol of progress … amid a backdrop of ‘a new Republican push to target LGBTQ rights.’”
Even President Joe Biden offered hosannas for Nassib, who also once played for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
“I’m so proud of your courage,” Biden tweeted Tuesday in also applauding transgender soccer player Kumi Yokoyama. “Because of you, countless kids around the world are seeing themselves in a new light today.”
In Nassib’s case, that light has already been extinguished.
That’s because people found out he is a Republican – and a supporter of President Donald Trump at that.
When conservatives shed light on this, the “fact-checkers” and Snopes.com noted that “the high-profile nature of his announcement” made it perhaps inevitable that “the episode quickly turned political, and they whirled into action.
They quickly dubbed as “true” the claims that Nassib is part of the GOP.
As Snopes noted, “Some left-leaning and LGBT observers expressed disappointment at such claims.”
One Twitter user stated, “All for celebrating a HUGE win for visibility and representation ESPECIALLY in a cishet dominated space like professional sports, but also questioning this and hoping and praying he didn’t vote Trump isn’t unreasonable.”
Another tweeted, “Of course the gay NFL player is a Republican,” which appeared over a big black square with “a disappointment” written on it.
“That gay nfl player just had to be a republican,” another added. “Can never trust these white gays for s—t.”
”God d—n it the gay NFL guy is a Republican,” another said.
Conservative sports commentator Clay Travis summed it up, “Yesterday Carl Nassib was a Twitter hero for coming out as a gay NFL player. Today Twitter is terrified he’s a Republican who voted for Trump. … I have no idea what Nassib’s politics are, but this is perfect.”
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