Hey, you know that reality show about the hillbillies? No, the other one. No, the other one. No, the other one. Yeah, that one. Duck Dynasty. It turns out, one of its bearded hillbillies said some horrible things about gays and got fired. Go figure.
In an interview with GQ, Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson decided to share his unvarnished views on gays, the way you would expect from someone whose wardrobe is 50 percent camouflage and 50 percent beard. When asked about how he defined sin, Robertson responded by saying, “[S]tart with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men,” before concluding, “they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”
According to Towleroad, A&E — the channel that airs Duck Dynasty — immediately put him on permanent hiatus and apologized by stating, “[H]is personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community.”
I appreciate the fact that A&E is taking a no-bullshit stance on this, but come on. Did anyone really expect the self-proclaimed redneck who lives in a swamp and kills things for fun to be a champion of social justice? I’m not going to apologize for anything he said, because I think it’s pants-on-head stupid and wrong, but it can’t be that surprising.
Maybe I’m just patronizing him (scratch that — I DEFINITELY am), but it’s not like Robertson is any sort of scientist or has some sort of clout in regard to the field of human sexuality. He’s a redneck who made duck calls and then scored a lucrative TV deal opening for The Real Housewives of Who Gives a Fuck. Feel free to throw some outrage his way, but maybe save some ire for someone more important.
Or at the very least, someone whose greatest societal accomplishment isn’t “sounding vaguely like a duck.”
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