# Cincinnati Reds announcer Thom Brennaman suspended for on-air anti-gay slur **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 20, 2020, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619 "2020-08-20T23:42:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/41 "2020-08-23T15:52:59Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > > [@Harrington](#): > > > > Making what up? Do you believe that none or nearly none of the people criticizing Brennaman have ever used such language? The way people around me talk…You are a seer. Care to address the question? > > No, you prove your claim of hypocrisy. Otherwise I see no reason to accept it or address it. I guess I can’t quote human nature. I’m cornered. ---
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/42 "2020-08-23T16:01:58Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > > [@Harrington](#): > > > > And starts the agree-fest, no substance post, pile-on > > You’ve really written nothing of substance to respond to. “My friends and I do it so it must be okay” isn’t terribly substantial. And wholly shit, tell me what it’s like to have never said the words "fag,“bitch,” “whore,” or the like. I’m genuinely curious. None of those words have ever escaped your lips? I’m not talking about ideology, I’m talking about utterances. You cannot presume Brennaman’s ideology, because you don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/43 "2020-08-23T16:47:23Z")
What makes you so incredulous? What makes you think it’s “human nature”? Tell us about this life you lead that brings you to your conclusions. I tell you what, if I or anyone else at my workplace used those words, we would expect swift discipline. And most of us aren’t responsible for broadcasting to millions of people. Brennaman doesn’t even have the excuse of being overcome by extreme emotion or anger. He said it like he says it all the time. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/44 "2020-08-23T17:08:50Z")
> [@Harrington](#): > > Isn’t “assholes” and “bigots” disparaging terms for groups of people? Really, I admire you, for never, ever, as an adult, other than the above post, having uttered a disparaging word. You don’t have to mean it, you just have to say it You keep saying “never, ever” use a hateful word. Believe it not, some people, who may have used it in the past, are capable of realizing why it’s not ok now. People learn and grow, and it sounds like you’re saying current usage is perfectly fine because some of the critics may have used similar words in the past. That’s what is under discussion. Someone who IS saying it NOW, not “ever”. In public, at work. You also seem to think calling someone an asshole is equivalent to calling someone a fag, and if I call someone an “asshole,” it’s the same as if I called them “fag.” If you can’t see some words carry a hell of a lot more hate than others, I really don’t know how you function in society at all. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/45 "2020-08-23T17:28:52Z")
> [@Harrington](#): > > {…} A lot of white people use the “N” word because they hear it a lot, via hip-hop culture, and don’t truly know what it means. {…} So, what’s it like in the parallel universe you clearly live in? I bet it’s nice! CMC ---
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/46 "2020-08-23T17:30:34Z")
Do you have something substantive to add, or just Marvel references? Don’t mistake me, I love Marvel. Maybe you could include the entire quote. ---
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/47 "2020-08-23T17:47:21Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > > [@Harrington](#): > > > > {…} A lot of white people use the “N” word because they hear it a lot, via hip-hop culture, and don’t truly know what it means. {…} > > So, what’s it like in the parallel universe you clearly live in? > I bet it’s nice! > CMC Are you propositioning that people NOC don’t use the term “nigga” or its variations based on the ubiquitous hip-hop culture? You should join me in my alternate universe, learn a few things. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/48 "2020-08-23T17:56:24Z")
Ahh, the “N” word is ‘nigga’? But you wrote “N word” then and now you just write “nigga” . . . it’s almost like you’re engaging in equivocation! CMC ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/49 "2020-08-23T18:01:35Z")
> [@Harrington](#): > > And wholly shit, tell me what it’s like to have never said the words "fag,“bitch,” “whore,” or the like. I’m genuinely curious. None of those words have ever escaped your lips? I’m not talking about ideology, I’m talking about utterances. It’s like real fine. I’ve never uttered any of those words because they’re not in my head. I recognize them when I see them but I’ve never said them or their equivalents. Never. Not ever. Not even once. There’s nothing special about that. I don’t hear those words from my friends either. I have a pretty good-sized vocabulary, though, and I can find lots of disparaging words to fling at those who do use those words. Why not? They deserve them. ---
**Author:** ![Harrington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac8455/32.png) [@Harrington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harrington)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/50 "2020-08-23T18:04:40Z")
How do you recognize those words when they’re not in your head? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/51 "2020-08-23T20:44:40Z")
> [@Harrington](#): > > Isn’t “assholes” and “bigots” disparaging terms for groups of people? Really, I admire you, for never, ever, as an adult, other than the above post, having uttered a disparaging word. You don’t have to mean it, you just have to say it. False equivalence. Grade school is now open. Some groupings of humans are based on skin color, country of origin, gender, sexual orientation, and so on. What do these all have in common? That the members of that group had and have no choice about belonging to that group. Other groupings are based on behavior that is voluntary and optional. Some examples: people who act like assholes, people who fill their hearts with bigotry. These are behaviors, that people have it in their power to change if they want to. It is perfectly acceptable to call out people in the latter groupings for their bad behavior, and even to label them accordingly if they behave like that a lot. It is not at all acceptable to call people names based on the first type of grouping. This is a difference that most people learn before they enter high school (most much earlier). Apparently this sports announcer and you are among the exceptions, which I hope are rare. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/53 "2020-08-23T23:36:12Z")
I think that everything constructive to be said in this thread has already been said. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2020, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cincinnati-reds-announcer-thom-brennaman-suspended-for-on-air-anti-gay-slur/918619/54 "2020-08-23T23:36:30Z")
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