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I’m sure you’ve heard the story by now, but Odell Beckham has been suspended a game by the NFL for targeting Josh Norman with a dangerous helmet-to-helmet hit during a game. After the suspension was levied, rumors and accusations spread that Josh Norman was using “homophobic slurs” and “questioning Odell Beckham’s sexuality” at moments before and during the game. As the reports of the slurs started to come in, I saw a lot of broadcasters and pundits remark that Josh Norman was “questioning” or “attacking” Odell Beckham’s “manhood” with his comments. Just look at how perennial clowns Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless addressed the issue: At the 12:50 mark, Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless both used the phrase “he questioned his manhood” when discussing Josh Norman’s comments about Beckham. The went on to insinuate that Beckhman is more sensitive to the “accusations” for some unnamed reason. And it wasn’t just Bayless and Smith talking about Beckham’s “manhood.” I saw that same verbiage used all week. And here’s why that’s a problem: conflating homosexuality with manhood is innately homophobic and demeaning. The idea that calling Beckham gay means he’s less of a man is saying that homosexuality makes someone less of a man. And that’s the overall opinion of homosexuality that needs to change. Odell Beckham has given people plenty of fodder to wonder if he’s gay or not. That can’t be denied. And if he is, then he is. But him being gay wouldn’t make him less of a man than anyone else who catches touchdowns in the NFL. But we have an idea that masculinity needs to be tied to sexual orientation and that’s just simply degrading. It’s also a good reason why Odell Beckham lost his cool. We’ve grown up thinking that “gay” is an insult. Want to see a straight guy lose his mind? Call him gay. That’s why grown a$$ men are still running around saying “pause” after a sentence that requires normal human interaction. Insinuate a guy is gay and you’re basically inviting him to a fight. That’s because the idea of being gay means that the man has failed at his biological duty of being a man. That he somehow now can’t perform basic tasks like, I don’t know, changing his tire and saying “you can’t say hi?” when a pretty woman walks by. So, for Odell Beckham, a football player by trade, being called gay means that he can’t do any of the manly things he does on the field. Because that’s how society sees gay men. But here’s the secret. Lean close. Closer. Ready? Gay men are men. Real men. Who support families and raise children. Who save lives and fight for Black lives. Who serve our country and hold political office. Gay men are men . So when Josh Norman (allegedly) insinuated that Odell Beckham is gay, he wasn’t questioning his manhood. He was calling him gay. These are two very different things. In an ideal world, someone calling me gay should be as innocuous as someone saying I’m from Kansas or went to a different middle school. But it’s not. Unfortunately, being called “gay” comes with so many negative connotations that non-gay people have placed on the word due to our own insecurities. So what happens is, a guy loses his mind and potentially injures another player permanently because he was so “insulted.” This isn’t healthy, people Josh Norman calling Odell Beckham a “f*ggot,” if he did in fact do that, is insulting because it’s a slur. And it’s definitely a disgusting thing for him to have allegedly done. But simply calling Beckham gay? We have to find a way to disarm people who try to use that word as an insult. And the only way to do that is to treat gay people and the idea of homosexuality like it’s something to be accepted and not used as a weapon. Is that really so hard to do?

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Stop Saying Josh Norman Insulted Odell Beckham’s ‘Manhood’ By Calling Him Gay