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In case I didn't make it clear enough already, I'm 100% in favor everyone being treated with dignity--whether they are gay, straight, black, white, disabled, tall, short, whatever. And I'm willing to pipe up for it.



The opposite of treating people with dignity, I guess, is speaking the way Tim Hardaway famously spoke about LGBT people on Dan LeBatard's show.



So you might think that I would be eager to stick it to Tim Hardaway.



But I'm not.



See, I read his comments and thought to myself: poor guy, he's still in the dark on this one. He's ignorant.



Now, of course, ignorant people can do a lot of damage. It's not an insignificant failing. But in this case, I feel like time and an open mind would cure what Tim Hardaway has.



For now, it's clear that Tim Hardaway is one of the diminishing number of Americans who just does not yet have a LGBT friend, family member, or loved one who has really sat them down and explained this thing. Homosexuals, to Tim Hardaway, are theoretical. In his mind, I imagine (and I say this as someone who thought the same way in, say, eighth grade) homosexuality is a slight thing. An idea. A whisper. Something that, if the wind were to blow just the right way, might disappear altogether.



But then you get an actual human standing before you, someone who is really important to you, explaining day in and day out what it's like to be gay. And you realize this is a perfect human, made exactly this way. It's not a character disorder. It's not a case for doctors. Then you realize the only shame in it is in how it makes some angry heterosexual people talk and act. It's amazing, really. Tons of people are being routinely emotionally abused for the way they were born. It has been going on for ages. It's ridiculous. We're not all the same color. We don't all have the same sexual urges. We don't all talk the same way. We're not all anything. So, what's left to do but roll up our sleeves and delve into the messy process of figuring out how to get along anyway?



In his way, Scoop Jackson and Tim Hardaway did just that today. I'm a little disappointed that Scoop treated it like bad tactics, never saying anything at all along the lines of "you know gay people aren't from Mars, right?" But that's probably nitpicking. Jackson and Hardaway go way back, and this was a heartfelt and serious conversation. I'm on the side of anyone who is honestly and open-mindedly trying to work it out. This conversation is riddled with odd and backward thinking, but it's an important first step in a process that could lead to some real opening of minds. I salute both of them for doing this.



Here's an excerpt, but you should read the whole conversation between Scoop Jackson and Tim Hardaway (Especially read the part about the fear Hardaway feels now for his safety--not dissimilar from how some gay people describe feeling in settings like high school locker rooms. Hopefully we can all agree that we'd be better off if Hardaway, and LGBT people never felt that way. Maybe that line of conversation would be a good starting point when Hardaway has his inevitable sit-down conversation with some kind of gay rights group.):

So in your mind do you want forgiveness or are you just going to try to get yourself straight?



I want both. I want forgiveness and I want to get my s--- together.



And that entails …



Right now, learning. Learning that gay people are really no different than a lot of other people. Learning that they work hard, they do things in the community, they are responsible for building parks, rec centers, providing safe environments for kids, just things I had never associated with them before. [This last week] has opened up my eyes to the gay population and what they do. I'm getting a lot of knowledge about them that I didn't have. Which is going to make me a better person. And if it doesn't, then I'm a damn fool.



So are you doing this for the public acceptance or for you?



For myself! I don't need to go through anything for anybody else. What am I going to get from the public? What are they going to do for me? They gonna still say, "He's just doing this to rectify himself" or "He's just doing this because his people told him to do this." Most of the public and most of the media is crucifying me anyway. So why should I let them know what I'm doing or how I'm going about trying to rectify my wrong? And even when I do everything that I'm going to do to make this right there's still going to be people out there that say I don't get it. Like [Michael] Wilbon on "PTI." I'm still trying to figure out what he's talking about. What don't I get? Reggie Miller and Barkley said that I wasn't going to get a job in the NBA; Charles, you still around. You know. So understand, Scoop, that whatever I do I'm doing this because I insulted the entire gay population. To make them understand that I don't have a hate bone in my body, and I don't hate them.