A message from Tim Thomas
Today around 5:00PM EST Tim Thomas posted a message on his official Facebook page simply stating, “I stand with Chick-fil-A.” Recently Chick-fil-A has been in the news for it’s remarks regarding same sex marriage, protesters had set out to boycott Chick-fil-A gaining much media attention. Thomas’ post quickly spread across the internet with many being upset about his remarks, some however have sided with him and applaud him for speaking out. Personally I don’t agree with the message, but that’s beside the point as this article isn’t intended to favor one side or the other. I mainly write this to say, even though you may or may not agree with his statement he still in fact has every right to make it. Looking through articles and comments I’ve seen several people say how he shouldn’t be saying such things, even quoting one Facebook comment as saying “You’re paid to stop pucks, not share your horrible opinion, so stop it.” Thomas respectfully posted his comment, not asking for anyone to side with him or follow his same beliefs and does in fact have the freedom of speech.
As an American, living in America that’s the right he has and he happened to exercise it. Disagree with him if you wish, but please don’t spread word that he has no right to say the things he does, and his profession definitely has nothing to do with his choice of words. Thomas also chose earlier this year to decline an invite to the White House to meet President Obama in celebration of winning the Stanley Cup with the Boston Bruins. He was bashed at that moment and it continues now, say what you will about him but I applaud him for speaking up for what he believes in, just as I will you if you stand up and disagree with him. The main thing in this situation that I found surprising is that he openly admitted to not supporting same sex marriage, and at the same time the “You can play” campaign is growing rapidly. Patrick Burke (@BurkieYCP), son of Brian Burke who is currently the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs issued a statement via Twitter reading “Ok, media friends- declining any comment on TT both on AND off the record. Marriage equality is not under YCP’s umbrella. Use GLAAD/HRC.” and also taken from the You Can Play‘s official Twitter (@YouCanPlayTeam) saying “For those asking, we have no reaction to Thomas’s statement. We are solely concerned with LGBT equality in sports.”
So officially, if you’re looking to contact either keep in mind that’s most likely what they will tell you. Sure Thomas should have kept this quite for the sake of good PR, but he stands strong behind his beliefs and will support them until the end. In the end he can sit behind his computer and make any statements he wishes, he’s already announced he won’t be playing next season to take personal time off, so media backlash would be minimal. Whatever you do, don’t take it out on his teammates or his team, they’ve done nothing wrong and may not share his same opinion. Remain respectful and it will blow over, thankfully Chick-fil-A and Tim Thomas have no say in whether same sex marriage is legal or not.
