Brees folds like a tent over 'anti-gay' accusations

Drew Brees, the veteran New Orleans Saints quarterback, is known for being vocal about his Christian faith so it seemed like a logical fit for him to partner with Colorado based-Focus on the Family to promote the annual “Bring Your Bible to School Day” on Oct. 3.

In a brief promotional video (see below), Brees encourages students to take their Bible to school and “share God’s love” with their classmates.

“You’re not alone,” he concludes.

But then the accusations started, first with a New Orleans-based online magazine which describes itself as “unapologetically progressive” and questioned how the city’s star quarterback could cooperate with an “anti-LGBTQ+ religious group."

Other media outlets predictably piled on, too, including Newsweek, The Washington Post, People, and The Advocate, a homosexual-themed news website.

Then came the backtracking.

“I was not aware of any of the things [Focus] said about them lobbying for anti-gay, any type of messaging or inequality or any type of hate-type related stuff,” Brees told reporters. “I was not aware of that at all.”

In a separate video Brees posted to Twitter, the quarterback says he does not support any groups that “discriminate” or try to “promote inequality.”

Despite running from Focus in recent days, Brees has worked with the ministry in the past such as a 2010 radio interview and a 2015 story on marriage, The Christian Post pointed out. 

Left-wing media outlets reported on that past involvement, too, and all but challenged Brees to pick a side since he has worked alongside talk show host and lesbian Ellen DeGeneres and the "It Gets Better" campaign to fight anti-homosexual bullying. 

Responding to Brees’ retreat under pressure, Christian author and speaker Frank Turek says it was unfortunate to watch him back down when homosexual activists and their media allies toss out words such as “love” and “hate” without a deeper discussion about what that really means.

“We need to describe what we mean by ‘inequality,’ ” Turek told American Family Radio. “Are all behaviors equal? No. All people are equal but all behaviors are not equal. And what does hate mean? Does hate mean that if you disagree with someone's political position that you're a hater? If that's the case, the LGBT community are haters because they disagree with conservative political positions.”

Just like a parent would object to a child’s harmful behavior out of love, Turek said the Bible condemns homosexuality for the same reason.

“If Drew Brees wants to line up with what the Bible says, what Jesus says, what natural law says, he's not a hater,” Tukey insisted. “In fact, he's loving people by saying if he says homosexual behavior is sinful and unhealthy, that's loving. That's not unloving.”

Despite the appearance of being tossed under the bus, Focus on the Family president Jim Daly released a statement thanking Brees for encouraging students and supporting "Bring Your Bible to School Day."