CB sent me this story earlier this morning, and all I did was skim it and think to myself, “That doesn’t sound right.” I happily went along, not realizing what a gigantic mess this was. Now it’s a Thing. A Thing that can’t be ignored. Tracy Morgan, formerly of SNL and currently starring in 30 Rock, was performing standup in Nashville, Tennessee when he seemed to stop the comedy to go an obscenity-laced rant against all gay people, forever, everywhere. This isn’t “Oh, I know what he meant to say” or “Meh, standard-issue bigotry.” This is full-on WTF hate-speech.

The scandal erupted when a man named Kevin Rogers, an activist who has worked on the Tennessee Equality Project, posted the following essay on his Facebook page. He titles it “Why I No Longer ‘Like’ Tracy Morgan — A Must Read”. I am only editing it for language:

I have very thick skin when it comes to humor; I can dish and I can take. What I can’t take is when Mr. Morgan took it upon himself to mention about how he feels all this gay sh-t was crazy and that women are a gift from God and that “Born this Way” is bullsh-t, gay is a choice, and the reason he knows this is exactly because “God don’t make no mistakes” (referring to God not making someone gay cause that would be a mistake). He said that there is no way a woman could love and have sexual desire for another woman, that’s just a woman pretending because she hates a f–king man. He took time to visit the bullsh-t of this bullying stuff and informed us that the gays needed to quit being p-ssies and not be whining about something as insignificant as bullying.

He mentioned that gay was something kids learn from the media and programming, and that bullied kids should just bust some ass and beat those other little f–kers that bully them, not whine about it. He said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death. He mentioned that Barack Obama needed to man up and quit being all down with this just because he has a wife and two daughters. All of this being followed by thunderous cheer and ‘You go Tracys’. Tracy then said he didn’t f–king care if he pissed off some gays, because if they can take a f–king d–k up their a**… they can take a f–king joke.”

[From Facebook via Dlisted]

I looked up old Tracy Morgan stories, and I discovered that calling homosexuality “a choice” was part of Tracy’s act as far back as 2009. So… it wasn’t just an off night or something, I guess. This is how he really feels. It’s pretty disgusting, especially considering that Tracy is able to speak with such heartbreaking compassion about other subjects.

Anyway, it’s a Thing now. The Advocate and the hate-speech watchdog group Truth Wins Out are putting Tracy on notice. Truth Wins Out’s spokesperson says, “No comment is not acceptable. If someone had accused me of making such remarks in a presentation, I would drop everything I was doing to clarify it. To try and sweep it under a carpet and pretend it doesn’t exist is offensive in itself.” The Nashville venue where Tracy performed is also distancing itself, with a spokesperson saying “The Ryman Auditorium regrets that people were offended by statements made by Tracy Morgan during his June 3 appearance. The Ryman does not control the content presented by people appearing on its stage, nor does it endorse any of the views of, or statements made by such persons.”

UPDATE: Morgan gave an exclusive statement to Gossip Cop: “I want to apologize to my fans and the gay & lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others. While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.”

Photos courtesy of WENN.