Knights stick it to Stig over “demonic” Gay Slur
Newcastle Knights NRL footballer Ryan Stig has landed himself in hot water over comments posted last week on several of his social media pages that compared homosexuality to alcoholism and a “politically correct charade” that was tantamount to a “spiritual disease” and “demonic”.
The Knights have informed the Star Observer the club does not support Stig’s views and will be handling the matter “internally” while the halfback and five-eighth’s understanding of the Bible has also come in for questioning by none other than Australian rugby union star and noted LGBTI rights supporter David Pocock.
The Sydney Convicts who will be hosting the international gay rugby union championships – the Bingham Cup – next year in Sydney have also called on Stig to attend the competition as a guest and for the NRL to follow the lead of the Australian Rugby Union (ARU) and implement a specific anti-homophobia code.
Stig reached out to social media just one day after the ACT’s historic territory-based same-sex marriage laws were passed, turning to Facebook and Twitter on October 23 to post a long note on his opposition to marriage equality on the proviso he was adding his “2 cents” because he was sick of “seeing deceived christian [sic] and religious leaders”.
‘Homosexuality demonic work’
“I see more and more christian leaders succumbing to this politically correct notion of supporting ‘marriage equality’,” he wrote.
“Homosexuality is a fairly good example of distortion of design for fairly obvious reasons. When laws such as this … are created it makes covenant with unseen realms of the demonic which work to infiltrate and come against the thought lives of our cities states [sic] and nations”.
Stig, who originally joined the Knights in 2011 having been a 2007 Australian Schoolboys representative while attending Newcastle’s St Philips Christian College, then continued:
“Consider a man who continues in his homosexual ways which also pose the threat of aids [sic] compounding in a lot of the time lifelong sickness if not death, why in his right mind would he do this,” he wrote.
Stig also threw his two cents worth that homosexuals were made not born saying gays “are hurting people who have often been pushed down this road due to previous hurts”.
“I for one have gay people I call my friends and whilst I don’t agree with their sexuality, I don’t agree any less than I would a husband or wife cheating on their spouse,” he wrote.
“One thing we are hearing more Is [sic] that homosexuality can be genetically traced, well if that is the case there is as much proof of that for alcoholism yet their [sic] are no parades for alcoholic pride. I for one won’t succumb to the politically correct charade of it being a healthy lifestyle choice rather that this stance which stenches of deception.”
‘Role model’ should stand down
At the time of publication, Stig’s original post remained visible to the general public and had been shared almost 150 times over Facebook and provoked a flurry of debate on whether the 23-year-old was engaging in bigotry.
“This ‘man’ is supposed to be a role model. I hope his extremist views make him a laughing stock in this day and age. I would also urge his sponsors to consider dropping him,” said one Facebook user.
“This guy is a Wanker … I think he should stand down,” said another who shared Stig’s post.
Rugby star Pocock, a firm supporter of marriage equality, was another to criticise Stig’s understanding of sexuality and religion.
“Very hard to argue bible has specific sexual ethic, rather than just reflecting sexual mores of the time,” Pocock tweeted to Stig with a link to a US website.
Andrew Purchas, founder of the Sydney Convicts and president of the Bingham Cup organising committee, told the Star Observer he was simply astounded by Stig’s views.
“Unfortunately Ryan’s comments shows that there are still some very strong homophobic views out there in society as well as sport, more generally,”Purchas said.
“Hopefully having Ryan coming as an attendee to the Bingham Cup so he can see that gay men playing football is just the same as men playing football anywhere would be important to demonstrate that his views he expressed are completely unaligned and off-centre.
“I think the NRL need to follow the ARU’s lead and implement an anti-homophobia policy. The Bingham Cup and Sydney Convicts are working on that with the ARU at the moment.”
NRL and Knights investigation finds ‘no vilification’
Upon being alerted to Stig’s comments this week, a spokesperson for the Knights told the Star Observer the club was aware of the posts on social media but they did in no way reflect the views of the club.
“The Newcastle Knights does not discriminate against any person or race whether they are a player, supporter or employee within our organisation. We offer equal opportunities for any person to play a role in our Club and do not support the views of Ryan Stig.
“These comments are the personal opinion of Stig, based on his own beliefs and do not reflect those of the Club,” the spokesperson said.
“I have been advised that the Knights will be handling the issue internally. There will be no further comment from the Club at this time.”
The NRL Code of Conduct bounds all players to the sport’s Anti-Vilification Code which states they must not “speak or otherwise act in a manner which is likely to offend, insult, humiliate, intimidate, threaten, disparage or vilify another person on the basis of that person’s race, religion, colour, descent, nationality, ethnic origin, gender, sexuality, marital status, status as a parent, disability or HIV/AIDS status”.
The NRL launched an investigation by its Integrity Unit after being alerted to the matter by the Star Observer, with it finding that Stig did not engage in vilification, according to the NRL’s general manager of Media and Communications, John Brady.
“This does not in our view amount to vilification albeit that it is entirely contrary to the position of the NRL and the vast majority of players in the game,” Brady told the Star Observer.
“Rugby League has been prominent in supporting and promoting sexual equality among athletes and fans alike … and it strongly maintains that stance.
“A vilification policy however cannot prevent an individual holding personal religious views or expressing them within societal boundaries.
“Nobody could reasonably confuse the view as being endorsed by the club or the NRL.”
According to a News Limited report published on October 23 – the same day of his comments over social media – Stig is one of five Knights footballers off-contract for next year and is yet to sign a new deal.
Ian Roberts is regarded as the only gay NRL player to come out and that was nearly two decades ago.
To be perfectly honest, it sounds to me like Stig is actually struggling to come to terms with his own sexuality, as is the case with many that tend to publicly share their views like this.
It’s a way for him to reassure himself moreso than anyone else. I feel sorry for him to be honest, hopefully he can move past this dilemma of identity. It’s a shame that religious institutions are to blame for his (and many others) warped understanding of what is right or wrong in regards to sexuality, or rather “normal” and “abnormal”.
Sad that such homophobic comments are acceptable to any section of the community. Coming from a former “Christian” college student it reinforces fears that this sort of belief is institutionalized and the education institutions perpetuating them are subsidized by our taxes. Words have power Stig, please keep your hateful words to yourself.
Ryan Stig is as entitled to his opinion as those who support gay marriage and he is courageous for upholding his beliefs. The current climate is such that if you dare to express an anti-gay marriage view, you are ridiculed and subject to the most hateful comments and labelled ‘homophobic’. It’s not homophobic – he is not encouraging people to hate gays. You ‘love the sinner, but hate the sin’ – you love all people, but advocate what has been natural law since creation – populate via male and female relationships, or perish. We would not have a population at all if this was not the natural way.
Gay people are entitled to a loving, happy life, just like anyone else. They should be treated like human beings and contribute to the good of society – no violence or hateful abuse hurled towards them.
Ryan Stig and those like him should be entitled to the same – why are people calling for him to be sacked? This is reverse discrimination.
I agree that he shouldn’t be vilified and calls for sacking seem to be a bit ridiculous. But he seems to identify with a movement of people that would seek to ‘pray away’ the sexuality of others. The original founders of this movement exodus international have come out and said that these therapies are dangerous and a waste of time, with many leaving the movement and coming out again…
We should be judged for what we think, not for what we are, an extreme example -Terrorists commit murder-suicide all the time in the name of Allah, should we excuse that because it is derived from a singular, extremist religious view? Why should Stig be excused for his own extreme religious view which could in fact cause mental harm to the vulnerable members of the LGBT community? The problem here unfortunately that sexuality is not viewed in the same light as say Race or biological sex. If Stig came out and said something racist nobody would be arguing that his job should be protected. My sexuality, whether genetic, environmentally determined, or a combination of both, was no more chosen by me than my race of biological gender. So why is this somehow less of a crime?
The reason people are calling for him to be sacked is that his words could cause harm to his readers. I just think of how it was for me as a teenager – how difficult it could be. With gay and lesbian youth having some of the highest suicide rates of any demographic in Australia words like this (however poor the grammar) from a ‘role model’ does cause real harm to vulnerable individuals. So in this sense, he deserves to be vilified for it. Make no mistake, while people shouldn’t be persecuted for their religion, the choice to hold a prejudiced view inspired by religion but in no way derived from the only singular absolute interpretation of it deserves to vilified in full. Religion is too often used as an excuse by so called religious people for their prejudices – after all when there are multiple interpretations of the bible and you choose the one which marginalises a minority rather than other interpretations that don’t necessarily… why shouldn’t you be attacked for it?
He’s entitled to his opinion, but so are we. Free speech is a two way street, and if he wants to come out with biblical nonsense to justify his unease with homosexuality, then it’s only fair people call him out for it.
Let’s not pretend that the church is a bastion of morality; religious institutions have been a cesspools of the “sins” it rails against since their various inception points of inception. Its obsession with controlling the sexual and reproductive rights of those under their power and influence has been one of humanity’s greatest sources of grief for millennia now.
I personally don’t think he should be sacked (though he’s an ordinary player, so they wouldn’t lose much if they did), but I think it’s pretty fair for him to cop a bit of a tongue lashing for preaching to everyone without ever having had an original thought in his head. He clearly doesn’t posses any critical thinking capacity, and obviously doesn’t have any grasp whatsoever of basic logic (and omnipotent god is not logically compatible with the existence of a countervailing force), so I think he’s more to be pitied than anything.
What do people expect from a moronic, boof-headed, narrow minded football playing idiot?
Football players have never really been known for their brains and tactfulness.
jeez, and we wonder what is wrong with this world…people idolize and seem to have more respect for football players and pop stars than they would for a scientist or a physicist.
But i suppose the same people believe in a big man in the sky that is all knowing and all powerful!!
WAKE UP!!!!!!
I’ve seen plenty of calls for Ryan Stig to lose his contract. Calling for a person to lose their job for what amounts to an expression of an opinion is way way way over the top. Asking the State to support this amounts to Totalitarianism. This insanity has to stop.
If this doesn’t amount to vilification what does?
The NRLs conclusion on their investigation is simply ridiculous.
The important thing is Stig has been exposed for a homophobic bigot
I sincerely hope the Sponsors of the Knights take action to ensure this little bible bashing red neck does not have his contract renewed. Surely between Mcdonalds, Tooheys, Coke, Westfield etc. etc. etc. some of them must be thinking twice about supporting a team with people like Ryan Stig leave the game.
This cannot be swept under the carpet and action has to be taken.
Really great to see that they promptly disowned this outburst. These views however are not uncommon, and follow up is obviously needed.