Ever since Drew Brees came to New Orleans, he has been a hero to me. The last thing my publication and I wanted to do was to defame an American hero. For the record, we don’t believe we have defamed him. Drew Brees has always shown class, dignity and respect in all of his encounters publicly and privately.
With that said, his long-standing association with a known anti-LGBTQ hate group, known for their use of conversion therapy to convert those who are not heterosexual, is particularly troublesome. Drew, imagine a gay Saints fan who has always respected you and worshiped you, learning that you aligned yourself with a group known for their anti-LGBTQ stances. He discovers his hero is standing with an organization that takes the position that being gay is a choice and he should seek God to convert. That’s extremely hurtful to many of the fans who hold you in high esteem.
We listened to your apology, and we actually fully believe you when you say you respect people regardless of race, gender, sexuality, etc, but instead of attacking an independent, local publication that has covered the Saints extensively for publishing an article with a “very negative headline,” and going on to accuse the publication of publishing clickbait, you should have spent your time sincerely apologizing to the LGBTQ community for aligning yourself with a group that is known for their anti-gay stance.
The Washington Post elaborated about your accusation against us:
You accuse our publication of trying to get views with a negative headline, but if you truly believe that, then why would reputable national media outlets such as Newsweek, Business Insider, Yahoo News, ATT News and many more cover this story if it wasn’t nationally legitimate? When a Super Bowl-winning quarterback potentially disparages the LGBTQ community it is important news especially to an entire city of fans.
Yes, we called you out on this but we didn’t create this controversy. You created it yourself by aligning yourself with this group since 2010. This was not a newly formed alliance. Now, we will give you the benefit of the doubt here and accept that you didn’t know this organization’s stances. You’ve always been a class act; so we will give you that. Now, we are asking you that you apologize for demeaning our publication just because we published a factual story that happened to be vetted and picked up nationally. We are asking you to stop blaming us for your actions, denounce this group, end your association and make a genuine attempt to make amends with the LGBTQ community. But whatever you do, please don’t add insult to injury.
The bottom line is we are cheering for you to do the right thing Drew. We are cheering for you to take a stand against hate (as you have done many times before), and please don’t blame us for reporting a factual news story. And then, go win another damn Super Bowl for every single one of us. You can overcome this moment and we believe you will, but please do the right thing first. We are all rooting for you.
You can read contributing writer and editor Jenn Bentley’s letter to Big Easy Magazine readers and followers of the controversy here.
Scott Ploof is Publisher and Founder of Big Easy Magazine.
