"The Truth Is, A Change Is Gonna Come..."

NY Giants Director Of Player Development David Tyree Reverses Gay Stance
Tyree is no longer an advocate of gay conversion therapy and is open to meeting and befriending homosexuals, according to reports.

Michael O'Keeffe
July 24, 2014

David Tyree has changed his tune when it comes to homosexuality.

David Tyree, who became as famous for his anti-gay comments as he did for the amazing reception that helped the Giants defeat the New England Patriots in Super Bowl XLII, has had a big change of heart.

You Can Play executive director Wade Davis said the Giants’ new director of player development told him he is no longer an advocate of gay conversion therapy — and that he is open to meeting and befriending homosexuals, according to Outsports and a column Davis wrote for Sports Illustrated’s Monday Morning Quarterback blog on Thursday.

“Christianity teaches us love, compassion and respect for our fellow man, and it is in that light that I will continue to work with Wade and others to better serve the gay community,” Davis quoted Tyree saying in his SI column. “I would absolutely support any player on the Giants who identified as gay, in any way I could. And I will continue to stay in touch with Wade to ensure I am aware of the right ways to do that.”

Outsports, meanwhile, reported that Davis, the former NFL player who now heads the organization dedicated to ending homophobia in sports, says Tyree told him that he would have no problem having Michael Sam, the St. Louis Rams rookie who is the NFL’s first openly gay player, join the Giants.

“He said he had no problem with Michael’s sexual orientation, and that his job is to make the players better, and that he needs to make sure he gets better, too, and that he needs to understand the damage of things that he’s done in the past,” Davis told Outsports editor Cyd Zeigler.

Human Rights Campaign, a gay civil rights organization, ripped the Giants twice this week for hiring Tyree, who campaigned against the New York State marriage equality bill that became law in 2011. He has also publicly advocated for gay conversion therapy, a controversial practice that has been widely condemned by the American Medical Association and other public health groups.

You Can Play founder Patrick Burke pushed back on Twitter this week: He said that Tyree had recently spoken to Davis and suggested that Tyree’s views on homosexuality had evolved.

As the Daily News previously reported, Davis and Tyree spoke again on Wednesday evening.
Tyree hasn’t publicly distanced himself from his anti-gay comments from three years ago, but Davis said Tyree has changed his tune, especially when it comes to gay conversion therapy.

“Verbatim, he said he doesn’t think ‘anyone needs that kind of therapy,’ ” Davis told Outsports.

Davis said Tyree approached him after the You Can Play activist spoke at the NFL rookie symposium last month and thanked him for the work he has done in changing opinions about homosexuality in the NFL.

“He approached me, introduced himself, offered his hand and said, ‘I want you to know I really respect what you do,’” Davis wrote in SI.

Davis said he thinks Tyree “feels badly” about his anti-gay comments, according to Outsports.

“He did meet a couple people who told him they were ex-gays. He said he hasn’t met a ton of people who are gay but that he’s looking to develop a long relationship with me and other gay people to learn more about it. And it’s going to be a growth process for him, and he’s going to need to have a friendship with someone who is LGBT and spend quality time with him.”

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David Tyree once infamously said he’d trade his Super Bowl ring

if it meant gay marriage would be blocked.

This week, GLBT advocacy groups and bloggers fell like a ton of bricks on the news that the Giants' had hired David Tyree as their new director of player development... Tyree had become infamous after being recruited as a spokesperson for NOM in their efforts to prevent marriage equality coming to New York state.

I'm glad I withheld my thoughts on this until now... I hoped that the Giants organization had vetted Tyree on his GLBT views and would not have made such a controversial choice if the potential for further controversy was likely.  Thankfully, I was right... And it is exciting news to hear that David Tyree has evolved his views.

Inexplicably, people of color have been some of the most vocal and vehemet opponents of GLBT rights and marriage equality... Davis Tyree was just one of a long list of people of color who ironically spoke out in support of discrimination.  It is wonderfully refreshing to see these generally well-intentioned people evolve on the issue of GLBT rights and freedoms.

David Tyree's renewed prominence in sports, far from being a slap in the face of gay rights supporters, is actually the greatest news we could've hoped for.  If those who were once most vehemetly opposed to viewing us as equal human beings can realize the error of such thoughts, can our full equality and freedom be denied to us for very much longer?

This story illustrates why it's so important for us to come out and let people really see and know us... For when they do, and when they can count us as their friends and relatives, they can no longer demonize and dehumanize us and then they'll see us for what we are, only human.

Congratulations David Tyree, I'm happy for you and for me!

"Fear Eats the Soul"