By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Comedian Kevin Hart is always in the mood to make others laugh, but there’s one subject you won’t find him cracking jokes about.
In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, he claims that one of his biggest fears is his son being gay.
He says:
“One of my biggest fears is my son growing up and being gay. That’s a fear. Keep in mind, I’m not homophobic. . . . Be happy. Do what you want to do. But me, as a heterosexual male, if I can prevent my son from being gay, I will.
“It’s about my fear. I’m thinking about what I did as a dad, did I do something wrong, and if I did, what was it? Not that I’m not gonna love my son or think about him any differently. The funny thing within that joke is it’s me getting mad at my son because of my own insecurities — I panicked. It has nothing to do with him, it’s about me. That’s the difference between bringing a joke across that’s well thought-out and saying something just to ruffle feathers.”
Another interesting quote from the interview is how Kevin deals with racism:
“I won’t acknowledge what I won’t let beat me. Have I experienced racism? Of course. But will I make you feel superior by saying I’ve felt trumped at times? No. I’ll beat you by succeeding. I want to show my generation that a man of color, despite the roadblocks, can still make it. There’s moments when I took to social media and said things, but it’s always been on the positive side. I gave a message to Baltimore: At the end of the day, we’re only hurting ourselves by destroying what we have. We have to go back and live there. We’re torching, firebombing, looting our stuff. We need that CVS! Be smarter than this!”
Y’all are probably going drag him but I understand what he’s saying. He’s saying he doesn’t want his son to be gay because it’s hard enough being black, but being gay is two strikes. It’s the same thing for being a black woman. Being a woman is hard enough, but being a black woman? It gets even harder. Being black and gay is no joke and not every parent is strong enough to help their child get through it and teach them to be happy being themselves.
I am shocked he even said this.
In 2015, being gay ain’t the worst thing on earth. He sounds homophobic.
No sis, he sounds real. He knows being black and gay is very hard. He doesn’t know if he can handle seeing his son walk that difficult path. That’s a life of a lot of hurt and pain because too many of our own people are still close minded. When gay marriage became legal, just think about how filled with hate our social media feeds were with people we grew up with and went to school with.
Agreed.
Well said. I had to take some time off from social media because it was just too much.
Kevin is stronger and more understanding than he realizes. This is the same man who made his fiancee and ex wife learn to love each other and be family. If his son was gay, I think he would eventually figure out how to be a great support system. People too often doubt our own ability to grow and be understanding human beings.
Sh-t a lot of black parents feel this way. Im Sayin nailed it.
I understand what he is saying he is probably going to get a lot of backlash for saying this but I understand his point.
I’m just going to back on out of this one.
He kept it 100 and we do need to talk about this in the black community. Don’t rush to be offended. Read it again and think about what he was trying to say.
I love these comments.
I respect him for being honest. A lot of parents fear this because they know part of being a parent is taking on the burdens of your children. When they hurt, we hurt. Our community has a long way to go when it comes to dealing with homosexuality.
I can’t even stand Kevin but I feel him on this. Being black and gay? It’s tough! I have shed tears for some of my close gay friends when they tell me what they go through.
I get it.
Yes he is homophobic and yes he is a hypocrite for complaining about racism. He doesn’t say that he does not want his son to be gay because of the hard life situation. He says that he doesn’t want his son to be gay because of his own insecurities. If it walks like a duck talks like a duck it’s a homophobe.
Expected something totally from him but pleasantly surprised.
He is not even bringing up race. Yes, his son is black and yes, if his son is gay he will be a gay black man.
What I read is that if his son is gay, as a parent , he did something wrong. His insecurity is based on the premise that he made a mistake somewhere in his son’s childhood that ‘made’ him gay, something he could have prevented.
And besides he’s an over-rated comedian..
He said what a lot of men feel but can’t say because the political correct nazis can’t ever get out of their feelings to understand that not everyone is blind to what gay children have to go through regardless of which race they belong to. Y’all can play mad if you want to. Y’all know damn well gay people are still hated and gay kids have a hard time growing up. Most parents would choose to not have to deal with raising a gay child if they could. You can call it ignorance if you want but I know gay people who don’t even want to be gay because it’s so hard! Speak your truth Kevin! And he said if it happened, he’d have his son’s back so what’s the problem again?
I think Kevin is forgetting the fact that of course its hard, isn’t life itself hard? But by claiming that “he has done something wrong as a father”, I.e failed, he’s only perpetuating that homosexuality is some failed attempt at parenting, or some failed attempt at life. It’s one thing to be empathetic, but it’s another to replay a historic bias belief. Yes, we have to all grow as human beings, but that is hindered if your a public figure reinforcing misunderstanding because of your/his “insecurities”. Recent studies show that most hate crimes against homosexuals are as a result of personal insecurities. Bad move Kevin.
Exactly
I thought he was going to say he was scared for his son to go through the discrimination and hate, because he was gay. Not that he would feel like he failed as a Dad. Sexuality has nothing to do with parenting, so I’m a bit confused by his logic. Actually, I’m not confused… Apparently he believes that one chooses sexuality like they would chose a career path or college. So, he still needs some educating on the topic and some growing to do as a person. He doesn’t sound homophobic. but he sounds like his thinking is still a bit prehistoric when it comes to being gay.
So, he’s basically making it about him, as he stated. I thought he was going to say he didn’t want his son to be gay, because he didn’t want him to have to experience discrimination or hate because of his sexuality. But, he thinks that if his son is gay it means he’s a bad parent. Like being gay is a choice, such as a career path or college choice. Seems his Thinking is outdated when it comes to someone gay. I don’t think he’s homophobic, but I do think his thinking is a bit prehistoric when it comes to this topic. Sounds like Kevin has some growing to do as a person. Having a gay child doesn’t mean you failed as a parent, it just means you have a gay child. So, making it seem like your child grew up and chose to be gay as some form of punishment to you or some lack of home training is an insult to that child. And, to the many happy and healthy gay people that are living normal lives. Be scared for your child having to face injustices and discrimination because of who they are. But don’t be scared that you failed as a parent, because sexuality has nothing to do with that.
Fearing someone being gay is the very definition of homophobia. This guy is a bigot. His views are full of ignorance and unspoken violence. Any civilized person who believes in human decency would repudiate this fool.
If you know it’s hard enough being black, why have a kid. Adopt a white child if you want his life to be “perfect”. Which we know it won’t be. This is a cop out to clothe latent homophobia. He says if his son turned out to be gay he would want to know what he did. It’s not about you. What if he was born that way. Perhaps he doesn’t believe this, as he assumes homosexuality is a reflection of parental upbringing. Just like his skin color would be, it’s nothing you can prevent, save for not having a child. Everybody gay, straight, black white, transgender or dyslexic has their struggles Kevin. I call bullsh-t on this. Have several seats.