A top Washington lobbyist said this week he is preparing legislation that would prohibit gays fro playing in the NFL, and that he has the support of more than three dozen unnamed lawmakers.
The Hill reports that GOP strategist Jack Burkman said he came up with the idea after college football star Michael Sam publicly revealed he is gay a few weeks ago. If drafted, Sam would be the first openly gay player in the NFL.
“We are losing our decency as a nation,” Burkman said in a statement. “Imagine your son being forced to shower with a gay man. That’s a horrifying prospect for every mom in the country. What in the world has this nation come to?”
“If the NFL has no morals and no values, then Congress must find values for it,” Burkman said.
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Burkman serves as founder and president of his own lobbying firm, Burkman Associates, but his efforts at banning gays from the NFL have already cost him at least one client.
On Tuesday, DC Solar Solutions, Inc., a California-based green energy company, told ThinkProgress that it would no longer allow Burkman to represent the company because of his comments.
The company’s CEO Jeffrey Carpoff and COO Paulette Carpoff released a joint statement saying that the company has “severed ties” with Burkman “effective immediately” and that “DC Solar does not condone or support Mr. Burkman’s homophobic views.”
Sam had his own response to Burkman’s alleged bill:
Jack Burkman is going to need a Delorian, not some bogus bill, if he wants to prevent gay athletes from being in the locker room
— Michael Sam (@MikeSamFootball) February 25, 2014
In an interview with The Huffington Post, Burkman said he would have 36 House members and five senators lined up to support the measure in three weeks.
Burkman also has a younger brother who is gay.
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