Tim Hardaway has, it appears, gone full-circle from Public Enemy No. 1 of the gay community to a staunch gay-rights supporter.
When former professional basketball player John Amaechi came out in 2007, Hardaway, also a former National Basketball Association (NBA) superstar, told a Miami sports radio show, "Well, you know I hate gay people, so let it be known. I don't like gay people and I don't like to be around gay people."
In 2010, on a Sirius Radio interview, Hardaway spoke about his work with The Trevor Project and The YES Institute, done to educate himself on LGBT issues.
The latest support for LGBT life from Hardaway came last week in El Paso. Hardaway, who attended Chicago's Carver High School in School, and then played at the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) before an NBA career from 1989-2003 which included five All-Star Game appearances and more than 15,000 points scored.
Hardaway attended a press conference in El Paso, urging citizens to oppose recall efforts against Mayor John Cook and city Reps. Susie Byrd and Steve Ortega, reported the El Paso Times. The three are being recalled by a group of religious conservatives who are angry the three voted to restore health benefits for gay and unmarried partners of city employeesdespite a ballot initiative in November that had abolished them, the Times said.
"I would say grow up and catch up with the times," Hardaway told the Times. "It's all around the world."
The Times reported that Hardaway said that what made his 2007 anti-gay statements especially shameful is that, as a Black man, he should understand discrimination.
UTEP also was, years ago, the focus of a Black-white issue.
In 1966, at the height of the civil-rights movement, Hardaway's former college coach, Don Haskins, led a team with five Black starters against an all-white University of Kentucky team to win a national championship.
Tom Brown leads El Pasoans for Traditional Family Values, which has until Sept. 16 to gather 6,100 signatures to hold an election to oust Cook, and about 650 each to recall Byrd and Ortega, according to the Times.
Laura McGinnis, spokesperson of The Trevor Project, confirmed that Hardaway in 2009 hosted a fundraiser in Miami to benefit the Trevor Project. She said that Hardaway also made an additional donation to The Trevor Project in 2009 through his charity foundation.
"Sometimes perception changes; it's all about growing, and we welcome the opportunity for people to change their first perceptions of what an LGBT person might be," McGinnis said. "[Hardaway] got a wake-up [after his 2007 comments], and that he answered that wake-up call is important.
"It's important for Tim Hardaway and others in sports, active and retired [athletes], to come out in support of LGBT people. For young people, its important to show that you care about all types of people, regardless of what differences there are with you [and others]; that shows your value as a person."