Tracy Morgan makes good on promise to the LGBT community.
After enduring a firestorm of public criticism following his infamous homophobic rant earlier this month, Tracy Morgan is intent on making amends with the LGBT community. And as promised when he publicly apologized last week, the comedian recently teamed up with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and visited a youth center to meet with LGBT teens.
According to MTV News, on Friday, June 17, Morgan visited the Ali Forney Center in New York City, the nation’s largest organization serving homeless LGBT youth, to speak with homeless LGBT youth and the parents of teens who were murdered in hate crimes.
“Initially, he seemed very nervous, I think he seemed kind of frightened when he got there. I don’t think he knew what to expect from us.” said Carl Siciliano, the head of the Ali Forney Center, after meeting with Morgan.
Siciliano also said that Morgan was “very apologetic” and “just wanted to make it really clear that he was there to apologize, that he hadn’t meant to do this, that he was hurt by what he had done. He was repeatedly apologetic.”
During the meeting, Morgan met with of the center’s residents, including Jayden, a young girl who was shunned by her family after coming out of the closet.
“It was an apology from one human to another and I really appreciated that,” Jayden said.
Morgan also met with Elke Kennedy, an LGBT activist whose 20-year-old son, Sean Kennedy, was beaten to death in 2007 in Greenville, S.C. Kennedy founded the organization, Sean’s Last Wish, in memory of her son.
According to Kennedy, after sharing her son’s story with Morgan, the comedian, who joked that he’d kill his own son if he were gay, became choked up and replied, “You know, that should never happen. That’s why my comments, the ones I made, are not going to be made again.”
By the end of the meeting, all in attendance had seemingly come to a better place of understanding and peace, with Morgan seeming to have benefited the most from the day’s discussions.
“Today, Tracy saw firsthand the toll that homophobia and anti-gay violence can take on a person’s life,” GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios said in a statement. “By meeting with LGBT teens left homeless because of who they are, we hope that Tracy has come to understand that so-called ‘jokes’ about gay youth are not just irresponsible, they are damaging.”
Morgan will return to Tennesse on June 21 to apologize to those he offended during his controversial comedy routine and while there, he plans to meet with the Tennessee Equality Project as well as local LGBT advocates.
–nicholas robinson
