NFL star bashes ‘sinful’ gay Pride in Catholic college speech
Kansas City Chiefs star Harrison Butker bashed LGBTQ+ Pride month in his speech at a Catholic college. (Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
Kansas City Chiefs star Harrison Butker has been criticised for a graduation speech in which he labelled gay Pride month “sinful” and told female students that the majority of them would be happiest as wives and mothers.
Speaking at a commencement address at Catholic Benedictine College at the weekend, the NFL star laid into LGBTQ+ Pride month, what he called dangerous gender ideologies, and US president Joe Biden’s stance on abortion.
Butker, whose teammate Travis Kelce is dating Taylor Swift, suggested students at the liberal arts college in Atchison, Kansas, should have “true God-centred pride, not the deadly sins sort of Pride that has an entire month dedicated to it”.
He also went after Biden, criticising him for being both Catholic and pro-choice when it comes to abortions.
“He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice,” three-time Super Bowl champion Butker claimed.
Addressing the female students, he said his wife is happiest as a home-maker, and that the “majority” of women are more excited about “marriage and children” than a career.
“I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolic lies told to you,” he said. “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.
“I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”
The comments, particularly those about LGBTQ+ Pride, were widely condemned, with Justice Horn, the former chairman of the Kansas City LGBTQ Commission, saying: “Harrison Butker doesn’t represent Kansas City nor has he ever.
“Kansas City has always been a place that welcomes, affirms and embraces our LGBTQ+ community members,” he wrote on Twitter/X.
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