Curt Schilling, a former All-Star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Arizona Diamondbacks among others and one of the best baseball analysts on ESPN, was fired from the network on April 20. This was a day after he drew a lot criticism for posting offensive content on social media.
The post showed a man wearing a wig and women’s clothing. It said “LET HIM IN! to the restroom with your daughter or else you’re a narrow-minded, judgmental, unloving racist bigot who needs to die.” Schilling replied to the post saying, “A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don’t care what they are, who they sleep with, men’s room was [sic] designed for the penis, women’s not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic.”
He was then terminated by ESPN. First off, I would like to say that I personally believe that you should be allowed to choose what bathroom you want to use. With that being said, I can see the other side of the point, as well, because some people will use it in inappropriate ways. However, I also believe that ESPN had no right to fire Schilling.
Schilling simply posted something on his private page that was his opinion. He didn't say that the those in the transgender community should be killed or anything offensive like that. He simply stated his stance on the issue. I believe if he said something like, “Anyone who is against the transgender community should eff off,” or something of that nature, he would have gotten a slap on the wrist and still be employed at ESPN. I believe he got fired because he wasn't on the same side of the debate as many of the members of ESPN.
A week or two after this incident, ESPN aired “Four Days In October,” a documentary about the 2004 Boston Red Sox, a team which Schilling was a part of and played a crucial role in. ESPN edited out every part of the documentary that had Schilling in it. He pitched one of the most iconic games in Major League Baseball history: he pitched a game with a tendon stitched and the blood from the injury bleed through his sock.
This just made ESPN look immature and unprofessional. Doing this was the equivalent of a jealous ex-girlfriend posting pictures of herself with you cropped out, with some idiotic comment to go along with it. Schilling did nothing wrong and shouldn't be punished for his own opinion, and ESPN should be shamed on how they handled the situation.
