His tweet said that men shouldn’t be with men and women shouldn’t be with women.
Christian Jones, who played with the Canadian football team the Edmonton Eskimos, has been fired after a homophobic tweet, which was posted on Global Pride Day. Jones later apologised for the tweet.
In his tweet, which has since been deleted, the receiver and kick returner wrote: “Ima keep it this [sic] real… Man ain’t suppose to be with a man. A women [sic] is not suppose to be with another women [sic].
“THATS ME THO! Live life with safety.”
The Edmonton Eskimos acted swiftly, removing Jones from their roster, and in a statement, they tweeted: “We stand by the LGBTQ2+ community and firmly condemn the language used by Christian Jones. There is no place for such commentary on our team.
“Jones has been released from the roster.”
The Canadian Football League (CFL) also condemned the comments, writing in a statement that “there is no place in our league for commentary that disparages people on the basis of their religion, race, gender or sexual orientation.
“We in the CFL hold high the Diversity Is Strength banner. Our league makes no claim on perfection but it does strive to be inclusive, to accept and indeed celebrate our differences, and to respect and honour human rights.”
They added: “We all need to say no to hate and yes to love.”
Jones initially defended his comments from Twitter critics, but later issued an apology for his tweet, writing: “From Janis Irwin. ‘This is an opportunity for growth.’ She is absolutely right.
“My words were deeply hurtful, painful and served zero purpose. I added to the struggle of a community, to live a life free of oppression of any kind. I sincerely apologize. I was wrong.”
Related: Straight footballer calls for homophobic fan to be banned from matches
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