Closeted gay man sez WUT????

Harrison Butker has gone WAY beyond his 15 minutes

(Because you never know when it might come in handy)

If the Sturm und Drang over Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College has done anything, it’s caused those of us who are so inclined to devote way too many brain cells to this creep. I should be over it, but there are bigger issues in play here.

Butker speaks like one of the commanders from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, but he dresses more like a refugee from Queer Eye for the Football Guy. Have you seen some of the outfits he wears on road trips and for interviews? If that’s not the wardrobe of a (barely) closeted gay man, I don’t know what would be, Sugar.

Bless his heart.

And just to confirm the not-so-very-hetero vibe….

(The man to Butker’s right is Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO), who actually had the temerity to write a book on masculinity. Yeah, someone’s compensating, don’tchathink?? But that’s another story for another time.)

So, I’ll set that thought aside for yet more Butker-related bits of news—like we need any. How ‘bout we start with the good news new first, yeah?

The Benedictine Sisters of Mount St. Scholastica spoke out against Harrison Butker’s controversial graduation speech at Benedictine College, saying they “reject a narrow definition of what it means to be Catholic” and “the assertion that being a homemaker is the highest calling for a woman.”

During the commencement speech at the Catholic school in Atchison, Kansas, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker addressed gender ideologies and said a woman’s most important title is “homemaker.” He also referred to Pride Month as an example of the “deadly sins,” and said he wanted the graduating class to prevent political leaders from interfering with social issues that impact their relationship with the church.

The Benedictine Sisters recognize that the publicity from Butker’s commencement speech isn’t reflecting well on their Catholic order. Frankly, it makes them look like they were yearning for the repressive morals of the 15th century.

While the Catholic Church, even from the perspective of the Benedictine Sisters, isn’t an institution anyone could even consider describing as “Liberal,” neither is it the Neanderthal, misogynistic, keep-’em-barefoot-and-pregnant hellscape laid out by Harrison Butker.

In a statement released Friday, the sisters of Mount St. Scholastica said they “do not believe that Harrison Butker’s comments in his 2024 Benedictine College commencement address represent the Catholic, Benedictine, liberal arts college that our founders envisioned and in which we have been so invested.

“Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division. … We sisters have dedicated our lives to God and God’s people, including the many women whom we have taught and influenced during the past 160 years. These women have made a tremendous difference in the world in their roles as wives and mothers and through their God-given gifts in leadership, scholarship, and their careers.”

The Benedictine Sisters are a founding institution and sponsor of Benedictine College, according to the Mount St. Scholastica website.

While I feel the need to applaud the Benedictine Sisters for rejecting Harrison Butker’s misogyny and divisiveness, the fact remains that large numbers of people at the commencement cheered his words. He was well received, and it’s not the first time Butker has given voice to such sentiments. The Kansas City area has known him to be a hyper-religious judgmental asshole for years; America is just now finding out.

Lucky us, eh?

Unfortunately, there’s also a bad side to this story, one that reflects rather poorly on us as a society…but I also have to say that I’m not particularly surprised. In the MAGA era, I’ve learned that we live in a barrel that has no bottom.

Butker’s jersey sales appear to be rising significantly since he delivered the 20-minute speech. The women’s jersey, which sells for $129.99, is out of stock on the official Chiefs Pro Shop. His men’s jersey is among the top sellers on NFLshop.com, listed as the “most popular in Kansas City Chiefs.”

What does this say about us as kind, rational human beings? Nothing good, to be sure.

As much as I’d like to say that we live in a society that believe in gender equality and equal opportunity, I’m no longer certain that’s the case. If it was, Harrison Butker jersey would be social kryptonite.

The fact that it’s flying off the shelfs is a “WTF?” moment if ever there was one. First of all, he’s a kicker, someone who sees the field for perhaps seven or eight plays a game- extra points, field goals, and kickoffs. That’s it. It’s not like he’s throwing or catching touchdown passes or making tackles.

So, how does a kicker wind up as “most popular in Kansas City Chiefs?” By being a MAGA-rrific jackass.

Have we really sunk this low? Are Chiefs fans really so fucking undemanding? Do they not care? Or do they approve of what Harrison Butker said, and buying his jersey is their way of showing that approval?

The Chiefs declined to comment when reached Thursday by The Athletic, but Tavia Hunt, the wife of Chiefs owner Clark Hunt, posted pictures of herself with her daughters on Instagram on Friday. The post included a photo listing the pros and cons of stay-at-home parenting and a screenshot of the Institute for Family Studies website with the headline “Who is happiest? Married mothers and fathers, per the latest general social survey.”

In the post she said she “always encouraged my daughters to be highly educated and chase their dreams. … But I also want them to know that I believe finding a spouse who loves and honors you as or before himself and raising a family together is one of the greatest blessings this world has to offer.”

Hunt added: “I also caution against taking things out of context.”

I can’t imagine how one could take Butker’s words out of context. He was pretty clear about his meaning; there was no ambiguity to be found in his words. And there were certainly no contextual issues with what he said—he said what meant and he meant what he said.

The Chiefs know they have a PR nightmare on their hands. They have one of the best kickers in the NFL, so they can’t afford to cut him. Kickers are generally a dime-a-dozen, so if he were a slightly lesser talent, the Chiefs could’ve cut Butker loose in a heartbeat without losing a step. But, because he’s one of the two or three best kickers in the league, and the Chiefs have won three Super Bowls in five years, they’ve put up with his hyper-Christian, misogynistic bullshit.

Since games and, sometimes, championships can be decided by the feet of kickers, Harrison Butker’s talents are important to the Chiefs. Do they wish he’d shut up and stick to kicking oblong leather balls through upright metal poles? I suspect so. Who needs the headaches that having a hyper-religious misogynist as your kicker would bring an organization like the Chiefs?

Then again, controversy sells. In this case, it’s Harrison Butker’s jerseys. And, as a certain orange buffoon often says, there’s no such thing as bad publicity.

All I’m certain of at the moment is that Butker’s 15 minutes expired about a week ago. It’s time he crawled back under the rock from whence he emerged.

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