As part of his apology for his violent anti-gay remarks, the '30 Rock' star has spoken to two gay teens from New York City's Ali Forney Center, who were left homeless by their families.
- Jun 18, 2011
AceShowbiz - Tracy Morgan has kept his promise to meet with LGBT youth as part of his apology for his homophobic rant. On Friday, June 17, the Tracy Jordan of "30 Rock" sat down and spoke with Jayden Love and Raciel Castillo, two gay teens from New York City's Ali Forney Center, who were left homeless by their families.
In a statement released after the meeting, Jayden and Raciel said, "We really appreciate that we were able to meet with Tracy Morgan." They added, "Our parents' inability to accept us changed our lives for the worse. We hope that our stories have the power to change not only Tracy's perspective, but those of any parent who may be struggling with accepting their child."
During the meeting, the 42-year-old comedian also met with Elke Kennedy, whose 20-year-old son Sean was killed in an anti-gay hate crime in 2007. To MTV, Elke said, "I feel like he made a commitment during this meeting to make a difference. He said that he was going to use his talent as a comedian to be an advocate for the LGBT community."
Jarrett Barrios, president of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has also released a statement regarding Tracy's first major project with GLAAD to combat anti-gay bullying. "Today, Tracy saw firsthand the toll that homophobia and anti-gay violence can take on a person's life," so his statement read.
Jarrett added, "By meeting with gay and transgender 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."
Tracy, who was accompanied by his fiancee to the Friday's meeting, announced he will return to Nashville, Tennessee on June 21 to apologize to the audience members he offended during his June 3 stand-up act in which he joked he would stab his son if he were gay. While there, he will also meet with the Tennessee Equality Project and local advocates.
