Tennys Sandgren, the anti-LGBT alt-right-sympathizing American tennis pro, was defeated in the quarter finals of the Australian Open on Wednesday, and read a statement to the media off of his phone in his post-match press conference.
During the tennis tournament, Sandgren’s old tweets were unearthed in which he chummed with Charlottesville marchers, expressed racist views, praised Alex Jones, blasted women’s rights, and more.
Sandgren had a few choice things to say about LGBT people in his tweets as well, including, “Stumbled into a gay club last night… my eyes are still bleeding #nooneshouldseethat.” When a follower joked about his use of the word “stumbled,” Sandgren replied, “what can I say the trannies were calling to me”.
Sandgren claimed to not be any of that in his post-match statement, saying he was demonized, though the tweets speak for themselves.
You seek to put people in these little boxes so that you can order the world in your already assumed preconceived ideas. You strip away any individuality for the sake of demonizing by way of the collective.
With a handful of follows and some likes on Twitter, my fate has been sealed in your minds. To write an edgy story, to create sensationalist coverage, there are a few lengths you wouldn’t go to to mark me as the man you desperately want me to be.
You would rather perpetuate propaganda machines instead of researching information from a host of angles and perspectives while being willing to learn, change, and grow. You dehumanize with pen and paper and turn neighbor against neighbor. In so doing, you may actually find you’re hastening the hell you wish to avoid, the hell we all wish to avoid.
There was more to the statement than appears in the clip above, according to the Washington Post:
It is my firm belief that the highest value must be placed on the virtue of each individual, regardless of gender, race, religion or sexual orientation. It’s my job to continue on this journey with the goal of becoming the best me I can and to embody the love Christ has for me, for I answer to Him and Him alone.
I’ll take questions about the match, if you guys don’t mind. Thank you. If you have any questions about the match.
