ICYMI: "If you're gay or transgender, I love you!" - Charles Barkley shows love to LGBTQA+ community at party, says, "If anybody gives you s**t, you tell 'em Charles said f**k you!"
Charles Barkley has been an advocate for the LGBTQA+ community for a long time. Barkley has spoken out against LGBTQA+ discrimination and was one of the main people who criticized the "Bathroom Bill" in North Carolina.
At an event at Harveys Lake Tahoe Hotel during the 2022 American Century Championship, the former NBA MVP showed love to the LGBTQA+ community once again. Barkley also did not mince his words for those who are discriminatory towards LGBTQA+ people.
"I wanna say this. If you're gay and transgender, I love you," Barkley said as the crowd in attendance cheered. "And if anybody gives you s**t, you tell 'em Charles said, "F**k you!"
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When did Charles Barkley become an LGBTQA+ ally?
Charles Barkley, a former Republican, has been a proponent of LGBTQA+ rights and equality since the mid-2000s. In an ESPN interview in 2006, he voiced his support for same-sex marriage. The Philadelphia 76ers and Phoenix Suns legend was also planning to run for Governor of Alabama at the time.
"I think if they want to get married, God bless them," Barkley said. "Gay marriage is probably 1 percent of the population, so it's not like it's going to be an epidemic."
When Rick Welts, then-president of the Suns, came out as gay in 2011, Barkley revealed that he had played with gay players before. He told Mike Wise of the Washington Post that playing with gay people never affected his performance on the court.
"First of all, every player has played with gay guys," Barkley said. "It bothers me when I hear these reporters and jocks get on TV and say, 'Oh, no guy can come out in a team sport. These guys would go crazy.' First of all, quit telling me what I think. I'd rather have a gay guy who can play than a straight guy who can't play."
"The Round Mound of Rebound" also helped convince the NBA to move the 2017 All-Star Game out of Charlotte, North Carolina to New Orleans, Louisiana. Barkley was against North Carolina's House Bill 2 or the "Bathroom Bill."
In an appearance on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" in 2020, Barkley revealed that he would have sat out the 2017 All-Star Game. His protest-like stance on the matter helped NBA commissioner Adam Silver make the decision to change venues.
"Well, I hated the bathroom bill," Barkley said. "So I went to my boss and said, 'Hey, boss. I'm gonna sit out of the All-Star Game. I don't want to to take away from the All-Star game, but I'm gonna sit out the All-Star Game.'"
"I think in a time when you're black, you got to stand up for other people. Black people know what discrimination is like. If you're in a position of power, you got to always stand up against discrimination. I've been blessed, man, and I'm never going to sit back and let discrimination happen on my watch."