GLAAD To CNN: Fire Roland Martin

CNN commentator Roland Martin got into a Twitter war with gay activists last night after he made two tweets that appear to endorse violence against unmasculine men. Today GLAAD is calling for Martin to be fired.

At a time when the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs found that violence against LGBT people was up 23%, we need people in the public eye to speak out against the dangers of anti-LGBT violence, not openly encourage it. Martin also has used his platform to misrepresent religious views about LGBT people. Far from the church being uniformly anti-gay, as Martin has claimed, LGBT people are welcomed just as they are into the full life of the church, in congregations and entire denominations across the United States. Lutheran, Presbyterian, and Episcopal denominations welcome LGBT folks, as well as many congregations from a variety of denominations. On Martin's website he ignores the medical evidence about the ineffective nature and harms associated with so-called ex-gay programs and instead praises his wife who he says "has counseled many men and women to walk away from the gay lifestyle."

A petition has been launched on Change.org.