Tracy Morgan Working With GLAAD Following Anti-Gay Tirade

On the heels of his anti-gay tirade and subsequent apology, Tracy Morgan has told GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios that he will team up with the group to meet with LGBT youth and participate in an anti-bullying PSA.

STORY: Tracy Morgan Breaks Silence, Calls Homophobia a ‘Sickness’

During a call with Barrios and GLAAD staff Monday, Morgan committed to meet with LGBT youth from New York’s Ali Forney Center who have been hurt or left homeless by parental rejection as well as family members who have lost children to anti-gay violence, according to GLAAD.

STORY: Tracy Morgan Goes on Anti-Gay Tirade at Nashville Show

Among them will be Elke Kennedy, the founder of Sean’s Last Wish, whose son Sean was killed at age 20 by anti-gay violence in 2007 in South Carolina. According to GLAAD, another man called him a “f-ggot” and punched him so hard it broke his facial bones and separated his brain from his brain stem. 

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Morgan also told GLAAD he will participate in GLAAD’s upcoming “Amplify Your Voice” PSA campaign to combat anti-LGBT bullying.

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Additionally, Morgan plans to return to Tennessee next week to apologize to audience members offended by his comments.

According to GLAAD, Morgan told the group Monday that he regretted his remarks.

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“I know how bad bullying can hurt,” he said. “I was bullied when I was a kid. I’m sorry for what I said. I didn’t mean it. I never want to use my comedy to hurt anyone. My family knew what it was like to feel different. My brother was disabled, and I lost my father to AIDS in 1987. My dad wasn’t gay but I also learned about homophobia then because of how people treated people who were sick with that.

“Parents should support and love their kids no matter what. Gay people deserve the same right to be happy in this country as everyone else. Our laws should support that. I hope that my fans gay, straight, whatever forgive, and I hope my family forgives me for this.”

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Added Barrios: “Meeting with gay and transgender youth shunned by their parents and families who have lost loved ones to anti-gay violence is an important first step. These meetings will help Tracy better understand that no one should be treated differently or subjected to violence.”

During a show in Nashville earlier this month, Morgan said that if his son were gay, “he better come home and talk to him like a man … or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N to death,” according to an attendee.

Among those who have spoken out against Morgan are Wanda Sykes, Chris Rock, NBC entertainment chief Robert Greenblatt and Morgan’s 30 Rock co-stars Tina Fey, Alec Baldwin and Cheyenne Jackson.