Jon Stewart on Jason Collins: Gays may not want to join this club

On Monday, Jason Collins secured his role in the history books as the first openly gay player in the NBA. Despite the perception of widespread homophobia in the world of professional sports, Collins’ coming out, via an essay in Sports Illustrated, has been met with a chorus of support, including Kobe Bryant to President Obama.

But on Tuesday’s “Daily Show,” Jon Stewart was more reluctant to describe the news as a victory for the LGBT community. It’s not that he has anything against gay people -- on the contrary --only that he saw some irony in the fact that many of Collins’ fellow athletes are guilty of doing things far worse than being attracted to other men.

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“All in all it’s a pretty great day for major league sports. At long last, they’ve decided that gay people are fit to be included in their elite club -- one that’s already allowed in adulterers, wife-swappers, gamblers, cheaters, rapists, racists and slaughterers of man. Those who’ve abused spouses, drugs, alcohol, family members and animals,” Stewart said, as images of Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson, Michael Vick and other badly behaved athletes appeared on screen.

“Congratulations, gay athletes. Are you sure you want to hang out with these people?” he wondered.

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