Dana White wants the world to know that he is open-minded when it comes to homosexuality. So in light of a recent petition that the Las Vegas chapter of the Culinary Union launched against the UFC—claiming that the organization and White are guilty of having "a history of tolerating homophobic conduct"—White has come out and said that he believes that gay UFC fighters should feel free to come out of the closet and let the world know that they are gay.
"I'll tell you right now," he said on Thursday, "if there was a gay fighter in UFC, I wish he would come out. I could care less if there's a gay fighter in the UFC. There probably is and there's probably more than one."
A video surfaced back in April 2009 that showed White using several anti-gay slurs, which is why the Culinary Union has come out and attacked him with a petition directed at UFC's sponsor Anheuser-Busch as well as UFC's new partner Fox. The Culinary Union is lobbying against him and the UFC in an effort to gain leverage in an ongoing battle with Station Casinos in Las Vegas, a company that's owned by the current owners of UFC's parent company Zuffa.
"If you guys look at all the stuff that I've said over the last 10 years—some of it stupid, some of it whatever—that's the one that bothers me," White said of the 2009 video. "That's the only one that bothers me—the fact that those losers from the Culinary Union can go out and say that I'm a homophobe and things like that—because it's the furthest thing from the truth."
Say what you want about White. But this guy knows how to take a stand on an issue. And this latest incident proves it. [via USA Today]
