Alabama State Rep. John Rogers (D) made a shocking proclamation in the Alabama State House in Montgomery on Thursday regarding NFL quarterback Cam Newton.
According to Rogers, Newton is gay, an assertion he made despite offering no evidence to back it up.
Newton, who is likely to leave the Carolina Panthers before the beginning of 2020 NFL season, recently celebrated the birth of his third child with his longtime girlfriend, Kia Proctor, according to the Charlotte Observer.
Rogers made the claim during an Alabama House State Government Committee hearing for the Gender is Real Legislative (GIRL) Act, a bill sponsored by Rogers’ colleague State Rep. Chris Pringle (R).
Pringle announced he was introducing the GIRL Act that, if signed into law, would restrict high school athletics to birth gender. The legislation failed to advance out of the committee.
However, during that hearing, Rogers declared that his favorite player “is a transgender.”
Watch below (Timestamp at 24:00):
Rogers said he did not recall his name, but added that he knew of “about 20 football players” that were transgender.
According to a report from Alabama-based outlet Yellowhammer News’ Sean Ross, Rogers did not refer to Newton by name but said he was referring to a football player for the “North Carolina Panthers” and was about to be cut because he is transgender.
In a follow-up interview with Yellowhammer, Rogers revealed he was referring to Newton. Ross said he had asked Rogers “if he believed Newton to be transgender.”
“Rogers responded that he misspoke, and that he believes Newton is ‘gay,'” Ross wrote. “Rogers added that there is nothing wrong with that and that there are many football players who are gay.”
Rogers is no stranger to controversy. Last year during the debate over an abortion that passed the legislature, Rogers protested the ban by declaring some kids were unwanted, so you “kill them now or you kill them later.”
“Some kids are unwanted, so you kill them now, or you kill them later,” he said. “You bring them in the world unwanted, unloved. You send them to the electric chair. So, you kill them now, or you kill them later.”
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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