A Wisconsin church apparently canceled a speaking engagement by LeRoy Butler after the former Green Bay Packers safety refused to take back a message of support for NBA player Jason Collins, who announced earlier this week that he is gay.
The decision, which Butler announced on his Twitter account, set off a storm of national attention on social media and national sports websites.
Shortly after sending a four-word message on Twitter - "Congrats to Jason Collins" - Butler got a call from a member of a church where he was scheduled to give an anti-bullying presentation this summer, he told the Journal Sentinel on Wednesday. Butler confirmed the church is in Wisconsin, but declined to share its name or approximate location.
He assumed the call was to discuss details of the upcoming event. He said he speaks to several churches every year and that sponsors usually help the church raise money to cover his fee - in this case $8,500 - and in turn, donations are collected during the event to benefit the church. He assumed the call was to discuss event details.
Instead, Butler was told the church would cancel his presentation unless he removed the tweet, apologized and asked for God's forgiveness.
"This is what bothers me the most. They said, 'If you ask for forgiveness and remove the tweet and you say something to the effect that you don't congratulate (Collins), then we'll let you do the engagement and get the speaker's fee, and I said I'm not doing that," Butler said Wednesday. "Every gay and lesbian person will say 'You know, LeRoy doesn't speak up for the weak or the silenced. He doesn't stand for anything as a man and he did it for money.' Why would you ask me to reduce my integrity like that?"
He was so bothered by the exchange that he took to Twitter on Tuesday night.
In one message, Butler said he told a church official they had a contract, but "he said check the moral clause."
Butler said he did not consider his support for Collins either religious or political.
"This is a man's personal story. I've always been on the record saying if there was a gay person in the Packer locker room, I would have played with them. All I care about is if you can run and jump, and can you win Super Bowls," Butler said.