That's So Cincinnati: Reds shouldn't fire Thom Brennaman, LGBTQ leader says

One of Greater Cincinnati's leading influencers in the LGBTQ community wants to give embattled Reds broadcaster Thom Brennaman a chance to redeem himself.

And there's no better place for Brennaman to do that than the television booth, community leader Ryan Messer told The Enquirer's That's So Cincinnati podcast.

"I don't think he should be fired," said Messer, vice president of the Cincinnati Public Schools board and co-founder of Greater Cincinnati's Human Rights Campaign. "There's good that can come out of this. The people who can make the most change are the people who have changed the most."

Brennaman was suspended indefinitely by the Reds after he used a homophobic slur on air last month. He has apologized and been meeting with LGBTQ people in order to "start improving my understanding of LGBTQ+ issues," Brennaman wrote in an Enquirer op-ed.

Messer, who is openly gay, and Brennaman are scheduled to meet at Messer's home in North Avondale next week.

"I am very grateful for the chance to listen and learn," Brennaman told The Enquirer in a text message on Wednesday, his first media comments since the Aug. 20 op-ed on Cincinnati.com. "I hurt a lot of people, and there will be good that comes from this. We, my family and I, are completely committed to that."

In his own Enquirer op-ed last month, Messer said Brennaman's "use of the slur wasn’t a mistake." But Messer, a regional executive for Johnson & Johnson, has been encouraged by the steps Brennaman has taken since the broadcaster made what he now calls a "hateful" comment during the Reds-Kansas City Royals broadcast on Aug. 19.

"My goal is to say, 'Well, how can this turn into a learning opportunity for him and for others?' " Messer said on That's So Cincinnati. "I think you always have to start with grace in every situation."