John Cena, in an interview with the Washington Blade, was asked about the controversy surrounding his anti-gay jokes aimed at The Rock during the build for WrestleMania earlier this year. His comments showed me he still doesn't get it. Not even close. Here's what he said:

•"I think it was completely misconstrued. I certainly have no judgment or am in no position to judge how anyone lives their life or their lifestyle. I just think it was something Rock (or Dwayne) might have taken out of context. I think it was completely blown out of proportion."

•"When you get a shockwave of that magnitude (the response from GLADD and others part of the GLBT community), especially when I'm in the position that I am. I'm certainly put at the forefront of our programming and I like being in that spot. So, if I have offended anyone, I've certainly made my apologies just due. It's not something that was my intention."

•"Like I said, I thought it was taken out of context. I've certainly changed my outlook on everything. I know where I am and I know where I stand, and it's not something that was my intention."

This might sound innocent enough. There's the word "apologize" in there. He made it clear he didn't "intend" for the things he said to be interpreted the way people interpreted them. But the language he used reveals he's not sorry in a meaningful way and that he still doesn't get it.

For instance, Cena's language that he doesn't judge people's "lifestyles" or "how they live their lives" is poor wording. His anti-gay material aimed at Rock wasn't criticized bceause it made fun of a certain "gay lifestyle," whatever that means. His jokes were criticized because the only way the jokes would "sting" would be if you worked from the basis that being gay is something shameful, embarrassing, and ripe for ridicule.

The jokes wouldn't have worked if Cena was making jokes about Rock using an electric toothbrush instead of a regular one because there's no presupposition that using an electric toothbrush is shameful, embarrassing, or ripe for ridicule. So the only way Cena's jokes worked, and were worth saying in the context of their back-and-forth verbal jabs, was if being gay was inherently embarrassing and something to hide if it were true.

His wording reveals where he still doesn't get it. By saying he doesn't "judge their lifestyle," he's reenforcing the idea that (a) there is a "gay lifestyle" and (b) that there's something inherent about gay people to judge, as if they're the equivalent of "adulterers" or "drug addicts" or "massive collectors of pornography."

His saying "I don't judge" is implying there's something there to judge, as if being gay means your life is one big outrageous Pride Parade with bondage, indiscriminate partner swaps, unprotected disease-spreading sex, and "recruitment" - you know, all of the thoughts that people have when the outmoded term "gay lifestyle" is thrown out there. He's not saying "there's nothing to judge," he's saying he's one of the "open-minded people who lets those weirdos of the hook."

The jokes he made were criticized because there are teenagers out there who look up to him who are coming to terms with their sexual orientation whose "lifestyle" consists of getting up for school in the morning, fearing getting picked on because they might be perceived as being gay, and then going home and trying to get their homework done. There's no "lifestyle" to judge there.

There is no "gay lifestyle" for a 13 year old who's trying to figure out how he fits in with his classmates. Cena isn't a stand-up comedian playing to an 18-plus crowd. He's a kiddie hero marketed specifically to kids who are most vulnerable to schoolyard and peer taunts. He's pretty much the last person in the world who should be reenforcing "gay-based jokes" as being "okay, acceptable" ways to get under someone's skin.

Cena's anti-gay jokes came from an otherwise admirable role model ("Hustle, Loyalty, Respect!") and essentially legitimized that idea that being gay in and of itself is something that you can be made fun of for because it'd be hilarious and/or shameful to be gay. Cena still doesn't get it if he thinks it was blown out of proportion. I don't think he's intending to be bigoted or oblivious or hurtful. He just doesn't get it.

He made it clear he's not doing gay humor now because there was an uproar and it'd be bad for business, not because he learned why it was a lousy, crummy thing for someone in his position to do.

All he had to say was: "I hadn't realized how damaging to a young teenager coming to terms with his or her own sexuality it can be to hear someone in my position legitimizing the idea that being gay is something to make fun of. Kids have enough trouble as it is with anti-gay taunts; they don't need someone like me, who is marketed as a role model, legitimizing bullies taking out their insecurities on kids they know or think are gay. I feel terrible that I didn't know better before this happened, so all I can do now is make sure it doesn't happen again and make sure it's clear that I don't think it's okay for anyone to make fun of someone because of their sexual orientation."

Instead, we got him saying it was "blown of proportion," "misconstrued," and he's "apologized to those who were offended," which is code for "I'm sorry (but not really) if overly those sensitive ninnies who can't take a joke felt bad after my harmless and really funny gay jokes. Gay people are funny, and being gay is hilarious, and I can't believe the P.C. Police are stopping me from making fun of people who deserve to be made fun of because, man, wouldn't it be the most embarrassing thing in the world be for Rock to be seen as possibly gay because he took those movies roles where he was gay and crossdressed?"

Whether Cena "truly gets it" isn't the most important thing, though. What is key is that he doesn't do it again, because then no more harm can come from his insensitive, cruel jokes. He said: "Absolutely... It's not something you'll see again."

We'll hold him to it.

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