CrossFit fires exec who called LGBTQ pride a ‘sin’

A CrossFit executive was fired on Wednesday after tweeting that celebrating LGBTQ pride is “a sin.” 

Russell Berger, a legal researcher at the company, made the statement while tweeting out his support for a CrossFit gym’s decision to cancel a workout in honor of Pride Month. 

“As someone who personally believes celebrating ‘pride’ is a sin, I’d like to personally encourage #CrossFitInfiltrate for standing by their convictions and refusing to host an @indypride workout,” Berger wrote, according to BuzzFeed. “The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing.”

Looks like @CrossFit‘s @BergerRussell deleted that tweet so here’s a screenshot icymi pic.twitter.com/1I2sya7ACO

— Gaycey Musgayves (@ChrisDStedman) June 6, 2018

CrossFit responded by initially placing Berger on an unpaid leave of absence, but decided to take a harder stance just hours later. On Wednesday afternoon, it announced on Twitter that Berger had been dismissed. 

The statements made today by Russell Berger do not reflect the views of CrossFit Inc. For this reason, his employment with CrossFit has been terminated.

— CrossFit (@CrossFit) June 6, 2018

Berger has since deleted the tweet and later tweets in which he claimed that the “tactics of some in the LGBTQ movement toward dissent is an existential threat to freedom of expression,” Buzzfeed reported. 

CrossFit founder and CEO Greg Glassman told the news organizations that Russell’s views are “appalling.” 

“He needs to take a big dose of ‘shut the f— up’ and hide out for awhile. It’s sad,” Glassman said. “We do so much good work with such pure hearts — to have some zealot in his off-time do something this stupid, we’re all upset. The whole company is upset. This changes his standing with us. What that looks like, I don’t know. It’s so unfortunate.”

Berger told Buzzfeed that he regrets making the comment, but that he still holds the opinion. 

“My actual point I was making, I still affirm it,” he said.

A large group of members at the Indianapolis gym that canceled the LGBTQ pride event left the gym in protest, according to WTTV TV. The gym announced that it shut down operations on Wednesday.