Tracy Morgan visits homeless gay teenagers on apology tour after sparking outrage by saying he'd kill his son if he 'acted gay'



He caused outrage when he launched a vicious attack on gays during a stand-up routine, calling them 'mistakes'.



But Tracy Morgan is doing his best to make amends - and improve his tarnished image - with an apology tour.

He began his attempt to earn forgiveness for his vitriolic rant with a visit to a centre for homeless gay teenagers in New York on Friday.

Begging forgiveness: Tracy Morgan, second left, meets directors and residents of the Ali Forney Center for homeless gay teenagers in New York

The 30 Rock star spent several hours with the youngsters, some of whom had suffered homophobic violence, and all of whom had been kicked out of their homes when they came out as gay.

The 42-year-old sparked outrage among the gay community last week after he told an audience at a a stand-up gig in Tennessee that he would 'stab' his son if he 'acted gay'.

Plea: Tracy Morgan is trying to improve his tarnished image after his remarks sparked outrage

Morgan, who has three adult sons, was forced into a grovelling apology after the comments emerged in a Facebook post by a man who watched the performance.

His trip to the Ali Forney Center on Friday was organised by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, one of the groups which immediately condemned Morgan's comments.

The president of GLAAD, Jarrett Barrios, said: 'Today, Tracy saw first hand the toll that homophobia and anti-gay violence can take on a person's life.

'By meeting with gay and transgender teens left homeless because of who they are, we hope that Tracy has come to understand that so-called "jokes" about gay youth are not just irresponsible, they are damaging.'

Among those he spoke to were Jayden Love and Raciel Castillo. In a joint statement, they said: 'We really appreciate that we were able to meet with Tracy Morgan.



'We hope that our stories have the power to change not only Tracy's perspective, but those of any parent who may be struggling with accepting their child.'

Amends: 30 Rock star Tracy Morgan, left, spoke to some of the residents of the centre for homeless gay teenagers in Brooklyn during his apology tour

Morgan's tour continues next week when he heads to Nashville on Tuesday, where he will apologise to those he offended during his performance,

He has also agreed to take part in GLAAD's 'Amplify Your Voice' campaign to raise awareness about violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups.

His remarks drew widespread criticism last week, not least from his boss, Tina Fey, who said she was 'disturbed' by the comedian's 'violent' comments.

During the performance, on June 3, Morgan claimed lesbians just hate men and don’t have a real attraction to women.

According to Kevin Rogers, who brought attention to the rant on Facebook, he advised gay teenagers who were being bullied in school to 'quit being p******' and stop whining.

Outburst: Tracy Morgan with his three sons in 2006. In a vitriolic rant, he told a stand-up audience he would 'stab' one of them if he 'acted gay'

Mr Rogers also described Morgan's comments about his son: 'He said if his son … was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death.'

He said the act continued with Morgan saying he knew homosexuality wasn't biological because 'God don't make no mistakes'.

Shortly afterwards Morgan issued an apology, saying: 'While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.

'I want to apologize to my fans and the gay and lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville...

'I'm not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence.'



