CrossFit executive fired for what company saw as anti-LGBT expression

Two days after the Supreme Court’s Masterpiece Cakeshop ruling, the CrossFit training chain fired an executive for comments supporting an Indianapolis gym owner who canceled an LGBT event.

According to news reports in several publications, CrossFit Infiltrate coaches organized a special workout to celebrate Pride Month without permission of owner Brandon Lowe. 

Russell Berger, chief knowledge officer, tweeted a message in which he encouraged Lowe to stand by his convictions.

“The intolerance of the LGBTQ ideology toward any alternative views is mind-blowing,” Berger said in a since-deleted comment. “The lack of tolerance for disagreement, which has been replaced with bullying Twitter mobs promising ‘consequences,’ should be a concern regardless of your political stance.”  

Greg Glassman, the CEO of CrossFit, told BuzzFeed that Berger’s statements did not reflect the company’s views.

“We do so much good work with pure hearts—to have some zealot in his off-time do something this stupid; we’re all upset,” Glassman said.

In commenting on the firing, Fox News commentator Todd Starnes said anti-Christian thugs want to bully believers into submission.

“Silence is the rule of the day,” Starnes wrote. “And woe be to anyone who dares utter a word of objection to their radical agenda.”