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ESPN fires Schilling after anti-transgender post

Posted at 5:31 PM, Apr 20, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-21 07:03:29-04

Former Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Curt Schilling was fired by ESPN Wednesday, one day after causing a stir with an anti-transgender Facebook post.

Schilling had worked as a baseball analyst for ESPN since 2010.

"ESPN is an inclusive company. Curt Schilling has been advised that his conduct was unacceptable and his employment with ESPN has been terminated," ESPN said in a statement.

See also: Regardless of PC culture, Curt Schilling should have learned from past mistakes

On Tuesday, Schilling shared this photo on Facebook page (captured here in a screenshot):

Below, Schilling wrote, "A man is a man no matter what they call themselves. I don't care what they are, who they sleep with, men's room was designed for the penis, women's not so much. Now you need laws telling us differently? Pathetic."

In September, Schilling was suspended by ESPN for a tweet in which he compared Muslims to Nazis. He accepted the suspension and said the tweet was "insensitive."

Schilling helped lead the Diamondbacks to the 2001 World Series championship. He won co-World Series MVP honors with fellow pitcher Randy Johnson.

Schilling, a six-time All-Star, went on to win two more World Series titles with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and 2007.

The New York Times reported Schilling went on a Boston radio Wednesday morning to defend himself after sharing the anti-transgender post.

"To be in a place where people actually believe I'm a racist or I'm transphobic says to me that something has gone horribly askew somehow," he said on the show, according to the Times.

After he shared the post, Schilling defended himself from public scrutiny in a blog post called "The hunt to be offended..."

"Let's make one thing clear right up front. If you get offended by ANYTHING in this post, that's your fault, all yours," he wrote.

"And for you people too dense to understand this one very important thing. My opinion, 100% mine, and only mine. I don't represent anyone but myself here, on facebook, on twitter, anywhere."