As a bisexual person myself, it's sad (and will always remain utterly baffling) that he thinks the way he does but I don't pretend to think I can change his views. I also happen to be an atheist but if I were in his position, in the public eye, I certainly wouldn't be posting that all religious people are [insert high and mighty, ultimately unprovable, subjective-masquerading-as-fact ramblings here]. The issue is exactly as Blucher describes. If someone like myself (on the LGBTQ+ spectrum), but who also has the added ongoing struggle of trying to knead that sexuality into religious beliefs that have been gift-wrapped for them by their parents, let's say adolescent... if that person reads these views from someone they admire, what do you realistically expect them to feel about themselves? And I fully expect the "well they just need to stop being a snowflake" response from all the heterosexual white men out there but then that's just lack of compassion and they know it. I'm glad I'm an atheist and always have been - it makes my life a hell (pun intended) of a lot easier and I have no guilt or shame whatsoever. But there are teenagers out there right now on Reddit/Tumblr discussing how to commit suicide and this type of action from a world class sportsman is in no way "Christian" under the definition I'm led to believe Christians want to be portrayed as.

Lest we forget: freedom of speech is a man-made construct of quite some centuries ago. And it needs serious modernising. It needs to come attached with responsibility - simple as that. Understand that you have that right, but it is a privilege to be human and to have a working mind that can take in and retain new information. So go one step further and before posting on Twitter that people like me are going to burn in Hell (lol, barking up a tree that doesn't exist in my view of course) you have the responsibility to understand that some teenager currently has a knife piercing the skin on their wrist with the option of pushing harder if so triggered. If you're still okay with publishing your Tweet at that point then your views become something much more than just about freedom of speech.

Whatever happened to "I disagree with what you say but I will defend to the death your right to say it"....?

It got refined to include "...unless what you're saying is directly harmful to another person."

Not all rights are equal. Your right not to be offended, or to say whatever you want is less important than someone else's right to freedom from harassment and discrimination. When two people's rights come into conflict,  humane societies determine precedence by looking at which option causes the least overall harm.