Blogs Apr 21, 2010 at 8:56 am

Comments

1
Can the city sue them, too? Did they play on city property?
2
I understand that in a place where gays are somewhat persecuted such as America they need to circle the wagons but come the fuck on. Do you really think that having all-gay groups is the way to do this? I know that not all gay people can be spoken of in the same group, I understand that some don't care for equality and simply want to live their gay lives. This however does harm for all the gay people who are trying to achieve equality. It also potentially alienates all the straight people fighting for their gay neighbor's rights.

What a blunder on the part of the Gay World Series. Here is to hoping common fucking sense prevails.
3
NAGAAA in no way reflects the values and openness that I have seen in the ECSA (seattlegaysoftball.com). If the facts of this lawsuit are correct, then shame on NAGAAA. Discrimination of our own is wrong, and discrimination of straights is wrong.

That being said, the Seattle Throttle effing rule!!!
4
Well. I've had my mind blown for the day.

Hey just wondering: what if they had a gay sports league that didn't give a shit how many straight people wanted to play? Would that be bad?

Meanwhile in the straight world, Paola Cazzola is the first woman to compete full time in international level motorcycle road racing, in the 2010 FIM Supersport World Championship class. Hasn't caused a ripple.
5
h aha.. hilarious :D I am still laughing st this!!!!
they wnat apart-heid!! they bring it on themselves..... an all gay athlete league? an all gay whatever??? it's a ghetto.
6
And, hey, less-gay people (and maybe straights) are clamoring to play on our teams now? Another win in the battle for acceptance!
7
I remember this story when it first occurred, and it saddened me that an LGBT organization felt the need to be exclusive. I understand the desire to make a safe space. If they were bisexual, they absolutely should be included. Hell, they should have been included even if they were straight.

In San Francisco, the SF Fog (gay) rugby team takes pride in the fact that they have the highest percentage of straight players on a "gay" team. It says something about the team and the community we live in that a straight person would be comfortable playing on a team identified as gay. They're comfortable in their own skin that whatever teasing they might get from friends, or misunderstandings from new acquaintances, just isn't a big deal.

I really don't understand the anti-bisexual sentiment among some gays and lesbians. Sure, SOME gays proclaim to be bisexual as a pitstop on their coming out process. (The so-called "Bi now, gay later".) But just because SOME people do that doesn't mean that everyone who says they are bi are simply still on the process of coming out as gay. For me, it's sort of like Occam's razor: the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. If you can accept that some people are straight and some are gay/lesbian, why is it so hard to believe that some people are somewhere in the middle?

I don't know what the legal arguments are, and whether this is more like the Boy Scouts (a private organization that can make their own rules) or like the San Francisco Olympic Club (sued in the late 1980s for refusing to admit women, which was considered employment discrimination because too many of the city's business leaders conducted business at the club, which consequently blocked women from career advancement). But whether the NAGAAA is operating legally or not, they're still ass-hats. Let's hope the players vote out the board and replace them with more open-minded people.
8
I cannot say this is remotely surprising to hear, Dan, et al. I'm sure hartiepie would love to chime in with a word or two.
9
"the best their lawyer can come up with" is something about whether or not it was lawful. that is precisely the point a lawyer would make. that's why you hire a lawyer, to argue the lawfulness of your actions. lawyers are not involved in making moral judgments.
10
Dear NAGAAA: You're doing it wrong.

If you had an ounce of sense, you'd welcome anyone who wants to participate on a gay identified team. Bi? Hell yes! Straight but wanting to support a gay team? Hell yes!

All of the local gay sports teams that I am aware of welcome anyone, regardless of their orientation. I know several have at least a sprinkling of straight members.
11
It's very interesting...the comments here are willing to call bullshit on NAGAAA. At Publicola, they support discrimination.
12
This is disastrous PR/press for our gay community.
13
I personally think that the actual sexuality of the members should be irrelevant so long as all players support LGBT equality. That's what the sporting events should be about, and to the extent that it's not the organizers of the world series are being myopic and stupid.
14
I played on a Gay sports team that was about 1/3 straight and was coached by a straight guy. I have to say it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. Not only was the team ethnically diverse it was also made up of gay, lesbian bi and straight members. We were a microcosm of how society should be- working together for a common goal regardless of sexual orientation, sex, or race. And what a better way to build community, tolerance, and acceptance for all involved?

NAGAAA failed in the community building they claim to want to achieve (if the allegations are true). If discrimination based on sexual orientation is wrong for straights then it’s wrong for everyone else too…
15
baseball wasn't already gay? huh.
16
Everyone's gotta have an in-group.
17
16 comments and no jokes about switch hitting? Come on, people!
18
The important thing here is that gay Americans gain their very own outlet for the exercising of our single most important right and duty as Americans: judging others. This is the rock on which our society is built. I'm glad to see my gay brothers and sisters take this important step forward in expanding the realms of discrimination, exclusion, and shame which make America great.
19
Dang. I thought someone might give me props for the headline.
20
Hey, Dan! Props for the headline!

That said...I don't get it. What, exactly, is the point of having an all-gay sports organization? I mean, like other posters, I get wanting to have a place where people don't have to be afraid of discrimination, feel free to be themselves, and can share camaraderie amongst others like them. But having to PROVE you are gay to be on the team? Not allowing bisexuals? Not allowing straight gay-sympathizers?

I don't get it.
21
"tone deaf"?!

wtf?

Try Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.

Come on Dan,

say it with us:

"Bigoted Heterophobic Haters"

you can do it! again:

Bigoted Heterophobic Haters...

again!

Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
Bigoted Heterophobic Haters.
22
@19: Well, I suppose we'd all like pats on the back for our little Slog witticisms, but most of the time we're too cool to dole them out.

Extra points for the Damn Yankees tie-in, though ("Shoeless Joe from Hannibal, MO!").
23
*facepalm*
24
I'm not gay and I don't watch any sports--this one has me scratching my head. I get that they need to have separate games for women, because men and women are biologically very different (and this, of course, ends up being unfair to intersexed people). But why in any rational world would you have a separate team or series or whatever for gay people? This is the most stupid thing I've heard all week.
25
@8 No. Doesn't interest me at all. Go spill your drink on someone else....
26
sigh.
27
@snoozn,

Nothing strange about gay sports teams. Amateur sports leagues are often formed by people with common interests or situations. Offices, patrons of a restaurant or bar, churches, etc. People also like to join amateur sports teams in order to meet new people as friends and even potential mates.

Unfortunately, sports culture in this country is very homophobic. Straight women are afraid of being labelled a lesbian for playing sports in general and so shun less feminine women on their teams and discourage them from participating. Straight men use gay slurs towards opposing teams and low-performing teammates on a regular basis. Being a male athlete is as much about asserting masculinity and heterosexuality at the same time as anything else. Neither gender's locker room is cool with having a gay person or a transgender changing next to them.

Given this reality, LGBT people who like to play sports often do not feel safe coming out and being themselves on a predominantly straight team. Hence the emergence of a large number of LGBT sports teams. For the same reasons mentioned above, straight teams often will not play 'gay' teams or be very abusive when they do compete with gay teams. So LGBT leagues spring up within which gay teams can play other teams and know that they can be safe, out, and included on all fronts.

That's why this case is so sad. The gay leagues began because gay players were not feel welcome and/or safe playing in the mainstream leagues. Now that there are players in these gay leagues that aren't gay enough for the gays, they are doing the same thing that that the mainstream leagues have been doing to LGBT athletes for ages.
28
Am I reading this correctly in that you can be straight or bi and play in the Gay league? But you can't have more than two straights or bisexuals to play in the World Series of Gays?
29
What @10 said. And thank God (again) for Fnarf @18, as I am in a place today so rainy it makes Forks look like Palm Springs. There is no excuse for this. And I can't believe no one has made a joke about the "one drop" (of jizz) rule yet.
30
@25: I'm holding no beverage. Maybe I bumped into yours.
31
@30: Could be. Was You Look Like I Need A Drink in the room? That sly dog always seems to have one on hand.

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