Major-league homophobia: San Diego Padres’ “national embarrassment” highlights a persistent problem in pro sports; Salon, 5/24/16

Nico Lang, Salon; Major-league homophobia: San Diego Padres’ “national embarrassment” highlights a persistent problem in pro sports:

"Saturday should have been a celebratory evening for San Diego’s queer community. As part of the team’s recent push for greater LGBT inclusion, the Padres invited the local gay men’s chorus to sing the national anthem during its evening game. Last year, the team became one of the few in professional sports to host an official LGBT night for fans—although the Padres have held an “unofficial” version since 2001. Fifteen years ago, they were one of the first sports teams to do so.

The Saturday game, however, was marred by a controversy as shameful as it is unnecessary: As OutSports reports, “the control room… played a track of a woman singing the National Anthem as a few dozen gay men stood speechless on the field.” It was a national disgrace.

Following the incident, critics have pointed the finger at homophobia to explain how such a thing could have occurred. Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to play in the NBA, alleged that it was yet another case of “deliberate” anti-gay bigotry in baseball. Cyd Zeigler, the editor of OutSports, however, claims that it’s unlikely that the occurrence was a product of a “homophobic conspiracy.” His investigation concluded that it was merely a “disastrous, yet unintentional, mistake.”...

But despite Major League Baseball’s efforts, the league continues to send the gay community a mixed message when it comes to inclusion. As The Atlantic pointed out, the Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling on marriage equality was a brand holiday on Twitter—with businesses across the country proving their LGBT-friendliness by tweeting their support for the community. One industry that was notably silent? Professional sports. Not a single sports team outside of the notably liberal haven of California posted about the groundbreaking decision. (And that’s in either the MLB, NFL, NBA, or the NHL.)"