From the Wide Rights blog (h/t Outsports):
Ex-New York Giant, wide receiver David Tyree (you’ll only recognize his name as being the miraculous helmet Super Bowl catch guy), vocalized his opposition of marriage equality with the National Organization for Marriage. In the video, Tyrees spewed the standard outdated, bigoted, and ignorant religious rhetoric we have come to expect.
Another hater is a Texas college basketball player, as reported in the El Paso Times (another h/t to Outsports):
UTEP basketball player John Bohannon apologized on his Twitter account Thursday afternoon for an alleged anti-gay tweet he sent Monday.
Bohannon's original tweet appeared to be in response to NBA players Grant Hill and Jared Dudley and their participation in the NBA's "Think Before You Speak Campaign." The two Phoenix Suns players appear in a national television commercial denouncing using the word gay in negative terms.
Hill says, "Words have consequences, we're accountable for the things we say, words have meaning" and Dudley adds, "Not cool."
On Monday, Bohannon tweeted "letsbereal. It is NOT cool to be gay! (ZRO voice). "Jordan shrug."
Thursday afternoon, Bohannon followed with "to those who were offended by my tweet a few days ago. Didn't mean any disrespect by it as I do not judge anybody by their sexual preference."
And he added, "And would hope you would not judge me by one tweet. Thank you."
It looks like the Minnesota Twins Major League Baseball team will join the Seattle Mariners as the latest teams to produce an "It Gets Better" video, as reported by the CityPagesr:
According to Chris Iles, Corporate Communications Manager for the Twins, the team's "looking into" making their own "It Gets Better" video. "We're in the process of finding appropriate players, lining up production needs, etc.," he told me in an email. The Twins are in the midst of Twins Hope Week, so it's not happening right this minute. But Iles says that he "loves" what the Giants did, and that the Twins "will pull something together in the near future."
Although before sending a message to the world, perhaps the Twins should be sending a message closer to home (again from CityPages) at Target Field (whose naming rights are held by Target, a corporation decried for supporting homophobic political causes):
Taylor Campione and Kelsi Culpepper -- two lesbian women from Minneapolis -- were recently scolded by a Target Field security guard for what they call a "brief kiss." After seeing the quick peck on the lips, the guard told the women that "we don't play grab ass here" and that they must "adhere to the 10 Commandments" while at the stadium.
"That ruined our entire evening," says Campione. "We were super upset, we felt super uncomfortable."
The security guard has since been reprimanded, but continues to work at the stadium, says Kevin Smith, a spokesman for the Twins. "That behavior just is unacceptable," Smith says of the biblical put-down. "That security guard has received both a verbal and written reprimand that will be put in his personnel file, and he understands that that is not an acceptable behavior."
But that may not be enough. Campione and Culpepper are filing a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, accusing the security guard of discriminating against them for their sexual orientation.
"I want a zero-tolerance harassment policy instituted at Target Field," says Culpepper. "I think it's pretty pathetic that there isn't one everywhere already."
A Twins spokesman says this is an isolated incident, and won't change policy.
The confrontation occurred on May 27, during the Twins home game against the L.A. Angels.
Campione and Culpepper showed up to the game a little late. Culpepper stopped to use the restroom, giving Campione a quick kiss on the lips as she departed.
Immediately after, a middle-aged, mustached security guard in a Twins hat walked toward her, shaking his head.
"I saw you kissing that girl, you can't do that," the security guard said.
"I can kiss whoever I want to," Campione replied.
"Well, we don't play grab ass here," the guard answered.
When Culpepper came out of the bathroom, Campione told her what happened, and Culpepper decided to confront the security guard. "I don't understand what's wrong with kissing my girlfriend," Culpepper told the man. After some argument, the guard repeated his comment about not "playing grab ass." "Then he said, 'Well here in the stadium, we adhere to the 10 Commandments,'" recalls Culpepper. "After that, I decided I was no longer going to speak with him, and I asked for his manager."
Target Field isn't releasing the name of the security guard, but Twins spokesman Smith says the guard has worked for the Twins for almost a decade, and has an otherwise "exemplary record."
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