In a Facebook post, the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus shared what they felt was some rather disrespectful behavior displayed toward them by the San Diego Padres as well as fans at Petco Park when they were supposed to sing the National Anthem.
With 100 men standing in center field awaiting to sing at the Dodgers-Padres game Saturday night, the Padres played a version of the National Anthem that was recorded by a woman. After the song was over with apparently no attempt to stop and change the track, the Chorus walked off to homophobic remarks allegedly made by fans including, “You sing like a girl.” The post also chronicles issues they apparently faced from the Padres front office before the event, including requiring them to purchase tickets to the game.
The beginning of the statement reads:
What should have been a night of joy and celebration at Petco Park last night, instead turned into a nightmare raising serious questions about homophobia within the San Diego Padres organization and its relationship with the LGBT community.
Before the start of the last night’s San Diego Padres game, 100 volunteer singers of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus took to the field to proudly sing the National Anthem. Instead, in front of the large crowd gathered for the LA Dodgers game, the San Diego Padres played the recorded voice of a woman singing the anthem.
No attempt was made to stop the recording and start over. No announcement of apology was made to the singers or their friends and families in the stands. No attempt to correct the situation occurred other than to force the 100 men to stand in the spotlight of center field for the song’s duration and then be escorted off the field to the heckles of baseball fans shouting homophobic taunts including “You sing like a girl.”
This incident followed several days of troubling comments and behavior within the San Diego Padres organization. Three days before the game, San Diego Padres representatives aggressively sought to prevent singers from performing the National Anthem unless they purchased a ticket to the game—even if they did not plan to stay for the game—which was not part of any previous discussion or written or verbal agreement and would have cost the small, community-based non-profit thousands of dollars. The demand eventually was rescinded on Friday following repeated complaints made by SDGMC and San Diego Pride to San Diego Padres management.
I would hope that this was simply a series of misunderstandings from the Padres but a lot of things really added up that if true and this was anything other than an accident, I can’t blame the Chorus for being this upset.
From my experience, I do find it shocking that the Chorus all had to buy their own tickets to the game, even if they weren’t planning on staying. I used to work for a pro sports team where we needed to find people to sing the National Anthem. Anyone who was a part of pregame festivities all got free tickets to the game. I have also participated in pregame festivities (thankfully in non-singing roles because you wouldn’t want to hear that) in multiple sports and in each instance, either received free tickets for participating or had the choice to pay for a ticket and stay but could still participate without having to pay for a ticket. Maybe the Padres operate things differently than most other sports organizations but that’s very out of the ordinary if true.
The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus called upon the Padres and Major League Baseball as well as San Diego City Attorney’s Office and the City of San Diego Human Relations Commission to investigate the incident. The Padres posted a statement apologizing for what happened and said they were planning to reach out to the Chorus about the incident.
Statement from the #Padres regarding tonight's National Anthem: pic.twitter.com/KAKUAjlg6W
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 22, 2016
While the Chorus was disappointed about the “brief two-sentence statement” from last night, they did appreciate San Diego Padres President and Chief Executive Officer Mike Dee for privately apologizing and offering to meet with the Chorus about the incident.
If there is to be a happy ending to come out of this, it will be as a result of this and potential subsequent meetings. If this is all true, it’s a shameful reality but a reality that shows up in many other places that cannot be ignored. The most important resolution is for positive conversation among both sides and take this as a learning experience for positive change rather than just another instance in the continuation of hate.
