Openly Homophobic In the Sports Arena

There’s a great post on Gay Rights – Change.org about how those who are marketing for the Chicago White Sox have come up with some rather distasteful t-shirts and bumper stickers that refer to their hometown competitor, the Cubs as gay, essentially making the word “gay” a derogatory term.   Here’s an excerpt:

Like it or not, that’s essentially what these T-shirts are doing – taking the word “gay” and turning it into an insult.  And that can have disastrous consequences.

I’m reminded of the award-winning GLSEN campaign, “Think Before You Speak,” which shows how using the word “gay,” which as of July 2, says that there are more than 154,000 Web sites that use the phrase “That’s so gay” as a derogatory term.  Maybe they can now say 154,000 Web sites, and at least two T-shirt retailers from Chicago.

I do understand this was meant to be humorous, but it’s at the expense of the LGBT community.  There is also an element of very poor judgment which comes from the fact that homophobia still runs rampant in the sports word, especially the professional sports world.

Imagine if there is a gay man playing for the cubs, or better yet, for the White Sox (and statistically speaking, that wouldn’t be too unlikely).  How would that set?  With the current homophobic dynamic in sports, this type of “humor” is neither funny, nor does it help to aleviate homophobia in sports.  This type of marketing, athough perceived “cute and harmless” by some, is both reckless and degrading.

In all fairness however, I don’t want to place all the blame on the “marketing genius” who came up with this one.  I also push an equal amount, if not more of the blame on the fans…who are ultimately creating a demand, which in turn drives the supply.

Which brings me to my last point.  Here we are, fighting for LGBT equality and inclusion.  Everyday more LGBT citizens spew their (mostly unfounded) criticisms toward President Obama for not doing enough or giving enough to the LBGT community.  I would like to ask, where are the angry bloggers now?  Here we have an opportunity as a community to rally against behavior which is hurtful, in many ways, to the LGBT community, yet we insist on beating up the only person to ever step foot in the White House and even address the issues the LGBT community faces.  Where are our priorities?  This goes along the lines of “clean your own back yard up first.”   Rather than spend your time criticizing someone for not handing you what you want on a silver platter, why not spend that energy on doing something positive for the community?

Start now by clicking here to visit Gay Rights – Change.org to sign a petition asking the vendors to stop selling these homophobic products, which in turn, will help stop the perpetuation of stereotypes.