She says: Yes.
Mari Suzuki
contributor
It looks like Yunel Escobar, who was received with indifference by Toronto Blue Jays fans in his first game since sporting a homophobic slur on his face, will get off lightly. Surprise, surprise.
“Tu ere maricon,” Spanish for, “You are a faggot,” åwas written on the shortstop’s eye black during a match against the Boston Red Sox on September 15.
Escobar’s homophobic slur clearly demonstrates where homophobia stands in professional sports to this day, reflecting a problematic mindset in athletes. Sports has been used in the past as a means to prove a man’s masculinity, and some players still embrace this idea, often taking it too far.
That the word “faggot” can be displayed to thousands of viewers on national television without immediate reprimand proves the use of such offensive language towards homosexuals is acceptable in the world of professional sports.
Escobar, who claims the meaning of the word “maricon” is not completely clear in Spanish, and is often used in jest, fails to understand the pandemonium.
Though Escobar may not have had ill intentions, were any homosexual athlete to read the words on his eye black, they would have immediately taken offense.
Unfortunately, homophobia in sports is not a new concept.
In February of 2007, former NBA player John Amaechi came out of the closet, eliciting a number of negative responses from other NBA players.
“First of all, I wouldn’t want him on my team. And second of all, if he was on my team, I would, you know, really distance myself from him because I don’t think that’s right,” said Tim Hardaway of the Miami Heat in an interview with a Miami radio station. “And, you know, I don’t think he should be in the locker room while we’re in the locker room. I wouldn’t even be a part of that.”
In a separate incident following Amaechi’s coming out, the spotlight was on former NFL player, Esera Tuaolo, as he opened up about his sexual orientation.
Upon hearing the news, Garrison Hearst of the San Francisco 49ers said in an interview with The Fresno Bee, “Hell no, I don’t want any faggots on my team. I know this might not be what people want to hear, but that’s a punk. I don’t want any faggots in this locker room.”
Most appalling of all, after a public apology, Hearst went unpunished while around the same time, Atlanta Braves pitcher John Rocker was suspended for publicly making anti-Semitic comments. While the League took the anti-Semetic comments seriously, Hearst was let off the hook completely for making his homophobic sentiments public.
Sadly, not much has changed since those days, as is evident with Escobar’s incident.
Perhaps most telling of all is this: of all of the major and minor league baseball players, not a single one has come out about their sexual orientation until after their retirement.
What other reasons do these athletes have to fear coming out than the homophobic environment that surrounds them while they play? The link between the two is all too clear. The sports environment is still not accepting enough for athletes to be openly gay.
She says: No.
Kendra Hulsebosch
Contributor
Yunel Escobar has had many things written on his eye black in the past, but they have never gotten as much attention as on September 15 when he walked out onto the field with, “Tu ere maricon.”
The word “maricon” comes from a common female name, Maria del Carmen. The meaning has trickled down through the years to be used by Latinos as an effeminizing insult, like the English version of, “You hit like a girl.”
“It didn’t have significance to the way it’s being interpreted right now,” said Escobar in a press conference two weeks ago in defence of his actions. “It’s a word without meaning, the way we use it.”
This uproar surrounding Escobar’s comment is a debate on political correctness rather than the stance on homophobia in sports today.
Nonetheless, the double meaning of the phrase has resulted in Escobar’s suspension for three games, as well as the $83,000 he would have made at those games being donated to the Canadian “You Can Play” campaign, which works towards eliminating homophobia in sports.
The incident has sparked controversy and begs the question: is homosexuality accepted in sports or not?
When the LGBT movement started, it started in sports, too, and as the years go by, and as societal attitudes change for the better, we are seeing significant progress.
There are openly gay Canadian athletes like Toller Cranston, Terry Garvin, Matthew Hall, Mark Leduc, Robert McCall, and supportive managers like Maple Leafs’ Brian Burke who was one of the founders of the Canadian “You Can Play” project.
There are also Canadian leagues and events that openly support homosexuals in sports, such as Apollo: Friends in Sports in Alberta, which has been around since 1981, and the World Outgames in Montreal, which has been going on since 2006, among many others. And that’s just in Canada.
Looking at Major League Baseball in particular, of 476 MLB players surveyed in 2004 by The Chicago Tribune, 75 per cent of them said they wouldn’t mind a gay teammate.
In a 2001 poll conducted by ESPN, 63 per cent of readers said it would make no difference to them if a player on their favorite team announced he/she was gay/lesbian, with 20 per cent saying they would become a bigger fan.
Furthermore, MLB teams including the Cubs, Dodgers, Giants, Mariners, A’s, Orioles, and more have made “It Gets Better” videos as part of a national movement against homophobia and anti-gay bullying.
The LGBT movement is always progressing. Attitudes change, but they change slowly. There is every reason to believe homosexuality is becoming more and more accepted in sports, especially with younger generations growing up with a new awareness and understanding of different sexual orientations.
Of course, there is still more work to be done, but if coaches continue to challenge casual homophobic remarks and groups encourage homosexual men and women to become actively involved in sports, we will be making leaps and bounds.
After all, it is a player’s athleticism that’s the most important in sports, and not their personal life or their sexual orientation.
