Last month, I posted a video of a group of Yankee fans who thought it would be amusing to yell anti-gay slurs to the tune of "YMCA" to fans of the opposing team. The offensive song played off the stereotype that all LGBT people are diseased.
The song lyrics? "Gay man, get up off of your knees / I said gay man, you will catch a disease / I said gay man, don't touch me please / because you have got a disease." And the homophobia only kicks it up another notch at the chorus.
As a reminder, here's October's video of the song.
What I have to say is that I'm somewhat heartened by the response. Community members and hundreds of fans responded to the video by emailing Yankees senior public relations personnel, especially after people began to realize that fans in a certain section of the stadium had been singing the tune for years.
Yankees spokesperson Alice McGillion stated: "the Yankees have zero tolerance for this and any kind of abuse." Security around that section of the bleachers will also be tightened, and people caught singing the song will be ejected from the game immediately.
I think that this heckling during sporting events is absolutely unacceptable. It is one thing to be homophobic in private, but in such a public area it not only influences others to do the same, but also further accentuates the fear and anxiety of "closet" homosexuals. A safe and welcoming environment is the key to the promotion of equality and having such a homophobic image stamped on a public area is exactly what we don't need.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of people underestimate the power of homophobia and the fact that teenagers are suiciding and being killed needs to be more publicized. The nation needs to understand the implications of homophobia.
I have actually seen this video before and it really disturbs me. These men are chanting this really offensive song as if it were a joke because they clearly have no consideration about how anti-gay bullying like that can really be harmful and end lives.
ReplyDeleteI believe scenarios like this happen because of the way we define masculinity. To be masculine, you have to be heterosexual and if you aren't you are considered weak. Therefore, to help prove their own masculinity, men get involved in chanting homophobic songs because it implies that they themselves aren't homosexual and find it wrong. Its sickening and I think one way to prevent these homophobic attitudes to reconstruct the way we see masculinity.