Chip Buck writes for the Red Sox blog Fire Brand of the American League. He’s also gay, and this morning he has a lengthy contemplation about the Yunel Escobar business.
While Chip notes that Escobar is perfectly within his rights to believe what he wants to believe, he also notes that Escobar’s actions are not harmless:
In making his remark, which is translated as “You’re a faggot,” he is making a prejudicial judgment on my life. He is denigrating the life I’ve created; criticizing me for the man I am; claiming homosexuality makes one weak or less than a man; and belittling my (and every other gay man and woman’s) struggles with coming to term with their sexuality and finding a place within society ... It’s bad enough having my personal liberties and rights being debated daily by Presidential, Congressional, state, and local politicians over my right to marry, adopt, or receive equal employment protections under the law. The last place I would hope or want to see this is on the baseball field, a place I go to escape reality.
I’m sure there are gay Blue Jays fans, maybe even some who were fans of Yunel Escobar specifically, who feel the same way.
