From the Associated Press: Dodgers Apologize To Lesbian Couple By KAREN SANTOS Associated Press Writer WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Dodgers apologized Wednesday to a lesbian couple ejected from Dodger Stadium earlier this month after the two shared a kiss during a game against the Chicago Cubs. ``I was troubled ... because of what it implied about the Dodger organization,'' team president Bob Graziano said. ``It means a lot to me that you are Dodger fans,'' he said to Danielle Goldey and Meredith Kott. ``We will continue to do the right thing.'' The two were escorted out of the ballpark on Aug. 8. Goldey and Kott say they initially were not told why they were being ejected, but later they were told that someone complained and said children should not be exposed to ``those people.'' The couple said their companions, a heterosexual couple, also kissed but were not ejected. Because of this, they felt the action of the eight security guards was discrimination. In addition to the public apology, the Dodgers donated 5,000 tickets to three gay and lesbian organizations and promised sensitivity training for their employees. ``I think they stepped up to the plate more than they had to,'' Goldey said. ``All we wanted was an apology ... I'm very proud to be a Dodger fan.'' ``I'm extremely happy with the results,'' Kott said. The couple had planned to file a civil rights lawsuit if the Dodgers had not apologized, according to their lawyer, Bernie Bernheim. He said he first thought the Dodgers might have a policy against gay and lesbian couples showing affection in the ballpark. ``I'm frankly shocked,'' Bernheim said. ``Their response is atypical and outstanding.'' He said the Dodgers have done more to make amends than any other corporation he's dealt with. Goldey and Kott have been invited to sit behind home plate to make up for the game they missed. ``It is not trivial to be thrown out of a public place based of who you are,'' said Jon Davidson of the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a gay advocacy group. ``This result is a home run for all concerned.'' I can't believe they did this in the first place but bravo to them for correcting themselves. Now, I'd like to know who the complainers were. ------------------ Save Our Rockets and Comets SaveOurRockets.com
Eating a hotdog, drinking a beer, and watching baseball and kissing lesbians: I can't think of a better scenario for bonding with my son. ------------------ stop posting my damn signature
That was totally ridiculous. I think they're getting off easy. ------------------ "I'll drop kick those f*ckin' dogs if they come anywhere near me." visit www.swirve.com
Regardless of whether it was 2 men, 2 women, or a man & a woman.Shouldn't 2 people conduct themselves in an orderly manner when in a public place? Signs of affection is one thing but it is unclear how passionate the kiss was. If it was just a little kiss( unlike the incredible kiss by Gore and his wife )then that was not right to eject them. If it was a long sustained kiss with groping and such, they should be able to control themselves better in public(again regardless of the sex of the 2 people). I think the people at the stadium over-reacted. ------------------ Houston Rockets Forever!! In Rudy We Trust
The population decides what is offensive. That kind of a situation, like it or not, is offensive to the majority of the population. Whether they should've been ejected, I'm not sure, but I can definitely see someone not wanting their small children to witness two women kissing. ------------------ "I'm twenty-four years old in ten days, and I am NOT ****ing Kip Winger, okay? You want to talk about rock & roll, I'll sit there all day, as long as someone's buying the drinks. But don't expect me to be like everybody else. If you want an amusing anecdote, talk to Mark Slaughter. I'm sure he'll say something like, 'Yeah, we had a couple of lite beers and ran down the hall in our underwear. Whoooooo.'" - Chris Robinson, Black Crowes, Rolling Stone, January 24, 1991 Metal Sludge
Actually Freak, the majority of Americans are probably not offended by that. Dennis, you probably wouldn't have had a problem with Dubbya kissing Laura that way would you? ------------------ "I'll drop kick those f*ckin' dogs if they come anywhere near me." visit www.swirve.com
No not at all but if they had kissed , it would have been for the right reasons and not some political ploy. But I should not be so critical since Gore & Tipper's love affair was what they based the movie and book "Love Story" on. ------------------ Houston Rockets Forever!! In Rudy We Trust
Who said that majority of Americans wouldnt be offended by two lesbians kissing? I sure as hell wouldnt want my kids to watch 2 gay people going at it. ------------------ Fun Police Says: 1. Posting in stupid threads is not FUN! 2. Spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure are not FUN! 3. Stupid BBS names are not FUN! 4. Conduct yourself in a FUN way! The Fun Police are Watching. Vote for the Rockets & Have FUN or be Assimilated.
Why is that Rockets03? There is so little love in this world as it is, how can it hurt? Isn't it better for children to know the reality of what life is than to hide it from them? ------------------ Save Our Rockets and Comets SaveOurRockets.com
Why do you assume that their kiss was a political ploy? They've been a happily married couple for 30 years. ------------------ "I'll drop kick those f*ckin' dogs if they come anywhere near me." visit www.swirve.com
My oldest is 10 and I am constantly hiding some realities of life from her as well as her younger siblings. That's a parent's job. ------------------
Some of you folks need to come to the realization that its the 21st century. The world doesn't revolve around, mommy, daddy, jr and sis. Why couldn't you explain to your kids that its wonderfull to see two people in love? Instead of "oh my god! don't look jr"! And with that, off to the great woods of Maine. ------------------ [This message has been edited by mc mark (edited August 25, 2000).]
Rocketman95, just out of curiosity, what do you mean they (I assume you mean the Dodgers) got off easy? What do you think they should have been forced to do, if anything? dylan ------------------
Here in Houston there's a small family owned restaurant on Main/Montrose called "La Mexicana". The owners asked a lesbian couple to leave the restaurant because they were kissing. There was a big deal made, the local news covered the gay & lesbian boycott of the restaurant. But, when everything was said and done, the truth was that they were doing more than just giving each other a peck on the cheek. In fact, it had gone much further than that. Other customers (meaning more than one) had complained and the couple had been repeatedly asked to refrain from going too far. They ignored the warnings and were eventually, and rightfully, removed from the restaurant. The owner of "La Mexicana" had to come on TV and make an apology to the gay & lesbian community because they make up a substantial part of his business. I talked to the owner myself, and he said that he would never discriminate against a homosexual couple. His reasons were many, but the main one was that he was located in a neighborhood that has a high percentage of homosexual people living in it. He had been at that location for over ten years. ------- I personally do not want to watch a homosexual couple making out, nor would I want any of my children to see that. Hell, I don't really want to see a heterosexual couple making out either, and I wouldn't want my children to witness that as well. As grummett said, "My oldest is 10 and I am constantly hiding some realities of life from her as well as her younger siblings. That's a parent's job." I sincerely believe in that. ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
There is a kiss then there is making out. I have no problem with people kissing in public. When it becomes making out - more involved - no matter whether the couple is hetero or homo - they should be stopped. No one wants to see them, not kids, not adults especially in a public place like a baseball game. ------------------
Just so nobody misinterprets my position, this is not a homosexual couple vs heterosexual couple issue for me. I don't want my children to witness any overt sexual conduct in public, period. My wife's brother is gay and has had the same partner for years. My oldest has been taught about this relationship in a straightforward, non-judgemental manner as have all the children in my wife's side of the family. Homosexuality is not one of life's realities I keep my kids away from, sexual conduct is. ------------------
I'll throw in a little on both sides of the coin. Remember that the ushers at sporting events are usually not professionals. It's a part time job that doesn't require a degree in political science or law. Now, these people perform a valuable service, and I would hate to think of a game without them. I've witnessed some of them do their job with the utmost of tact and professionalism. On the other hand, some are a little rough around the edges. These guys don't receive a lot of training, and they don't have the luxury of sitting and having a debate with someone. Especially with rowdy crowds (and no crowd in Los Angeles acts like angels) their approach is genrally to confront people causing a real or percieved disruption, tell them to stop, and give them the boot if they cause any static. Of course the Dodgers don't have any policy against gay and lesbians -- but they probaby don't (or didn't) have any specific policy on how to handle these situations. The ushers in the area approached the situation as they would any other, with the authority to just handle the situation. I doubt it went any further than the section supervisor. Whether the predjudices of the ushers involved came into play, we probably will never know. But, there obviously wasn't any great conspiracy on the part of the organization to step on the rights of these individuals. Just a couple of ushers trying to handle a complaint. On the flip side, people and organizations are often accused of discrimination by people who like to test the limits, or are hypersensitive. The ushers may have done the right thing, kicking out a pair of individuals who needed to find a hotel room. But, because of who the people were, and their ability to create a fuss, the Dodgers decided it wasn't a battle worth fighting. DREAMer had a perfect example of this. I'll add another. As part of my duties, I oversee the operations of our valet contractor. We had a case where a couple wanted to valet park their car, and the valet supervisor came to me with a problem. She had a couple raising a fuss because she didn't want to accept their "torn up" car. After looking at the car, I told the couple that we couldn't accept their car because it wasn't safe for our staff to drive. We do not place, or allow our contractor to place, any drivers in an unsafe car. (yes, we have a policy on this). I offered them self parking in a garage 150 feet away. They insisted on parking, stated that their car was safe because it had a valid inspection sticker, and asked me to speak with my boss -- and she fully agreed. They left, mad. Within an hour, we received a call from administration, saying that they had a couple threatening a lawsuit, since we discriminate against poor people. They said we would not accept their car because it wasn't a Mercedes. They called the offices of, and threatened, half a dozen executives. They threatened to call Marvin Zindler. Our vice president decided it wasn't worth the fight, gave them free parking, and had us for two weeks, every day, leave the car where they parked it free of charge. (They didn't want the drivers driving it either). The car was missing a right fender, and grill. The headlight was taped in, the bumper held on with wire. It was missing the rear view mirror (actually in the seat) and the left side mirror. The drivers seat was broken, and my favorite, the hood was held closed with a coathanger. (The car stunk and had bugs too.) We were absolutely right -- but sometimes being right isn't worth the political nightmare that comes with it. ------------------ Stay Cool... [This message has been edited by dc sports (edited August 25, 2000).]
They shared a kiss people. Nowhere in the article does it say they were making out. I would want them kicked out if they were making out as well. dylan, don't get me wrong, I don't think the Dodgers should have to pay $10 million dollars or anything. It just seems that they got off easy. Maybe they didn't. ------------------ "I'll drop kick those f*ckin' dogs if they come anywhere near me." visit www.swirve.com
I doubt they were heavily making out considering they were with another couple. Dreamer, just wondering if you would let your kids watch Fight Club. Why is it OK to watch two men beating the crap out of each other but not OK to see two men express their affections for each other?
outlaw, I said: To which, you replied: I don't see the connection. If my kids were under 18 I wouldn't let them go to an "R-rate" movie that I felt was innapropriate. And, I don't think I'd accompany my son to "Fight Club" unless he were 16 or over. Maybe not even then, I'm not sure. Tolerance is a big issue with me. I've not always had the same level of tolerance nor for all the same scenarios that I have today. 1. My wife is Black. I think anyone who's been around here long enough knows that by now. Now, when some people say "I have black friends", it's often a cop-out. But, having a wife of African-American descent entails just a little more. This means I have a black mother-in-law, two black sister-in-laws, three black brother-in-laws, and four black nephews. Again, if I never associated with them and my wife was some elitist "wannabe" then this all may mean nothing. But, I do associate with my wife's family. I consider them my family, as well I should. Even this may be dismissed by some. But, one fact remains. When I have a child be it male or female, that child will be considered black. Therefore, my own flesh and blood, my son, my daughter will be black. I don't really know why I just said all that, but it doesn't just apply to blacks. I don't have a racially bigotted bone in my body. Never have and never will. All people are created equal under God. And I believe that. But, this particular subject is not about race, is it? It's about sexual preference. Here's where my tolerance has grown by leaps and bounds. I hate to admit it, but when I was in high school I didn't think there was anything wrong with "gay-bashing". Of course, I never would've condoned killing anyone, but it just didn't seem wrong to me. Thankfully, I found out that my favorite uncle just happened to be gay, one of my aunts was gay, and two of my cousins are lesbians. Wow! I had a hard time rationalizing that one. I, of course, realized that if I didn't want anyone to "bash" my uncle, aunt, or cousins, then I didn't anyone harming anyone who happened to be homosexual. I wish I hadn't felt the way I did in high school, but I did. Also, having a strong background in Christianity, I had to find a way to not condemn my gay family members. It was not as hard as I first thought. The Old Testament teaches us to punish those who sin against God. Unfortunately, we all sin. The New Testament came with the teachings of Christ. He marked the change in the way God was to deal with humankind and our sins. Jesus taught forgiveness. The sins from the Old Testament didn't stop being sins, the punishment for them changed. To me homosexuality is a sin. It says so in the Bible. But, I sin every day, so how are my everyday sins any different than that of a person who is homosexual? Well, it's not for me to decide. The Bible tells us not to judge, that only God judgement counts. So, to wrap up my sermon... I do not want to see a homosexual couple making out. I do not want to see a heterosexual couple making out. I may have a greater dislike for the homosexual couple's action, but that's my feelings. Tolerance does not equate in to liking or accepting. I will not judge other people, but that doesn't mean I have to like what they do. ------------------ I have a dream.........his name's Hakeem. DREAMer's Rocket Page
