Banned players settle with gay softball group

[William769]

SEATTLE (AP) — A gay softball organization has agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to three players who were disqualified from its 2008 Gay Softball World Series because of their perceived heterosexuality.

And as part of the settlement announced Monday, their team will be awarded the second-place trophy it was denied at the time.

The men — Stephen Apilado, Laron Charles and John Russ — filed the federal lawsuit against the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance last year, claiming they had been discriminated against because they were bisexual, not gay.

They had played for years on a San Francisco-based team called D2. Rumors had persisted that the team was stacked with straight ringers, and when they made it all the way to the finals of the 2008 tournament in the Seattle area, others filed a protest, accusing D2 of exceeding the limit of two heterosexual players per team.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gd3OeLazP7ybsvFpbTLCod4IearA?docId=a534b6543df24888ba8cbd82fcda4a32

If you ask me this is reverse discrimination.  :hide:

[RZM]

1. It's amusing to me that these kinds of scanals reach all the way to recreational sports

College sports has its grade fixing and booster shenanigans. MLB, cycling, and the Olympics have their substance issues, pro football, baseketball, cricket, and soccer have a whole host of problems too . . . . and so an and so forth. And now we have prohibited use of straight players in the Gay World Series. Interesting stuff.

I don't know how you could really confirm this type of thing. Did they track down women that these men had slept with and get them to sign something? There's a lot of gray area and overlap when it comes to sexual preferences. Where do you draw the line?

[William769]

2. In my opinion, you don't need to draw a line

Just let people be who they are.

[dbackjon]

3. As someone who plays in a gay league, and has played in the GWS

I disagree. This is no different than the Hispanic World Series limiting non-Hispanics, etc.


The gay sports leagues were started to give gay and lesbians safe places to recreate - where we could be ourselves, to mix and mingle outside of an alcohol situation. In our league, the local GLBT youth group has a team - and they can finally play sports without being derided like many have been in high schools because they are different.

Maybe someday we will get to the point were we don't need safe places - but we are not there yet.

[William769]

4. Its hard to use the mantra "Diversity" & "Equality" when one does not practice it.

Those two words are what I am most proud of. Just because one side doesn't practice it doesn't mean the other side shouldn't either.

[dbackjon]

5. So close down all gay-oriented businesses? Social gatherings?

Nope - we need these types of things.

We are not excluding straight players. We have a number in our league. We've never turned one away. But we are a gay and lesbian oriented league, and that is our focus.

[William769]

6. Now I'm confused.

One post you say one thing and in this post you say another.

Yes we need Gay-oriented businesse and social gatherings, we don't need to exclude anyone from them, thats what the article is about.

[dbackjon]

7. They weren't excluded - there is just a limit on how many non-hetero players

Can be on a team.

Nothing confusing about that.

[Iggo]

8. They weren't gay enough.

Man, that hurts.