Gay-rights activists making calls for further sanctions
Gay-rights activists making calls for further sanctions
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
June 22, 2006
BY KENDRICK MARSHALL Staff Reporter
Gay-rights activists on Wednesday demanded an apology and sensitivity training in the wake of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's use of the derogatory word "fag'' to describe a Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist.
They got the apology, which Guillen offered before the Sox' game Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.
But as for any sort of punishment or additional counseling for the often blunt Sox manager, that doesn't seem likely.
Sox spokesman Scott Reifert said neither team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf nor general manager Kenny Williams will fine or otherwise penalize Guillen because of his remark about columnist Jay Mariotti, whose columns have angered Sox officials.
"This is completely inappropriate,'' Rick Garcia, of the gay-rights group Equality Illinois, said of Guillen's comment. "For him to say something like that in front of a group of reporters is stupid.''
Garcia was so upset that he wrote Reinsdorf and asked for an "immediate reprimand and appropriate sanction.''
"If Ozzie had called an African American a name or other group a name, [Guillen] would have been punished,'' Garcia said. "But it seems that using homophobic slurs is still accepted.''
Sensitivity training was one solution mentioned by Gary Barlow, a reporter for the Chicago Free Press, one of the largest gay newspapers in the Midwest. Barlow has been writing about homophobia in sports, and he has grown tired of gay bashing.
"The more athletes, companies and people in general are educated about the gay community, then we won't have these problems in our society,'' Barlow said.
Richard Pfeiffer, coordinator of this Sunday's Gay Pride Parade, said: "OK, [Guillen] says he has gay friends. That does not give him the right to say what he wants.''
Nobody interviewed by the Sun-Times talked about boycotting the Sox in response to the "fag'' comment, but they said it's important to speak out.
"Words like that get thrown around locker rooms all the time, and it just goes under the radar,'' Barlow said.
kmarshall@suntimes.com
Copyright by The Chicago Sun Times
June 22, 2006
BY KENDRICK MARSHALL Staff Reporter
Gay-rights activists on Wednesday demanded an apology and sensitivity training in the wake of White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen's use of the derogatory word "fag'' to describe a Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist.
They got the apology, which Guillen offered before the Sox' game Wednesday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.
But as for any sort of punishment or additional counseling for the often blunt Sox manager, that doesn't seem likely.
Sox spokesman Scott Reifert said neither team chairman Jerry Reinsdorf nor general manager Kenny Williams will fine or otherwise penalize Guillen because of his remark about columnist Jay Mariotti, whose columns have angered Sox officials.
"This is completely inappropriate,'' Rick Garcia, of the gay-rights group Equality Illinois, said of Guillen's comment. "For him to say something like that in front of a group of reporters is stupid.''
Garcia was so upset that he wrote Reinsdorf and asked for an "immediate reprimand and appropriate sanction.''
"If Ozzie had called an African American a name or other group a name, [Guillen] would have been punished,'' Garcia said. "But it seems that using homophobic slurs is still accepted.''
Sensitivity training was one solution mentioned by Gary Barlow, a reporter for the Chicago Free Press, one of the largest gay newspapers in the Midwest. Barlow has been writing about homophobia in sports, and he has grown tired of gay bashing.
"The more athletes, companies and people in general are educated about the gay community, then we won't have these problems in our society,'' Barlow said.
Richard Pfeiffer, coordinator of this Sunday's Gay Pride Parade, said: "OK, [Guillen] says he has gay friends. That does not give him the right to say what he wants.''
Nobody interviewed by the Sun-Times talked about boycotting the Sox in response to the "fag'' comment, but they said it's important to speak out.
"Words like that get thrown around locker rooms all the time, and it just goes under the radar,'' Barlow said.
kmarshall@suntimes.com
posted by Carlos T Mock at 2:14 PM
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