The Chorus was going to sing to a pre-recorded track. While the LGBT community is intent on labeling this the result of homophobia, and while the Chorus' own statement raises the specter of homophobia, it clearly was not some homophobic conspiracy by the Padres Several elements tell me this was a disastrous, yet unintentional, mistake. No one but the Padres are to blame for what happened, and they have taken responsibility. This was supposed to be a moment of pride for them and the community. The chorus members had family and friends in the stands.
"The embarrassment of what happened was so devastating," Bob Lehman, executive director of the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus, told me. To have that turned upside down into a moment of complete humiliation was tough. Once the song was over, the chorus was escorted off the field.Īny time someone gets to sing the National Anthem in front of a packed stadium, it's a thrill. To make matters worse, instead of stopping the track and fixing the error the Padres let the song play out while the men stood in front of the crowd. Someone in the control room then played a track of a woman singing the National Anthem as a few dozen gay men stood speechless on the field.
The Chorus stood on the field minutes before the opening pitch to sing. What we know without a doubt is that the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus was asked by the Padres and San Diego LGBT Pride to sing the National Anthem before their home game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday. I've spent much of the last 24 hours communicating with people at the Padres, on the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus, in Major League Baseball and other LGBT leaders.
Yet the incident was not the result of some homophobic conspiracy and was, in all likelihood, a really stupid mistake. Cries of systemic homophobia by the Padres, Major League Baseball and sports in general have rung across social media for two days. The visceral collective reaction by the LGBT community to the screw-up of the National Anthem for the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus at the San Diego Padres game Saturday night has pointed directly at homophobia as the root cause.