Another day, another pro athlete in trouble for using homophobic language: Seattle Sounders defender Marc Burch has been suspended for three games for calling another player an anti-gay slur at a playoff game on Thursday.
Burch issued an apology on Friday:
I apologize for my horrific choice of words last night during our match. This is something that is inconsistent with my family values and because of that I am both disappointed and embarrassed by my level of poor judgment.
I take seriously my role as a leader in the community and this is completely regrettable and unacceptable. Character matters and I hope through hard work on and off the field to begin earning your respect and trust again.â
MLS commissioner Don Garber said the league âhas a zero-tolerance policyâ toward discriminatory language. âWhile I understand and believe that Mr. Burch is remorseful, Major League Soccer is committed to providing an environment in which all individuals are treated with dignity and respect.â
Photo: Bo McMillan
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
Â
Dumdum
Gasp clutch pearls! A homophobic slur from a jock. Then fake remorse with a phony apology. And I’m sure he still gets payed.
MikeE
@Dumdum: Yeah, but it’s soccer we’re talking about here… he probably gets paid in coupons.
OrchidIslander
I don’t know if his apology was phony or not – and don’t care.
As far as I am concerned the bigger – and better – message was Major League Soccer’s zero tolerance for homophobic and other inappropriate behavior and the importance they place on respect for everyone.
Marc Burch received a 3 game suspension and was heavily fined. Some MLS players have had on field physical altercations with other players and were not punished as severely. Even better, a while back, another knucklehead player called a ball boy the “f” word and his punishment was similar.
I love soccer, watch it all the time and could not be happier about the MLS and their view that people be treated with dignity and respect.
EdWoody
The apology sounds sincere as far as it goes, but it’s also a lie in that he claims “this in not what I really believe.” Things said in anger like that reveal your truest, basest nature. Maybe he didn’t even realize it was there, but it was, and now he’s realized that himself. That’s what he’s sorry for.
Gay Tubes
@Dumdum: Totally what was running though my mind!
hotboy1423
@EdWoody: I do not agreet with what ur saying. I say fag by habbit mysealf since i went to a homophobic hightschool, and it was the cool insult at teh time, so I kinda want to give him the benefit of the doubt
P.S I’m gay and i love being gay, it’s really out of habbit that I say faggot, I consider msyealf a gay activist so I try to refrain mysealf from saying theses hurtful words
JOHN 1957
We have to think before we speak or we can do damage that can not be fixed with “I’m Sorry”. He said what he felt deep down inside at the moment, now he has to pay the consequences by being worked over in the showers by an all gay team. You make pay them your way and I make them pay mine. All is fair in love and war. đ
Dumdum
@hotboy1423: Wow I can’t believe you spelled homophobic correctly. I suppose that if you really are a hot boy as your name suggests then being smart is not a requirement for getting laid. I MYSELF only completed one month of my freshman year of high school. However I got into the HABIT of reading BOOKS took my GED and went to college. I grew up being called a f*g, fa**ot, sissy yet I never use THESE words in speech. I do not AGREE with your position, nor do I think that YOU”RE or YOU ARE an activist except in your own mind. ENJOY your youth WHILE IT LASTS. I am so old that when I was young, The Dead Sea was merely sick. Perhaps you are differently abled, in which case I apologize.