There’s some major drama going down in the world of gay softball!
Top team D2, which hails from San Francisco, found itself disqualified from the Gay World Series after a “review” found that six of their players were straight, a violation of officials rules stating a gay team can only have two straight members.
The team’s furious, of course, and plan on appealing the disqualification.
Vincent Suquay, Commissioner of San Francisco’s Gay Softball League, says he has major problems with how the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Alliance handled the matter:
My understanding is [that players] were read a definition of what a homosexual person was and what a gay person was. How they responded was used to determine whether they were gay or straight. Not one person when they responded ever actually said they were straight. These were not new players; they had played in six Gay World Series already. As long as I’ve been involved with NAGAA, nobody before has been disqualified.
Suquay also takes issue with the hetero-capping, which he calls discriminatory. It’s also a bit offensive, if you ask us, as if straights are inherently better players, an advantage, than the gays. But, then again, it is the gay world series, an idea that in and of itself strikes us as queer. We’re more of the cheer leading type. Go gays!
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Woof
I have been playing gay softball for a lot of years, everyone knows there is a 10% rule and that you can only have 2 straight players on a WS team. SF has always been a bunch of cheating queens.
Darth Paul
That’s sh!tty. I guess non-gay leagues can have only 10% queers on board?
marc
If those were the rules, the rules were broken.
What is to appeal ?
PearlsBeforeSwine
If you won’t do anal can you still pass the test? And what about bisexuals?
Woof
The question on the registration form is gay and non-gay.
gayinsf
Well, guys, rules are rules and you broke them…deal!!
Queer "T"
I think that you would have to have a little more proof than self-answered quiz to prove you’re a closet straight. Like … married to a woman would probably count … but I also know gay men who stay married to their wives for benefits for the kids and are relationships with other men.
Kevin
I may be mistaken, since it’s a recreational league and not a business, but it is my understanding that under local San Francisco laws it would be quite illegal to make sexual orientation a prerequisite for being on the team.
Also, I think it’s rather progressive of the straight guys to feel comfortable enough being on a “gay team.” It’s not like they can hide the nature of the team from their other friends.
Rules are rules? Some rules are discriminatory, immoral, and potentially illegal.
And finally, what the hell kind of test is that? With all that kind of nouveau “queer theory” around, a lot of pure Kinsey 6 boys will still claim some degree of bisexuality just so they don’t sound extremist. And a verbal test? I continue to maintain that gay litmus tests require demonstrable proof. Blowjobs will suffice.
CHURCHILL-Y
Stupid, we don’t want to be discriminated against but we have limits on the number of hetero players? DUMB
Rikard
I’m reminds me of the white question about why there are “black” beauty pageants and entertainer awards. “There isn’t a Miss WHITE America”. Well, for a long time there was a Miss White America (hi Vanessa, you are the greatest Miss ever crowned). The reason we need a gay league isn’t because we couldn’t play in a straight one. We did, we just couldn’t be out and play. Not without being marginalized just like we were in school, at work, at church, every day. When we are routinely accepted without raising eyebrows, we won’t need special places to be ourselves and feel safe and at home. As long as you still get nominated for an Oscar just for risking playing gay, or retarded I’ll look for leagues and groups and bars and charities that reflect my “orientation” (for lack of a better word). I’ll do it hoping that we can approach each other in a less guarded way (though I watch my back with some of you bitches).
Ethan
Isnt the point of having a gay team play in a gay league be that the players are gay…progressive shregressive…Its not descrimination…freedom of association….
Dawster
i work with 2 guys who are both involved in city rec. leagues – for soccer, softball, and kickball – all of which are “co-ed”… different then the “men’s” and “women’s” leagues.
there are rules requiring a minimum of *however many* women be on the team, and sometimes on the field during the game. everyone is okay with this…
i don’t see where this situation is any different. it cold be worded differently… instead of “maximum number of straights” they should have used the term “minimum number of gays”. it’s all in the presentation – but it’s a gay league… so… you know… the name kinda gives the impression that most of the players on the field should be… you know… GAY.
dafountain
It’s a GAY softball league. A league I play in myself. I don’t see anything wrong with the rule. You know it going in so don’t be suprised when you get called on it. There are also Co-ed leagues where the teams must have equal players men and women. It’s funny how gays are excluded from clubs, teaching jobs, military service and on and on (none of which call themselves straight orgs except the military) and yet a few straights are going to complain that they are being dicriminated against because they can’t play in a gay league. TOUGH!
CertainPOV
In 1978 one of the California teams stacked their team with semi-pro, straight players in order to win the series. At least that’s how I remember it, those days are pretty foggy!
I played for more than fifteen years and served as commssioner for our city, and the verification question has always been a thorny one. Many of the previous posters are right, it is a gay league. I never played in a straight league…hell, I never played at all before I joined the gay league. But this is where I felt comfortable, and for a lot of people that is important.
Puddy Katz
It’s probably illegal to discriminate, but it’s not illegal to mock and otherwise make it difficult for D2 to play.
Swing4it
Twice every year, the NAGAAA organization that puts on the GSWS meet in person. Delegates from every city that is involved in the tournament are REQUIRED to attend. At these meetings, the rules are discussed, handed out and talked about. Motions are put forth, rules are discussed and voting happens. Basically, every city, team, player involved in this tournament has access to the rules that govern this week-long event.
Furthermore, limiting participation in softball tournaments to individuals that fit a particular classification is not new. There are “women only” tournaments, there are tournaments that are for “Native Americans”, there are “age restrictions” that are enforced at some tournaments. (Senior Tournaments for 40/50 and older, Youth tournaments for 18 and under..) The list goes on and on…many of them completely EXCLUSIVE. (And yes, there have been San Francisco teams in the Senior Cup.)
I think that if you look at this from a different angle you’ll realize that, while straight players are welcome, (although it is in a more limited number) part of this event is about ’community’ and celebrating sports with your fellow gay/lesbian athletes. Not filling teams with straight folks that will bench the gay players – and leave them at home for this amazing annual event. (Please don’t confuse that with “straight players are always better”) As a participant of this event for several years, I have to say, that it being a ’gay event’ (sponsored by many gay businesses in the local area – and gay friendly national businesses) is one of the great reasons why I choose to spend my vacation time and dollars to attend the GSWS.
There are certainly other week long tournaments that you could attend, but that does not offer the same feeling or sense of community or pride. (Think about a gay cruise vs. non-gay cruise or vacation in a ’gay friendly city’ vs. “small town/red state-city.”)
Plain and simple, it’s just not unusual to have a national/local or regional event to celebrate a portion of society. This one just happens to be the glbt softball community.
Finally, I think that using the excuse that “no one has been disqualified before” is pretty sad. The rules were there way before anyone from the D2 team bought an airline ticket. They rolled the dice (as I’m sure others did) but they got caught – “man up” and accept your concequences for breaking the rules that were in place.
It’s not as if NAGAAA hides it’s affiliations. It’s the North American GAY Amature Athletic Association that puts on the GAY Softball World Series each year.
oneway
Swing4It —
Well-stated summary of all that is NAGAAA. I’ve been a league rep at these twice-yearly meetings in the past, and you’ve portrayed the way it is with the league very well.
Seems to me that this all boils down to two questions:
1. Is the two-hetero rule itself discrimination and therefore wrong/illegal/etc.? Not likely.
2. Even if the two-hetero rule is defensible, has it outlived its usefulness, and should it therefore be repealed? Reasonable people can disagree, but I think it’s time for change.
To my mind, the Gay Games offers an instructive counter-example to NAGAAA. Gay Games has no requirement whatsoever about the sexuality of its participants. Zip. Zero. Nada.
In fact, the Women’s Divisions of the Gay Softball World Series, which is governed by a completely separate sanctioning body (ASANA) has no sexuality test either.
But the two-hetero rule still applies in the Open Division (which although predominantly male, is open to women). There are several reasons why NAGAAA hasn’t evolved:
1. NAGAAA’s committee structure makes it slow to change. Despite lukewarm efforts from some cities, the voting members guiding the league tend to be significantly older than the players. And among this group is a solid core of old-school thinking about preserving the exclusively gay heritage of the event.
2. For some reason, organizers almost never use the word “gay” to describe the event. Yes, it’s widely known in LBGT circles as the Gay Softball World Series. But this year, for instance, I don’t think a single piece of the official merchandise displayed either a rainbow, nor the word “gay”. T-shirts say either “Series 2008”, “NAGAAA World Series”, or some such thing. Mainstream media attention in host cities is discouraged, banners and displays in the events host hotels (or other places in potentially general-public view) oddly omit “gay” in favor of “NAGAAA” or “GSWS” at every turn. It’s an old-school closet mentality and a victim mindset.
3. The roots of the GSWS are recreational and athletic, as opposed to the Gay Games, which were formed in large part as a political statement. Truly, the first several tournaments, which started in the 1970s and pre-dates the Gay Games, were small events contested by just a few cities. As such, the “just for us” mindset is the heritage of the league. Not a bad thing, but a stale mindset considering the broader social change in the 32 years since the first World Series.
To my mind, the two-hetero rule is an ancient relic that needs to change. I’d like to see the group more directly embrace the word “gay” and use rainbow imagery in its promotions.
But alas, NAGAAA and the GSWS will likely retain it’s two-hetero rule until significant political pressure is placed on the league and its sponsors — Coors and Aquafina (Pepsico).
porsha
Love the picture with this item…suggestive hardons in pants are a turn on!
Swing4it
The other thing that should be pointed out here is that NAGAAA is responsible for ONE softball tournament every year. It happens to be called the Gay Softball World Series.
It does NOT govern local leagues nor does it force it’s rules upon local “gay” tournaments.
It basically says – for this ONE tournament a year, these are the rules that we are following. Reality check, cities with “gay/gay friendly” leagues don’t have to belong to NAGAAA or send teams to the GSWS. However, if you do want to participate in the GSWS that is put on by our group, you need to follow the rules that we have for this particular organization for this ONE time per year.
I think that the reason that NAGAAA is so big and successful is that they are very organized. (sure, sometimes it seems excessive, but it is a module that is working.) They also have the membership that they do, because, whether you like the rule or not – the Gay Softball World Series – is an amazing tournament that celebrates the gay softball player.
For the rest of the year, you are welcome to use the rating system for classifications in your own tournaments, use the NAGAAA organization as a template to help organize your own leauges, or simply use them as a resource for questions or guidance.
I think that the people who volunteer their time and efforts (locally and nationally) should be commended for keeping such an phenominal event going strong.
btw – Seattle was FANTASTIC!
Antonio MAGALHAES
FUNDAMENTALISM IS NOT FOR GAYS. EITHER YOU ARE STRAIGHT (AND, POSSIBLY, SQUARE) OR YOU ARE GAY AND FLEXIBLE, AND NICE … AND FRIENDLY!
COME TO LISBON, PORTUGAL … AND YOU’LL UNDERSTAND!
Tard
Since anyone can play anywhere I am going to join every event in the next special olympics. If they try to deny me of any sport I will sue for discrimination.
Pissed
Got a question for those of you who are truly gay, and perhaps now or in recent past played D1 Softball…
Have a daughter (very straight, and drop dead gorgeous) who is top infielder on mid size D1 Softball Team….She spent Freshman and Soph years as SS…New coach, new idea and she is now 2nd base with 1000% FP, and 225 BA (4th best on team)…Coach (Female, single 30) made the move for “her” best interest. Now on third SS for the season (All Gay)….and current stats on this one are 760 FP, and 230 BA….
Here is the rub….Coach is cooking books on select gay players….So numbers of these 2 or 3 players are really worse…if that is even possible..LOL
Question: Is is possible and/or Probable the new Gay coach simply cannot believe a good looking straight female can be a top SB players….? Thus the rub and the BS?
This Coach was Stud on World Series level in late 90’s…..
Just wondering
scott
If it’s the rule and they broke it, well they are screwed.
Separately, I agree that there is an underlying thought behind this that Straight guys play better ball than gays.