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The San Diego Padres said late Sunday that it had disciplined an
employee and stopped working with a contractor who was
responsible for marring the performance of the national anthem
by the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus.
The choir's Saturday performance was drowned out by a recording
of a woman singing the national anthem that was broadcast in the
stadium.
The incident generated outrage, partly because the chorus was
singing during "Out at the Park," a special LGBT pride event at
the stadium. Members of the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus accused
the Padres of homophobia and called for an investigation by the
team as well as Major League Baseball.
The Padres said in a statement that it had conducted an internal
probe and concluded that there was "no evidence of malicious
intent" by any of the individuals involved in the mishap, but
the organization faulted personnel for not immediately
intervening and correcting the situation.
"We once again sincerely apologize to members of the San Diego
Gay Mens Chorus, their families and those who came out to
support their Pride Night performance," the team said in its a
statement. "The Padres organization is proud of our longstanding
commitment to inclusion within both our sport and our
community. We deeply regret that a mistake on our part has
called this into question, but accept full responsibility.
Before the game began, the nearly 100-member choir was ushered
to the outfield, wearing matching black dress shirts. The chorus
was supposed to sing along with a pre-recorded track, which
amplifies their voices for the large venue. Instead, the solo
female voice was piped through the stadium.
We were like, Whats going on? said Michael Pluff, a member
of the choir for two years. Others said they were shocked and
embarrassed.
The song finished and nothing happened. Nobody spoke, said Bob
Lehman, executive director of the chorus. We didnt know what
to do.
Without explanation, Padres staff ushered the group off the
field. Many fans applauded, others heckled and yelled derogatory
barbs, choir members said.
One fan mocked the singers, saying, Thats the best youve ever
sounded." Another yelled, 'You sang like a girl, which to a
gay man is pretty insulting, Lehman said.
Lehman and other chorus members began wondering whether the
mishap was a cruel prank to drown out the voices of gay men on a
night commemorating equality for gays and lesbians.
What should have been a night of joy and celebration at Petco
Park last night instead turned into a nightmare raising serious
questions about homophobia within the San Diego Padres
organization and its relationship with the LGBT community, the
chorus said in a statement posted on Facebook early Sunday.
By late Sunday, however, Lehman said he saw what happened as an
accident and applauded the team for taking disciplinary action.
The Padres' chief executive officer, Mike Dee, called Lehman to
explain what happened. Lehman said Dee told him that a
contractor did not load the choir's recording, so the previous
night's recording played instead. A Padres employee, Lehman
said, failed to "hit the kill switch" when the wrong music
played. Dee also invited Lehman to visit the sound booth and
see the exact process, he said.
"They are just heartbroken this kind of thing happened," said
Lehman, noting that he and Dee plan to meet in the next few days.
Pluff, another chorus member, also applauded the team's
statement but said that internal investigations in companies can
often be biased toward a specific outcome.
"A more independent investigation would be nice and
appropriate," said Pluff, 36, a San Diego resident who works in
the defense industry. "They need to do something more visible
and something thats going to be publicized a little greater
than a quick Tweet or paragraph."
Billy Bean, the vice president of social responsibility and
inclusion for Major League Baseball, said the "technical error"
was "very unfortunate" and praised the Padres for supporting
inclusiveness.
"They have made every effort to include the LGBT community and
champion equality in MLB for each and every one of us," said
Bean, who publicly came out as gay in 1999.
A Padres spokeswoman defended the team's record of working with
the LGBT community, noting that it was the first team in Major
League Baseball to host Pride Night in 2001.
matt.hamilton@latimes.com
Twitter: @MattHjourno
tony.barboza@latimes.com
Twitter: @tonybarboza
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me--ln-gay-chorus-padres- 20160522-snap-htmlstory.html
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