This weekend is "Out at the Ballpark." Wow...
Cardinals indicate they will treat gay Kiss Cam request like any other
BY DEB PETERSON
[email protected] > 314-340-8276 | Posted: Friday, September 17, 2010 4:11 pm
KISS CAM REDUX: A spokesman for the Cardinals said today that there have been a half dozen same-sex kisses featured on the Kiss Cam so far this season and that the team has no idea whether the couples were gay.
The spokesman's comments were made in regard to a question about whether the Kiss Cam would focus on a gay group at Saturday's game. Harrison Roberts, a manager at Just John, a gay bar on Manchester Street in the Grove, has requested that he and his partner be featured smooching on the Kiss Cam.
They will be among some 200 gays and lesbians who will be at Busch Stadium as part of Pride St. Louis's "OUT at the Ballpark" event.
The Cards' spokesman said the team generally does not take requests for people to be featured on the Kiss Cam and that they would follow that procedure with regard to Roberts's request.
The spokesman stopped short of saying the camera operators would not focus on the group's section, but he did say the "OUT at the Ballpark" crowd was only one of 40 groups that will be hosted at Busch Stadium on Saturday.
He also said e-mail and phone calls on the issue were running in both directions. "No matter what we do tomorrow, we can't win," he added.
The request came about after a Kiss Cam moment at the Rams game on Sunday. The roaming camera caught two men in Arizona Cardinals jerseys standing next to each other. As the camer lingered, the men tried to shoo it away to laughter and jeers from the crowd.
Roberts said some customers came in to the bar on Monday and told him they had been offended that the camera operator would choose to embarrass Arizona fans by portraying them as a gay couple.
He said the customers complained that they felt demeaned and mocked by the incident. Roberts made the point that gay couples support sports teams and spend lots of money at games and would like to be treated the same way as heterosexual couples when they attend sporting events.
The Cards spokesman said this was the first time the team had fielded such an issue.
"We have never had anyone make a request so they can use the Kiss Cam to make a social statement," he noted.
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/c...27992bc8b.html