Gay choir heckled and ‘humiliated’ during National Anthem at major baseball game (VIDEO)
The San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus have expressed their outrage after they were humiliated over the weekend.
The choir was brought in to sing “The Star Spangled Banner” before the San Diego Padre’s baseball game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
A recording of the choir was supposed to play over the loudspeakers – however, a recording of a woman singing the anthem played instead.
The confused singers stood on the field until being led off, as the audience booed and heckled them with homophobic taunts.
In a Facebook post following the game, the chorus accused the baseball team of intentionally humiliating them, claiming tension was building before the game even began.
“No attempt was made to stop the recording and start over,” according to the post.
“No announcement of apology was made to the singers or their friends and families in the stands.”
The choir claimed the incident followed “several days of troubling comments and behaviour” from the baseball team, which they say tried to prevent the singers from performing unless they each bought a ticket to the game.
They added that the incident raised “serious questions about homophobia within the San Diego Padres organisation and its relationship with the LGBT community.”
Padres president Mike Dee did later apologise to chorus members.
However, the chorus was disappointed with the short apology, so a second statement was issued, claiming “no evidence of malicious intent on the part of any individuals involved.”
The team added that the third-party contractor responsible for the error had been dismissed, and disciplinary action was being taken against the staff member responsible for the game production.
“The Padres organisation is proud of our longstanding commitment to inclusion — within both our sport and our community,” the team stated.
“We deeply regret that a mistake on our part has called this into question, but accept full responsibility.”
Last year, popular TV show Glee was praised for featuring a choir made up of over 200 real-life trans people, as part of a storyline in which a character transitions.
Watch a clip of last weekend’s incident below:
