SEATTLE (AP) - Most of the time, a kiss is just a kiss in the stands at Seattle Mariners games. The crowd hardly even pays attention when fans smooch. But then last week, a lesbian complained that an usher at Safeco Field asked her to stop kissing her date because it was making another fan uncomfortable. The incident has exploded on local TV, on talk radio and in the blogosphere and has touched off a debate over public displays of affection in generally gay-friendly Seattle.... "Certain individuals have not yet caught up. Those people see a gay or lesbian couple and they stare or say something," said Josh Friedes of Equal Rights Washington. "This is one of the challenges of being gay. Everyday things can become sources of trauma.".... As the Mariners played the Boston Red Sox on May 26, Sirbrina Guerrero and her date were approached in the third inning by an usher who told them their kissing was inappropriate, Guerrero said. The usher, Guerrero said, told them he had received a complaint from a woman nearby who said that there were kids in the crowd of nearly 36,000 and that parents would have to explain why two women were kissing.
I wouldn't have a problem with this if the Mariners had something resembling a policy against public displays of affection, but that clearly isn't the case. So, because one woman had a problem with two women kissing, the entire Mariners organization now looks foolish.
Butbutbut...WHAT ABOUT THE CHILDREN?
Look, lady; if you can't handle the possibility that you might have to explain something that you're uncomfortable with to your children...well, perhaps you should take them out in public to begin with. The world doesn't exist for your convenience, and not everyone lives by your narrow rules. Perhaps that's what you should be telling your children. The fact that an usher at Safeco Field determined that the behavior of Sirbrina Guerrero and her date was deemed unacceptable while a straight couple nearby engaging in similar behavior was largely ignored might lead some to believe that perhaps some are just a wee bit more equal than others.
Just when I begin to think that maybe...just maybe...we've come to the point where we can all ge along despite our differences...something like this come along to prove how thoroughly naive I still am.
Jeebus, can we get over our petty ignorance and prejudices already?? No? OK, then....
