Guillen’s apology placates activists
Guillen’s apology placates activists
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
Staff writer
GLBT activists expressed satisfaction with Major League Baseball’s response last week to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s use of an anti-gay slur to describe a Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist who’s frequently clashed with Guillen and the team.
Guillen called the Sun-Times’ Jay Mariotti a “fag,” among other things, when asked to comment June 20 on a column Mariotti had written a few days earlier in which he criticized Guillen.
“What a piece of shit he is, fucking fag,” Guillen said.
Guillen apologized the next day, saying, “The word I used, I should have used something different. A lot of people’s feelings were hurt, and I didn’t mean it that way.”
A day later, Major League Baseball Comm. Bud Selig fined Guillen an undisclosed amount and ordered him to attend sensitivity training.
“On Tuesday night, Ozzie Guillen used language that is offensive and completely unacceptable,” Selig said in a statement. “Baseball is a social institution with responsibility to set appropriate tone and example. Conduct or language that reflects otherwise will not be tolerated. The use of slurs embarrasses the individual, the club and the game.”
Guillen immediately said he accepted Selig’s punishment, then reiterated his understanding of it at U.S. Cellular Field June 24 after an apparent erroneous report that he would not attend the training.
“I will do that,” Guillen said. “I will do whatever the commissioner wants me to do because I respect the commissioner and I respect the game.”
Ill. state Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago), the state’s only openly gay legislator, applauded Selig’s action.
“I think they handled it very quickly and decisively,” McKeon said.
Like many, McKeon said the incident should curb Guillen’s habit of speaking off the cuff.
“It’s a personal characteristic of Ozzie—he tends to be somewhat of a firebrand,” McKeon said. “There’s certainly no excuse for that kind of language anymore. Maybe this will sensitize him to the notion that words hurt and that he has to take responsibility for his words.”
Lesbian activist Deb Mell also applauded Selig’s action.
“I think it was good,” she said. Mell added that she believed Guillen when he expressed his regret.
“It was a stupid thing to say,” Mell said. “People slip. They say stupid stuff. When you mess up, you own up to it and admit it was wrong.”
Gay activist Robert Castillo, who wore a T-shirt proclaiming himself a “Big gay Sox fan” to the June 25 Chicago Pride Parade, wasn’t so sure of Guillen’s apology.
“How about a real apology without quotation remarks?” Castillo asked, referring to a statement in which Guillen said, “I don’t have anything against those people.”
Castillo praised Selig’s action but said he’d also like to see Guillen make a donation to a GLBT charity.
The White Sox reacted with regret as well, with team spokesman Scott Reifert stressing that the team strives to make U.S. Cellular Field a welcoming place for everyone. Three years ago, the White Sox became the first team in Major League Baseball history to invite an openly GLBT group, the Windy City Gay Chorus and Unison Singers, to sing the National Anthem before a game. They also had Mayor Richard M. Daley’s GLBT community liaison, Bill Greaves, throw out a first pitch and spread the AIDS Memorial Quilt out on the field before the game.
White Sox general manager Ken Williams said he discussed the incident with Guillen, as did team owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
“Believe me,” Williams said. “I didn’t really have to discuss anything with him in depth because of the remorse he showed. ÉHe’s a guy I’ll walk through a wall for, and a lot of his friends will say the same thing.”
Some of those friends are gay, Sun-Times sports columnist Rick Telander noted June 23, quoting two gay men who defended Guillen.
“All my gay friends who have met him love him,” Edwin Quiros told Telander. “You have to know Ozzie and know how nice and caring he is.”
It’s still unclear when Guillen is to undergo sensitivity training and who will conduct it, though one source said it’s expected to involve a private firm.
By Gary Barlow
Copyright by The Chicago Free Press
Staff writer
GLBT activists expressed satisfaction with Major League Baseball’s response last week to White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen’s use of an anti-gay slur to describe a Chicago Sun-Times sports columnist who’s frequently clashed with Guillen and the team.
Guillen called the Sun-Times’ Jay Mariotti a “fag,” among other things, when asked to comment June 20 on a column Mariotti had written a few days earlier in which he criticized Guillen.
“What a piece of shit he is, fucking fag,” Guillen said.
Guillen apologized the next day, saying, “The word I used, I should have used something different. A lot of people’s feelings were hurt, and I didn’t mean it that way.”
A day later, Major League Baseball Comm. Bud Selig fined Guillen an undisclosed amount and ordered him to attend sensitivity training.
“On Tuesday night, Ozzie Guillen used language that is offensive and completely unacceptable,” Selig said in a statement. “Baseball is a social institution with responsibility to set appropriate tone and example. Conduct or language that reflects otherwise will not be tolerated. The use of slurs embarrasses the individual, the club and the game.”
Guillen immediately said he accepted Selig’s punishment, then reiterated his understanding of it at U.S. Cellular Field June 24 after an apparent erroneous report that he would not attend the training.
“I will do that,” Guillen said. “I will do whatever the commissioner wants me to do because I respect the commissioner and I respect the game.”
Ill. state Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago), the state’s only openly gay legislator, applauded Selig’s action.
“I think they handled it very quickly and decisively,” McKeon said.
Like many, McKeon said the incident should curb Guillen’s habit of speaking off the cuff.
“It’s a personal characteristic of Ozzie—he tends to be somewhat of a firebrand,” McKeon said. “There’s certainly no excuse for that kind of language anymore. Maybe this will sensitize him to the notion that words hurt and that he has to take responsibility for his words.”
Lesbian activist Deb Mell also applauded Selig’s action.
“I think it was good,” she said. Mell added that she believed Guillen when he expressed his regret.
“It was a stupid thing to say,” Mell said. “People slip. They say stupid stuff. When you mess up, you own up to it and admit it was wrong.”
Gay activist Robert Castillo, who wore a T-shirt proclaiming himself a “Big gay Sox fan” to the June 25 Chicago Pride Parade, wasn’t so sure of Guillen’s apology.
“How about a real apology without quotation remarks?” Castillo asked, referring to a statement in which Guillen said, “I don’t have anything against those people.”
Castillo praised Selig’s action but said he’d also like to see Guillen make a donation to a GLBT charity.
The White Sox reacted with regret as well, with team spokesman Scott Reifert stressing that the team strives to make U.S. Cellular Field a welcoming place for everyone. Three years ago, the White Sox became the first team in Major League Baseball history to invite an openly GLBT group, the Windy City Gay Chorus and Unison Singers, to sing the National Anthem before a game. They also had Mayor Richard M. Daley’s GLBT community liaison, Bill Greaves, throw out a first pitch and spread the AIDS Memorial Quilt out on the field before the game.
White Sox general manager Ken Williams said he discussed the incident with Guillen, as did team owner Jerry Reinsdorf.
“Believe me,” Williams said. “I didn’t really have to discuss anything with him in depth because of the remorse he showed. ÉHe’s a guy I’ll walk through a wall for, and a lot of his friends will say the same thing.”
Some of those friends are gay, Sun-Times sports columnist Rick Telander noted June 23, quoting two gay men who defended Guillen.
“All my gay friends who have met him love him,” Edwin Quiros told Telander. “You have to know Ozzie and know how nice and caring he is.”
It’s still unclear when Guillen is to undergo sensitivity training and who will conduct it, though one source said it’s expected to involve a private firm.
posted by Carlos T Mock at 10:05 AM
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