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Video: Yankees Bleacher Creatures' "Gay Man" Song
By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 10, 2010
Modified Oct 10, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Oct 10, 2010
Modified Oct 10, 2010
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In the midst of several highly publicized suicides and attacks of gay men recently, as well as a "die-in" at Grand Central on Friday, a tipster sent in this account of the Yankees/Twins playoff game from last night:
I have proudly lived in New York City for over two years, and, unlike the often-heard stereotypes, have found this city's inhabitants to be kind, respectful, and even polite. This changed the night of Oct. 9, when I attended the New York Yankees game against the Minnesota Twins. As a Midwest native showing up to the game in my Twins regalia, I expected to be picked on. I expected to be heckled. What I did not expect was to hear homophobic and anti-gay cheers sung by the crowd.
During the traditional singing of YMCA, when the grounds crew takes to the field, suddenly the crowd erupted into lyrics singing, "Why are you gay, I saw you sucking some d-i-c-k." Other lyrics called people who are gay sinners and disease-ridden. I couldn't believe my ears. Whatever people may say about Minnesota or the Midwest, such hurtful and disgusting things would never be shouted at a Twins game. What an embarrassment for Yankees fans and New York City.
The tipster also suggests that the Yankees should hold an LGBT respect night. According to this site (which only goes up through 2008), more than half the teams in the league, including the Mets, have had such nights, and they've been relatively successful. The Cubs, who have an openly gay owner, have held the event since 2001.
The "Gay Man"/"Why Are You Gay" song seems to be a tradition of Section 39/Section 203, aka the Bleacher Creatures, and is directed at fans of the opposing team sitting in or near the section. (You can see a 2007 video of it below, as well as several other examples here.) However, just last month, an umpire ejected a rowdy drunk fan who was yeling homophobic slurs at a player.
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baseball
bleacher creatures
lgbt
mlb
why are you gay
Yankees
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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