Posted on 09/10/2003 9:20:23 PM PDT by Coleus
LOL ! ...
I thought we've determined that there is no Gay day.
Don't fret. I'm sure you can find some other examples of it on the web.
On group sales, teams usually mention the groups in a variety of ways--the least of which is a scoreboard acknowledgement.
So would the Rangers acknowledge a "Swingers" group id'd as such? (I suppose they would make group sales available to them)
What about a nudist group? Same thing?
What about a pedophile group? Same?
Where do or where would the Rangers draw the line, if at all?
The homosexuals certainly believe that there is "gay day". Open your eyes.
Did you know that Little League says it does not discriminate on the basis of "sexual orientation" & then doesn't define "sexual orientation"...Maybe that's why it had to implement a national sex offenders volunteer background check...Once ya open the door, ya gotta weed out perps
Basically, I suppose NAMBLA could start Little League booster clubs all over the place...if there was any formal linkage, all Little League could do would be to conduct background checks...Otherwise it can't "discriminate"
hehe ! Sorry 'bout that.
That first pic is likely a spoof, but that second one is an actual pic of the first
'happy couple' legally married in Canada.
Gay Day set for Sunday at BallparkIndependent Baptist church in Venus organizes protest; gay groups see gains in promotion
By Angela Geralds
Staff ReporterThe Texas Rangers and Oakland As will take the field Sunday evening, but the battle between two other longstanding rivals the gay community and the religious right has generated the most pre-game hype. Game time is scheduled at 7:05 p.m. on Sunday at The Ballpark in Arlington. But the controversy about a ticket sales promotion involving gay community groups has raged for at least two weeks.
Earlier this summer, a representative of the Texas Rangers sales force contacted Gil Flores, service director of the John Thomas Gay and Lesbian Community Center, and asked if Flores would organize a group ticket sale to the gay community.
Flores agreed and enlisted six other gay organizations to participate with the Resource Center of Dallas, which operates the community center.
They [the Rangers] said we could market it any way we wanted, Flores said. So we told them wed market it as Gay Day at the Ballpark. Representatives of the gay groups met to coordinate the event in a suite provided by the Rangers.
That was too much for Rick Warden and others affiliated with Kingdom Baptist Church in Venus, who have organized a protest of the event.
Warden, who owns a Mansfield house painting and drywall repair business, has railed against the event on local talk radio programs and on a Web site set up by the protesters, called Protestgayday.com. Warden said his group is protesting Gay Day at the Ballpark because his group sees the event as an effort by the gay community to use a family-oriented environment to legitimize their perverted lifestyles.
The group is also protesting the Rangers for working with the gay community to organize the promotion. Rangers representatives said such group promotions are common, ranging from the Jewish Community Center to the Boy Scouts of America.
Warden and Flores faced off Monday night on Sports Radio 1310 AM The Tickets Big Dicks P1 Wild Ass Circus. A Texas Rangers representative was invited to appear on the two-hour program, but the team declined, e-mailing a statment that said the gay community is being treated no differently than any other group that buys tickets. Warden and Texas Rangers president and CEO Mike Cramer appeared Tuesday evening on The Scott Wilder Show on The Word 100.7 FM, a religious-oriented station. On the program, Cramer said the Texas Rangers are not holding a Gay Day but confirmed the organization is selling a block of tickets to gay groups.
A Dallas Voice headline over a July 25 story about the event was raised during the program. Cramer said the headline, Rangers to hold Gay Day, was untrue, but the Rangers president said he would not formally request that the newspaper issue a correction.
Dallas Voice editor Dennis Vercher said the newspaper would not issue a correction or retraction. A Rangers representative got this promotion going. Vercher said, The team said the groups could promote it any way they wished, and the gay groups informed the team early on of their intention to market it as Gay Day at the Ballpark. It was only after the protest began that the Rangers developed cold feet about the particular name. In an e-mail exchange, the Rangers president spoke of Wardens misguided, personal vendetta against the gay community and the Texas Rangers and expressed thanks that Wardens 15 minutes of abused time on a very narrow stage will soon be at an end.
Flores called Warden an uneducated person who is a little misguided, and said he has misstated some facts regarding the event. And he said despite Cramers statements, the team continues to support efforts by the gay community groups.
The big-wigs panic at anything, but theyre still being very supportive, Flores said of Rangers. Flores said staff members affiliated with the team have assured him that this stuff happens and its no big deal.
The Rev. Joey Faust, pastor of Kingdom Baptist Church, said just as gays have the right to organize an event at the ball park, his church has the right to protest homosexuality. Kingdom is an Independent Baptist church, with views similar to the Southern Baptist Convention, Faust said.
On the churchs website, www.kingdombaptist.org, Faust directs mothers to stay home and raise their children, and says children should be home-schooled. Members are admonished to refrain from worldly TV and movies and are advised, The safest way to accomplish this is to totally remove the TV from the home. Women are instructed to be silent in the mixed assembly (except for singing) and members are encouraged to be involved in door-to-door evangelism or street witnessing weekly.
Faust said other churches are planning to send busloads of protesters, and Warden said several Christians will kneel in prayer outside the ball park for a Pray Day.
Flores said he is never surprised when a gay event attracts demonstrators, because people have very strong feelings about sexuality. But Flores added, I didnt think it was going to be this big of a deal. Although the event has received more flak than gay community coordinators expected, I dont think its necessarily all negative, Flores said.
Coverage of the controversy has caused more middle-of-the-road heterosexual people to become allies of the gay community, Flores said. When they realize there are people out there so far to the right, they really want to stand up and support us, he said. Weve actually had heterosexual people call us and buy tickets because they wanted to stand up and speak out.
Flores said the organizations had originally hoped to sell 1,000 tickets, but have pared back their expectations. As of midweek, about 200 tickets had been sold, he said. Rangers tickets are regularly $12, Flores said, and tickets for Gay Day will also be $12.
But since the Rangers are selling the tickets to the gay organizations for half-price, the gay community groups get to keep $6 from each ticket sold. Other groups selling tickets include the Dallas Independent Volleyball Association, Dallas Diablos rugby team, Pegasus Slowpitch Softball Association, North Texas Womens Sports Association, Texas Gay Rodeo Association and Series 2004, the committee responsible for organizing next years gay softball world series. The game was originally scheduled in the afternoon, but game time was changed to 7:05 p.m. so ESPN can televise playoff-bound Oakland.
According to the Texas Rangers Web site and ESPN listings, the game will be seen on ESPN 2.
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