Padres ripped by San Diego Gay Men's Chorus over national anthem error
The San Diego Padres apologized to the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus after a recorded woman's voice was used instead of the men's voices during the playing of the national anthem before Saturday's game against the Dodgers.
"This evening, during the pregame ceremony, a mistake was made in the Petco Park control room that prevented the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus from performing the national anthem as scheduled," the Padres said in a statement. "We apologize to anyone in the ballpark who this may have offended, and have reached out to the chorus to express our deep regret for the error."
Statement from the #Padres regarding tonight's National Anthem: pic.twitter.com/KAKUAjlg6W
— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 22, 2016
The chorus said on its Facebook page that the group was taunted by fans, who allegedly said "you sing like a girl."
In the chorus' statement on Facebook, the group said, "No attempt to correct the situation occurred other than to force the 100 men to stand in the spotlight of center field for the song's duration and then be escorted off the field to the heckles of baseball fans shouting homophobic taunts including, 'You sing like a girl.'"
The chorus wants the Padres and Major League Baseball to investigate the situation "to determine if someone or some people intentionally engaged in anti-gay discrimination or a hate crime by playing a female's voice to represent a group of gay men with the purpose of denigrating and/or ridiculing gay men."
