Major League Baseball

Report: Gay couple scolded at MLB game

Published Jun. 16, 2011 1:00 a.m. ET

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A security guard working for the Minnesota Twins has been reprimanded for chastising a lesbian couple for sharing a brief kiss at Target Field, Minneapolis' City Pages reported Thursday.

The guard, whose identity has not been released, reportedly scolded Taylor Campione and Kelsi Culpepper after witnessing the couple enjoy a quick peck on the lips inside the ballpark on May 27.

Campione told the alternative weekly newspaper the guard, whom she described as middle-aged with a mustache, immediately approached her shaking his head.

"I saw you kissing that girl, you can't do that," the guard said.

When Campione responded by saying she could kiss whoever she wanted to, the guard allegedly replied, "Well, we don't play grab ass here."

Campione reportedly shared the exchange with Culpepper, who then confronted the guard. "I don't understand what's wrong with kissing my girlfriend," Culpepper told him.

According to the report, a brief argument ensued before the guard repeated his comment about not "playing grab ass."

"Then he said, 'Well here in the stadium, we adhere to the Ten Commandments,'" recalled Culpepper. "After that, I decided I was no longer going to speak with him, and I asked for his manager."

Twins spokesman Kevin Smith said the guard, who has worked for the organization for nearly a decade, has been reprimanded for his actions, but continues to work at the stadium.

"That behavior just is unacceptable," Smith told City Pages. "That security guard has received both a verbal and written reprimand that will be put in his personnel file, and he understands that that is not an acceptable behavior."

Campione and Culpepper said they intend to file a complaint with the Minnesota Department of Human Rights, accusing the guard of discriminating against them for their sexual orientation.

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