It took a dedicated fan and media attention but the New York Mets have finally been shamed into canceling an offensive practice: Showing two men (players from the opposing team in the Mets’ case) on the kiss cam as a way to get the crowd to laugh at the men.
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“We have, on occasion, included players from opposing teams in our popular in-game kiss cam feature”, the organization said in a statement.
“On April 14, Etan Bednarsh said: “.@Mets Putting two men together on the kiss cam isn’t a punch line. At Citi Field, the couples, always heterosexual, are followed by a joke pairing of two male players from the visiting team, as if to say in the most sophomoric way: what if these two Major League Baseball players were to kiss?
To Bednarsh and his friends, it was no laughing matter.
The maneuver, likely meant in jest, was blasted by many through social media until the team announced Wednesday the kiss-cam was not the hill it wanted to die on. One other diminished attribute I think was required to do along with complaints is in fact how we won’t notice the sumo rebel advertisement now at which 2 different people in exaggerated right up “fat suits” will come upon one another.
“All I can say is try to picture the same joke, the same dugout, with a man and woman and there’s no joke”. Don’t just stop doing that.
He continued to tweet at the team through the season each time he saw the stunt. There’s nothing amusing about it.
“It’s no secret sports is still a really rough place for LGBTQ players and fans”, he said.
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Bednarsh thinks the Mets’ decision to end the joke is a good first step in making the games a welcoming place for all, and he hopes the organization will continue its commitment of inclusiveness by featuring same-sex smooches.
