Katie Thomas at The New York Times reports on the difficult time gay Ranger fans have at MSG..."...As (Larry) Goodman’s routine is broadcast on the giant monitors above the ice, a familiar chant picks up momentum. “Ho-mo Lar-ry!” the crowd shouts. “Ho-mo Lar-ry!”
The chant is one example of what several gay hockey fans describe as a toxic atmosphere during Rangers games and that Madison Square Garden, which owns the team, is not doing nearly enough to address their concerns...
...Hockey has a loyal fan base within New York’s gay community, including the members of the New York Gay Hockey Association, which oversees 5 teams and claims 150 members. Many gay Rangers fans grew up attending games with their families and say they make a distinction between raucous tradition and comments that single out a specific group...
...(Christine C.) Quinn, the City Council speaker, said even if some gay hockey fans were not bothered by the comments, the Rangers needed to take a more aggressive role in setting an inclusive tone. She said the public announcements and extra security guards represented progress but did not go far enough..."
...to me if you're a Ranger fan I'm with you, no matter your sexuality, race or religion. Anyone who is going out of their way to demean a fellow Ranger fan should be thrown out of the Garden on his ear.
...on the other hand, as one of the gay Ranger fans being interviewed said regarding the "Ho-mo Lar-ry" chants, I think the gay community has to take some of it with a grain of salt. People are ignorant and there's no malice towards the gay community behind those chants. But I do agree the Garden could do more to curb that behavior.
4 comments:
Larry has thicker skin than I do. The fact that he still gets up and dances despite knowing that about 10 grand are going to chant Homo at him is amazing to me.
I would have quit long ago.
Actually, I would never had done the stupid dance.
Give me a break! Is Homo Larry gay? If he is an actual homo then the chants should stop. If not, then relax. The chant is directed at 1 ridiculous guy who dances at the games. It is not directed at any gay fans that might be at the game. And the NY Times has the worst Ranger coverage out of all the local papers and they finally have an article about them and they waste our time with this crap.
And if there are any gay fans who are offended, I'm sorry. But they do play "Sweet Caroline" at the Ranger games. Isn't that enough.
Should all married women stay home, when "Beat your wife Potvin" breaks out? How about the old "Buy a Porshe Hextall".. are we offending the Porsche owners...What a joke!
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