How one fan’s crusade got the Mets to stop their homophobic Kiss Cam gag
The New York Mets have announced that they’ll halt their practice of showing opposing players on their Kiss Cam during games. Their decision comes after one fan’s season-long crusade to get the Mets to stop what he sees as cheap gag that reinforces homophobia.
In announcing their decision, the Mets said in a statement:
We have, on occasion, included players from opposing teams in our popular in-game Kiss Cam feature. While intended to be lighthearted, we unintentionally offended some. We apologize for doing so and no longer will include players in the feature. Our organization is wholly supportive of fostering an inclusive and respectful environment at games.
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The Kiss Cam itself is nothing new, of course. It’s a staple in sports stadiums all across the country. Sometime it leads to actual heartfelt moments, like we saw Thursday with former President Jimmy Carter. Sometimes it’s a silly way to pass time during a game. It’s hardly a beacon of entertainment.
At Citi Field, the Mets sometimes aim their Kiss Cam at opposing players as a way to make fun of the other team. Opinions on that, like opinions on most topics nowadays, are mixed:
That last fan is Etan Bednarsh, who kept on the Mets about this all season. He tweeted them numerous times. Then this week, he collected his complaints and the complaints of others into a Storify collection that made his argument. At one point, he even wrote a sample statement for the Mets to use when announcing the change he wanted to see. Bednarsh – who is straight — then tried to circulate his anti-Kiss Cam argument as far as he could around the Internet.
At some point, the Mets finally listened to him. Here’s part of what he wrote:
So this is to my Mets, a team who I love. Who do you want to be? What do you want to inspire in your fans–inclusion or bigotry? Are you actually okay with thousands of people in your stadium being guided by you to laugh at the idea that two athletes are gay? Will you cease this nonsense? Let’s go, Mets.
In 2015 one person’s joke is another person’s hot-button issue. We know that well. But Bednarsh has a point. The construct behind this Kiss Cam joke is that two men kissing each other is either funny or wrong. Either they do it for the sake of comedy or they wouldn’t do it because, “ewww, gross.”
Can’t some people think it’s funny to watch the players react? Sure. But some people found “Two and a Half Men” funny too, so the threshold for comedy isn’t exactly universal.
[Elsewhere: The Mets got called out on Twitter for supporting the Marlins.]
No matter which way you slice this, the gag is reinforcing homophobic stereotypes that have existed in this country for years, stereotypes we should have moved past in 2015. And even if every person in this country has yet to move past them, a public organization like the Mets should have the good sense to.
When the Mets announced their decision, Bednarsh was happy to see it and called on other teams in other sports to do the same. Two years ago, a Jacksonville Jaguars fan, wrote a letter to the team asking them to stop doing the exact same thing the Mets were doing. The Jaguars didn’t comment at the time.
Progress doesn’t happen in one day. It’s not a switch that gets flipped. It takes small changes, over time. And those changes don’t happen without people like Bednarsh doing the right thing. In May, fans at Dodger Stadium cheered when two male fans ended up on the Kiss Cam and kissed in earnest. Fifteen years earlier, two female fans were ejected from Dodger Stadium for kissing.
So we’re moving in the right direction. Both in baseball stadiums and in society.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
