Court Rules Gay Softball League Can Limit Amount of Straight Players

[c.d.]

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[Robert]

I have no idea what softball is, but I should have thought that if people want to form gay softball teams or associations, or straight softball teams or associations, that's a matter for them. Why is the Government getting involved? Discrimination makes the world go round.

[Errata]

US District Judge John Coughenour wrote in his ruling, "Plaintiffs have failed to argue that there is a compelling state interest in allowing heterosexuals to play gay softball."

I would think it would be hard to argue that there is "a compelling state interest" in softball. At all.

by the way, softball is girls baseball with a larger ball (small grapefruit size), the pitcher is closer to the batter, and they pitch underhand.

and they can generally kick any baseball players ass.

[Zodiac]

Always play a straight bat!!!

A gay softball association in the US can limit the number of heterosexual players on its teams, a federal judge ruled Thursday.

The decision to allow the North American Gay Amateur Athletic Association (NAGAAA) to enforce a rule of two "straight" players came in a lawsuit filed by three bisexual men who claim they were kicked out of the Gay Softball World Series because they "weren't gay enough," the Courthouse News Service reported.

US District Judge John Coughenour wrote in his ruling, "Plaintiffs have failed to argue that there is a compelling state interest in allowing heterosexuals to play gay softball."

"NAGAAA might very well believe that given the history of gay exclusion for sports, the only way to promote competition for all persons, and ensure that gay athletes have the same opportunities as straight athletes, is to create an exclusively gay community with exceptions for a small number of straight players," the ruling states. "It is not the role of the courts to scrutinize the content of an organization's chosen expression."

However, Coughenour said the lawsuit could proceed to trial because questions remained about the way the softball association applied its rule.

The suit was sparked when three men playing for a San Francisco-based team in the Gay Softball World Series in Washington state in 2008 were challenged about their sexuality by a rival team.

According to their complaint, the trio were summoned to a hearing room and quizzed about their sexual interests or attractions in front of around 25 people.

The men said organizers told them, "This is the Gay World Series, not the Bisexual World Series."

A trial is set for Aug. 1.

c.d.

Well.... I guess that they really will just have to go and "bat for the other team" now!!!

Best wishes,
Zodiac.

[Chris]

by the way, softball is girls baseball

When we played it at school we were told it was boys' rounders.

[c.d.]

Sorry, Errata, I am going to have to disagree with your description of softball as girl's baseball. It is certainly played by both sexes.

It is a game played at picnics and the like for fun. You don't really have to be good at it or athletic. Where I live (Washington, D.C.), law firms (with both men and women on the team) play after work. It's competitive but also played for fun with beer drinking by the players when not in the field or up at bat. That is sort of the nature of softball. But it can be played as serious competition like in leagues. Contrary to the name, the ball is not soft but hard like a baseball. They now use aluminum bats and the ball comes off the bat with a lot of force.

It was an Olympic sport for women in the last few years but was recently voted out of the Olympic games. Although the women were throwing underhand, in one Olympic game the speed of the ball reached 73 miles per hour. That is pretty damn fast.

c.d.

[c.d.]

I wonder if "switch hitting" is allowed?

c.d.

[c.d.]

I can just see an argument breaking out..."hey man, are you sure your second baseman is gay? He looks straight to me."

c.d.

[Zodiac]

I wonder if "switch hitting" is allowed?

c.d.

Yes, but only in the BDSM league, where been hit with a switch is, in fact, mandatory!!!

Best wishes,
Zodiac.