The Toronto Blue Jays suspended shortstop Yunel Escobar for three games for wearing eye-black displaying a homophobic slur in Spanish during a Major League Baseball game last weekend against Boston.
Escobar apologized to his team and “to all those who have been offended.”
“It was not something I intended to be offensive,” he said through a translator. “It was not anything intended to be directed at anyone in particular.”
Escobar wrote the message””Tu ere maricon” or “You're a faggot””before Saturday’s home game on his eye-black, a sticker players wear under their eyes to reduce sun glare. The 29-year-old Cuban said he frequently puts messages there, and had never previously written that specific slur.
Escobar insisted the word is often used within teams and by Latinos. “For us, it doesn’t have the significance to the way it’s being interpreted now,” he said. “I don’t have anything against homosexuals.”
Escobar’s lost salary during the ban”about $82,000″will be directed to two advocacy groups, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation and You Can Play. Escobar also will take part in an outreach initiative to promote tolerance to others based on their sexual orientation, and participate in a sensitivity training program.
“Today's actions show that Major League Baseball and the Toronto Blue Jays are committed to creating an environment that all fans and families can enjoy, not a place where discriminatory language and anti-gay attitudes are accepted,” said GLAAD president Herndon Graddick.
