From: RAKNGLTF@aol.com
Date: Fri, 12 May 1995 15:12:01 -0400
Subject: NGLTF on CBS Sportscaster's Comments

 

 NGLTF DENOUNCES SPORTSCASTER'S COMMENTS

CBS Commentator Takes Swipe at Lesbians, and then All Women

Washington, D.C. --  May 12, 1995 -- CBS sportcaster Ben Wright, who is
covering the McDonald's Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA)
Championship in Delaware told a local newspaper that "lesbians in the sport
hurt women's golf."  Wright added in his interview with The (Wilmington) News
Journal, "When it gets to the corporate level, that's not going to fly.
 They're going to a butch game and that furthers the bad image of the game."

 He then went on to say that "women are handicapped by having boobs...it's
not easy for them to keep their left arm straight, and that's one of the
tenets of the game.  Their boobs get in the way."  
 
 "Lesbians don't hurt women's golf -- Ben Wright hurts women's golf, and his
own profession as well," said Robin Kane, spokesperson for the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF).   "Such outrageous and demeaning comments
certainly raise questions about Wright's ability to cover women's sports
fairly."

 "This is just one more example of how homophobia in sports hurts all women
athletes, whether lesbian or heterosexual," said Dr. Dee Mosbacher, NGLTF
board member and producer of the documentary film "Out For a Change:
Addressing Homophobia in Women's Sports."  "Wright's comments clearly
identify the connection between homophobia and sexism that women athletes
face."

 "The professional sports world is perhaps the most anti-gay workplace in
America," Kane added. "We've seen fewer gay and lesbian people come out in
professional sports than in the military, where there is an explicit anti-gay
policy.  That indicates the level of homophobia, fear and bigotry that
pervades the profession.  Wright's comments only add to that atmosphere."

  NGLTF calls on CBS Sports to denounce immediately Wright's comments and
affirm all women athletes, including lesbians.  
--end--

Editor's Note:  For other comments about this issue, please contact the
following:
* Dee Mosbacher  415-207-4168
* Donna Lopiano, Women's Sports Foundation  516-542-4700
* Don Sabo, sports sociologist at D'Youville College and past president of
the North American Society for the Sociology of Sports  716-839-5686
* Todd Crosset, assistant professor of sociology at the University of
Massachusetts-Amherst and author of the forthcoming book, "Outsiders in the
Clubhouse: the World of Women's Professional Golf." 413-545-5060 or
617-483-3751.