Thursday, May 19, 2011

San Francisco Giants join campaign against anti-gay bullying


The San Francisco Giants have become the first professional sports team in the US to join the It Gets Better campaign against homophobic bullying.

More than 6,000 people signed a Change.org petition asking the baseball team to join the initiative.

Giants spokeswoman Staci Slaughter told Reuters that the team will produce a video for the campaign before hosting an annual LGBT night on August 29th.

It is not yet known which, if any, players will appear in the video.

The It Gets Better project was created by gay journalist Dan Savage in response to a spate of high-profile suicides among LGBT teenagers.

Participants upload a video to YouTube to tell youngsters about their experiences of bullying, being LGBT or feeling different and reassure them that life does get better.

Figures such as Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton and David Cameron have joined the campaign, recording their own videos.

Homophobia and sport have hit the US headlines in recent weeks.

Last month, basketball star Kobe Bryant apologised for calling a referee a “faggot” and Atlanta Braves pitching coach Roger McDowell was suspended for two weeks after a fan alleged McDowell yelled an anti-gay slur at him.

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