NATIONAL NEWS: San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus Insulted at Padres Game

Plus: Same-sex marriage allowed for Church of Scotland clergy.

San Diego Gay Men Chorus (Screenshot)

San Diego Gay Men Chorus (screenshot)

The members of the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus claim they were insulted with homophobic slurs while trying to perform the National Anthem.

Saturday night “turned into a nightmare” for the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus, according to a recent statement from the organization. The Padres, which sponsors an annual “Out at the Park” event geared toward LGBTQ patrons, invited the chorus to perform the National Anthem. However, once the 100 volunteer gay vocalists reached the field, their microphones were turned off and a recording of a female voice was played. The chorus also claims its members were subjected to homophobic slurs as they left the podium. “No attempt was made to stop the recording and start over,” the chorus remarked in a public statement on Saturday night. “No announcement of apology was made to the singers or their friends and families in the stands.”

It was not until Sunday evening that the Padres released a statement on Twitter apologizing for the “unintentional mistake.”:

via San Diego Padres official Twitter (@Padres)

via San Diego Padres official Twitter (@Padres)

The chorus is calling for “a full and transparent investigation into the incident” to discover if the call to replace their vocals was intentional or a mistake. Last year, the chorus performed at the same event without any glitches.

In international news, the general assembly of the Church of Scotland has voted to let ministers continue to serve while being in a same-sex marriage.

On Saturday, the general assembly of the Church of Scotland voted to let its ministers enter same-sex marriages. The 339 to 215 vote was taken in Edinburgh during a discussion of allowing congregations to “opt out” of traditional teachings when choosing to appoint clergy involved in a same-sex marriage. “Empowering ministers to live their lives with honesty and integrity sends a powerful signal to faith communities and society as a whole,” Colin Macfarlane, director of charity Stonewall Scotland, told the press. “Today’s result is great news for the Kirk and a progressive move forward.” However, the Church of Scotland — which is a Presbyterian denomination with roughly 400,000 members — still claims it “maintains its traditional view of marriage between a man and woman.” Furthermore, clergy are still not allowed to conduct same-sex marriages, and any change to that position will not be debated until the church holds its theological forum next year.