02/19/2008
Irish Cultural Minister Slams Gay Rugby 'Apartheid'
Northern Ireland's first gay rugby team The Ulster Titans have come under fire from Minister for Culture, arts and Leisure Edwin Poots who claims the team is "promoting a form of sporting apartheid," according to the BBC.
Said Poots: "I just cannot fathom why people see the necessity to develop an apartheid in sport. It would be unacceptable to produce an all-black rugby team or an all-white team or an all-Chinese team. To me it's equally unacceptable to produce an all-homosexual rugby team and I find it remarkable that people who talk so much about inclusivity and about having an equal role in society would then go down the route of exclusion."
Apparently Poots didn't read the fine print on the team's website, echoed to the BBC by team founder Declan Lavery: "We are the Ulster Titans Rugby Club, open to all men regardless of age, experience, race or sexual orientation. Northern Ireland's first team identifying with gay men and we are committed to equality, inclusion and the greatest sport in the world."
So, Mr. Poots, you are free to join should you so wish. I'm sure they'd even let you wear drag.
Poots hits out at gay rugby team [bbc]
(team photo source)
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Posted 5:41 PM EST by Andy in Northern Ireland, Rugby, Sports | Permalink
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Maybe he's just upset. His name is "Poots."
I'd be an angry turd too!
Posted by: InfiniteDomain | Feb 19, 2008 5:51:23 PM
Andy said Poots, he he.
Posted by: davefromtampa | Feb 19, 2008 5:57:58 PM
The team looks like a fun bunch of guys.
Poots, on the other hand, looks like someone is holding a small turd under his nose.
What a tool.
Posted by: The Milkman | Feb 19, 2008 6:11:34 PM
Just to clarify that this nasty bigot Poots is the Northern Ireland Culture Minister, not the Republic of Ireland Culture Minister. In the Republic, the Ministry and the Rugby Governing body are preparing to host the Bingham Cup in June.
In Northern Ireland, Minister Poots is a member of the DUP party, notable for their "Save Ulster from Sodomy" campaign. Old habits die hard.
Posted by: MikeDublin | Feb 19, 2008 6:17:30 PM
They should good ole Pooty-boy that until the sport accepts and includes gay teammates without ridicule then gay teams are OK. By his same rationale then they should have co-ed teams as well and no womens sports either?
Posted by: FernLaPlante | Feb 19, 2008 6:18:02 PM
I don't see the problem with an all-gay rugby team, or even an all-black team, though there are always issues regarding cut-off points (bisexuals, yes or no?, who is black?). It's up to the team to decide these things, and the league they play under. Is this a professional team? Are the players being paid? That would complicate things a bit.
Posted by: anon | Feb 19, 2008 6:38:13 PM
Not that it is on the same level, but I'm on a gay, lesbian & gay friendly running team. I think it makes complete sense.
Are all the gay runners on our team? No. Do we only have gay runners on the team? No.
In fact, one of our best female runners is straight. It is open to anyone, but it allows for people to be in complete comfort.
Posted by: gabriel | Feb 19, 2008 6:47:16 PM
Yeah, Andy, it's not an Irish minister who said that. I'd be pretty surprised if a minister from the Republic said anything homophobic.
Posted by: EireKev | Feb 19, 2008 6:57:22 PM
It's so damned irritating to hear people who have always been given special priviledge complain that an oppressed minority is getting special rights; especially when they have to lie to make such claims.
Posted by: Zeke | Feb 19, 2008 6:58:30 PM
Poots is not the Irish Cultural Minister and he'd be appalled to hear himself described as such. He's British.
As minister for Culture for Northern Ireland his thinly veiled bigotry is throughly representative of his own political party (and most of his evangelical protestant constituents).
No minister for Arts in the Republic would make such a speech and expect to keep their job. Gay bashing is a Northern Irish political sport informed by christian fundamentalism, much in the same way it is here.
Posted by: FASTLAD | Feb 19, 2008 7:11:25 PM
As my dear old Grand Mother's sister Aunt Mary over in Northern Ireland would say, "Don't pay him no mind. He doesn't have one".
Posted by: patrick nyc | Feb 19, 2008 7:16:46 PM
Somehow I doubt it would be that hard to find an all-white rugby team in Ireland.
Posted by: oakling | Feb 19, 2008 7:23:00 PM
I'm delighted to hear the Bingham rugby thingy will be coming to Dublin, it will be an excellent opportunity to promote equality and counter homophobia in sport more generally.
As to Poots,the Northern Ireland Culture Minister, well, he's about as relevant as a condom machine in a nunnery... tosser. PatrickNYC is right, above, don't mind him.
Posted by: SeanR | Feb 19, 2008 7:52:33 PM
The mere fact that this git's portfolio is the Ministry for Culture, Arts and Leisure demonstrates his irrelavance. What sensible country has a Ministry for Culture, Arts and Leisure in the first-place? And in the second, would any politian of merit or senority accept such a ridiculous portfolio?
"...Summon Her Majesty's North Ireland State Secretary for the Ministry of Silly Walks!! Hurrah, hurrah,...**splot**"
Posted by: Ted B. (Charging Rhino) | Feb 19, 2008 10:11:32 PM
The team says they are not exclusively gay...as they are open to just about anyone.
Mr. Poots - putting aside his rather hilarious name - believes we should be beyond having teams that are exclusive to a particular class.
So....is this about two groups that are not communicating? Because if it is - I have no idea why it's worthy of being posted on this site.
Posted by: Bill | Feb 19, 2008 11:19:10 PM
Edwin Poots is not Irish nor is he connected in any way to the Irish government in the Republic of Ireland.
He's a member of the English colonialist party in English occupied northern Ireland, the Democratic (sic) Unionist Party (DUP), a hate group camouflaged as a party. The DUP promotes hate campaigns against the Irish and GLBT folks, has deep roots in fascist politics and is closely connected to murder squads. The DUP is rightly compared to 'bible fascists' like Pat Robertson and Fred Phelps.
In fact the DUP systematically excludes Irish people from jobs, housing and educational opportunities. Their system is an example of real apartheid, just like the apartheid system imposed on Palestinians by zionist thugs and colonialists.
Posted by: Bill Perdue, RainbowRED | Feb 20, 2008 12:39:56 AM
I think my biggest problem with this is that we are equating race and nationality with sexual orientation.
They aren't the same thing or even near the same category.
Also: There has to be a line drawn between drawing attention to differences and drawing attention to inequities.
Andrew
Posted by: Andrew | Feb 20, 2008 1:42:24 AM
Poots!? Ha!!
Since when is there a difference in race and sexual orientation when it comes to discrimination or "inequities?" Oh yeah, it's still socially acceptable to discriminate against GLBT folks!
Posted by: shane | Feb 20, 2008 7:25:49 AM
Sometimes I wonder if there is too much self-segregation in the gay community. It seems that in our striving for commonality, identity and sanctuary, there's an unintended - or perhaps intended - consequence of marginalization. I'm of the view that we should engage the mainstream rather than remain invisible in the mainstream, an invisibility brought on by ghetto-ization.
Posted by: jason | Feb 20, 2008 7:42:05 AM
I am really looking forward to competing in Dublin as a member of the Atlanta Bucks RFC. The fellowship I have enjoyed from being a member of an all-inclusive predominately gay rugby team has been a real life changer for me and I wouldn't trade it for anything. Obviously Mr. Poots has completely missed the point that with the Titans, like every other gay rugby club I have encountered, ALL are welcome regardless of orientation, race, "type". Just come to play the greatest contact sport in the world!
(I am sorry, but I just can't say his name without giggling.)
Posted by: phredd! | Feb 20, 2008 10:35:12 AM
JASON, I find it a bit strange, and even offensive, that you act as if gays are soley responsible for our marginalization and ghetto-ization.
When gay people are able to participate in the mainstream without being harassed, discriminated against and even assaulted then there will be no need for this self-imposed ghetto-ization.
Besides, are gay supportive sports teams really an example of gay marginalization or ghetto-ization? Take rugby, baseball, soccer, Am. football etc. In 2008 there is not a single OUT gay player at a professional level (and few at ANY level) in ANY men's team sport. In fact we are still having discussions, ad nauseam, about how it won't happen in the near future because of the high level of institutionalized homophobia that runs so deep through most sports. I still hear professional athletes on record saying that they feel a professional athlete who came out would likely be targeted for physical harm from teammates or opposing players.
I think it's a bit incredulous to take issue with the fact that, in response to this exclusion from mainstream sports teams, gay people (who refuse to be closeted) have formed teams of their own that don't discriminate but DO specifically reach out to out gay athletes who would like to participate in team sports without fear of exclusion, harassment or assault.
Posted by: Zeke | Feb 20, 2008 11:12:38 AM
Impressive, Zeke. You forgot to call Jason "self-loathing", though--I thought that was pretty much de rigueur when someone dares to express an opinion which differs from the prevailing groupthink. I trust you'll correct this oversight next time.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 20, 2008 2:00:54 PM
Scotty, Just because someone "dares" to express an opinion does not mean that it is analytically sound. Zeke does not engage in name calling, as you snidely suggest; rather he states his opinions buttressed but facts or at least stated assumptions. You are free to disagree. Instead, you resorted to a conflation of ad personam attack and straw man argumentation. One hopes that you will correct these logical fallacies next time.
Posted by: rudy | Feb 20, 2008 3:59:34 PM
My dear Rudy, I wasn't trying to present a logical argument. I'm not able to, since I'm gay--I can only use "gay logic", which involves a lot of finger-snapping and sequins. Real logic is for the heteros, just like real rugby evidently is.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 20, 2008 5:50:38 PM
Scott a/k/a Jordan, Where have you been? The Towleroad Twink ratio has been unaccountably low lately. Real rugby is what the non-discriminatory gay-inclusive leagues play.
Posted by: rudy | Feb 20, 2008 6:05:29 PM
Is there something prohibiting gays from playing in the...I'm not even sure what to call them at this point...non-gay-identifying leagues? It's unfair to distinguish this team as gay-inclusive when there's been nothing said that indicates other teams aren't gay-inclusive.
Not sure who Jordan is. If it's a typo for the Jason that posted above--nope, not him. If it's someone else--not even sure who you mean, then. Sorry that your joke was lost on me.
OK, so let's move past the cutesy comments. I still agree with the point made in Jason's post. Intentional or not, I do feel that so much isolation does contribute to an attitude of marginalization, if for no other reason than it makes it easier for the groups in the majority to ignore us. I never understood why we should embrace segregation as long as we do it to ourselves..."separate but equal" is still unequal, no matter who creates the separation.
Posted by: Scott | Feb 20, 2008 6:21:33 PM
I'm not exactly sure what I said that drew such hostility from SCOTT. I don't believe I have EVER called anyone self loathing. I believe I challenged JASON's comment civilly, politely and with reason.
Though I do agree that gay people sometimes tend to set themselves apart unnecessarily I think it's important to acknowledge that such segregation is more often than not a result of the gay unfriendly atmosphere that certainly exists in many mainstream sports clubs. Some people feel that the answer to this is to stay closeted from your team and never say or do anything that might give you away while you're with them. Although this remedy may work for some it doesn't work for others. This is why these teams were created not because gay people don't want to play with straight people.
SCOTT, I noticed you didn't address a single one of the points that I made in my comment. Instead you chose to attack me personally and sarcastically with a bogus charge wrapped in a straw man. You started the "cutesy" (I would say "bitchy") comments
with your sarcastic, unfounded ad hominem swipe at me.
If you want to challenge my opinions by all means do but I'm WAY too old to deal with people who snipe at me with unfounded, bitchy comments.
Posted by: Zeke | Feb 21, 2008 1:04:49 AM
If Poots was a thinker he would know that most straight men wouldn't want to be included in a gay rugby team and if a gay man was out to a straight rugby team, he wouldn't be accepted, so gays have done the necessary to have that team. DUH! Inclusivity my arse.
Posted by: Steve | Feb 23, 2008 2:57:56 PM