Last Saturday, a Cuban-born player for a Canadian baseball team wore a Spanish-language statement on his face, and it has bought him his 15 minutes of fame – or infamy.
Shortstop Yunel Escobar had “Tu ere Maricon” printed in white in the black lines that ballplayers typically smear below their eyes. It’s likely that no one would have noticed, or cared, except that a Toronto Fan sitting just above the Bluejays’ dugout snapped a picture and posted it on the web.
Major dismay ensued.
USA Today decried the use of a “Homophobic slur” and yesterday Escobar was suspended for three games without pay for "his decision to display an unacceptable message while participating in a Major League game" and ordered to take sensitivity training. His lost salary will be donated to You Can Play and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
For those unfamiliar with the term, maricon is a common term that usually translates as a particularly effeminate homosexual male. It is commonly heard in locker rooms and among almost any group of young Spanish-speaking males – some say it is so common as to have become meaningless.
Does that make it right? Well, no it doesn’t, but the over-reaction by the media (and the league) is absurd.
I personally feel offended because his spelling and grammar are incorrect. Ere should be spelled eres, and the sentence really needs an article – un. If he had enough room on one cheek for a seven-letter word, he had enough room on the other to get it right.
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