San Diego Gay Men's Chorus taunted off the field with homophobic slurs at Padres LGBT event

At a shocking display of homophobia at an event meant to promote LGBT awareness, the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus was booed off at Petco Park before Saturday’s game and were not allowed to perform the National Anthem.

The 100 volunteer singers were asked to perform as part of an LBGT event called “Out at the Park.” But when they got onstage, the crowd changed homophobic slurs and yelled “you sing like a girl.”

After being booed, their microphones were turned off and the Padres played a recording of a woman singing the National Anthem to kick off the game.

In a statement, the San Diego Gay Men’s Chorus said this was not an isolated incident. In fact, the organization had tried to prevent them from singing by insisting the volunteers purchase a ticket the game ahead of time, even if they did not plan on staying, which had not been agreed upon ahead of time. The organization eventually relented and said they would let the group perform, but the recorded track was not mentioned.

The chorus posted excitedly on social media about the event beforehand.

Padres President and Chief Executive Office Mike Dee apologized for the incident in a statement and said they had reached out to the chorus. But the chorus said they were disappointed in the “dismissively brief two sentence statement.”