By Tara Cavanaugh
David Garcia was an athlete when he was in high school, but he was too scared to be out. "I know what it's like in the locker rooms when coaches use words like faggot to motivate your team, to get you angry and go out there and 'kick those sissies' asses,'" the executive director of the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center said.
"I didn't have one single example of a pro-gay athlete, and it would have meant the world to me."
So when the resource center tried to put an ad showing gay athletes in a local high school athletic guide, Garcia thought it was a great development for all student athletes.
But the ad received all sorts of pushback – and the worst part was, Garcia couldn't figure out from where.
Last week, BTL investigated the story, discovering just how much progress still needs to be made when combating homophobia in sports – and how much progress can be made when people start asking questions.
The Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center's ad, which was placed in a Kalamazoo high school athletic guide in 2010. The publishing company later refused to publish it in another sports guide.
Follow the clues
The story about the ad plays out a little like a murder mystery. There's a victim, there are suspects, and all the players involved choose their words carefully – or choose not to say anything at all.
First, let's meet the victim: The ad.
The full-page ad features five athletes, including an NFL player and a Detroit Tiger. The text on the ad asks, "What do these athletes have in common?" and answers: "All Pro, All Gay." The bottom of the ad affirms support for all athletes, gay and straight, and provides contact information for the Kalamazoo Gay and Lesbian Resource Center.
Royal Publishing was concerned about the ad when it ran last year in Kalamzoo's athletic guide for Loy Norrix High School.
The company, which sells ads and publishes athletic guides for schools around the state, was so concerned about the ad that a meeting was called last year. So Garcia met with the superintendent of Kalamazoo schools and its athletic director, who eventually reassured Royal Publishing that yes, the ad was appropriate.
Royal Publishing, which is based in Illinois, seemed to have gotten over its concern this year. One of its sales representatives, Brian Carlson, called Garcia last month and asked if he wanted to run the ad again, in another athletic guide in Parchment schools.
Garcia said yes. It helped that for some reason, the resource center had a huge credit on their account at Royal Publishing.
Now this is where the details get fuzzy.
Carlson called Garcia back, saying the ad could not run due to its controversial nature. Who said the ad was controversial? Carlson couldn't (or wouldn't) say.
So Garcia emailed Parchment Superintendent Matt Miller, who responded that Parchment had no contract with Royal Publishing. Miller said the same to BTL in an interview. Miller has seen the ad, but said he didn't want to "get into hypotheticals" when asked if he would approve of the resource center's ad in the athletic guide.
But Carlson said Parchment currently has two orders for 1,000 athletic guides this year, one for fall and the other for winter. Carlson said Parchment has worked with the printing company for four years.
This means either Carlson or Miller isn't telling the truth.
Carlson said the name on Parchment's contract with the company is John Thompson, athletic director at Parchment and middle school principal.
BTL left a message for Thompson last Thursday and Friday and asked two questions: Do you have a contract with Royal Publishing for a student athletic guide? And did you reject an ad showing gay athletes?
As of press time, he hadn't called back.
BTL asked to see a copy of Royal Publishing's contract with Parchment schools. "Absolutely not," Carlson said.
More about our suspects
Carlson, Miller and Thompson aren't the only players to watch carefully.
Enter: Pascal Maroon. He's the manager of Royal Publishing, and Carlson's supervisor in the Bloomington, Ill. office.
Maroon thought the company didn't publish Parchment's ad because one of the schools that ran the ad last year received complaints about it.
But then he retracted that, saying he'd have to look into it and call BTL back.
As of press time, he hadn't called back.
The only school that ran the ad last year was Kalamazoo's Loy Norrix High School. BTL asked Kalamazoo schools communications director Alex Lee about the complaints the ad received.
"That's just not correct," Lee said. There were no complaints. In fact, "I'm certain we would run the ad again."
So is Royal Publishing the one who truly has a problem with the ad?
Garcia tried to check this out. He talked with Maroon, Carlson's supervisor at Royal Publishing.
Garcia describes the conversation in a letter he later sent to Royal Duncan, the president of Royal Publishing: "(Maroon) informed me the actual decision to refuse our ad was made not by the school district, but 'the administration of Royal Publishing.' Further, (Maroon) stated that the decision was made due to the controversial nature of gay issues and that Royal Publishing would also not publish ads from 'liquor stores or abortion clinics.'"
BTL followed up with Maroon: "Did you say that Royal Publishing would not publish ads from liquor stores or abortion clinics?"
Maroon confirmed he said that to Garcia.
BTL then asked: "Is an ad that shows five gay athletes the same as an ad for a liquor store or an abortion clinic?"
"You know what," Maroon said, "I'm going to end the conversation now."
Another victim
When Carlson first called Garcia last month to tell him about the large credit on his account, Garcia didn't think twice about it. He assumed perhaps the resource center had overpaid the company in the past.
It turns out the credit was from another ad that the center paid for last year that was rejected.
The same ad that was placed in Kalamazoo's 2010 athletic guide was also supposed to be placed in Plainwell schools' 2010 athletic guide. But it was never placed.
BTL talked with Plainwell's superintendent, Sue Wakefield, about the ad. She seemed genuinely flabbergasted – she'd never heard of or even seen the ad, she said.
Analyzing the evidence
So did Royal Publishing practice homophobic discrimination against a simple, factual ad? Did Royal Publishing not let schools decide for themselves if they wanted the ad? Or did Plainwell and Parchment reject the ad?
Perhaps our suspects hadn't considered running a gay ad before, and didn't know what to do.
John Johnson, the communications director at the Michigan High School Athletic Association, said the MHSAA has never had a problem with Royal Publishing's services. It's used the company for more than 20 years. But Johnson also admits it's never had to deal with an issue like this.
Johnson was careful not to speculate about the ad. But he said the MHSAA will have to figure out what it would do if offered a gay ad in one of its publications, and it will have to make its expectations clear with Royal Publishing.
"It certainly merits discussion," he said. "It really does. Because you are talking about all students. And society has changed."
Johnson wondered aloud if perhaps Royal Publishing or the schools weren't ready to think about homophobia in sports, and maybe found themselves in a "clumsy situation."
A surprise ending
It's never a mystery without a twist.
On Friday afternoon, Royal Publishing emailed Garcia, and cc'd BTL.
"Due to an internal processing mistake, we errantly cancelled your organization's advertisements that were to be placed in the fall and winter sports programs of Parchment High School. We apologize for the error, and we are pleased to inform you that your advertisements will be included in those publications.
"We would like to make it clear that we have not communicated with Parchment High School about your advertisement, and Parchment High School did not ask us to cancel your advertisement."
The letter came from Tanya Hollingsworth, Maroon's supervisor.
This letter was sent to Garcia after he and BTL separately contacted Royal Publishing's president, Maroon and Carlson. This letter was sent after BTL contacted Plainwell, Parchment and Kalamazoo school districts.
Garcia's not sure how he feels about this. It's a victory, sure, but what does it mean for future ads?
"Are they just trying to appease us with one more school? Will we be asked for other ads for other schools in the area?" he wondered.
"Maybe we can use this as a little bit of an olive branch, and keep going."
Garcia responded to Hollingsworth's email and asked about last year's Plainwell ad that he was reimbursed for. He also wrote, "Systematic homophobia within institutions is unacceptable and while we appreciate that individuals may not themselves be homophobic, we are particularly interested in equal opportunity and expression from the systems of power that are in place – whether they be religious institutions, corporations, or government."
Will Royal Publishing respond? Who knows?
For now, the only thing Garcia can be sure about is this: Kalamazoo Loy Norrix's GSA will have one heck of an end-of-the-year party. He signed the resource center's refund check from Royal Publishing, for $265, over to the GSA on Thursday.
