SEATTLE — A local lesbian couple says a peck on the lips nearly got the two of them tossed out of a Mariners game.

The women said they were singled out by a security guard simply because they kissed each other.

Sirbrina Guerrero says she only gave her date a peck, but a mother sitting with her son complained to security and, as a result, they were told to stop or leave.

“And he (the guest services agent) goes ‘there’s a lady whose son says he saw you guys making out, and I did, too. And you have to stop.’ And I said ‘well, we weren’t making out, but we were kissing and I’m not going to stop,’” Guerrero explained to KOMO4 TV.

Guerrero said she and her partner were called out only because of their sexual orientation.

“(The guest services agent said) the mom doesn’t want to explain to the kids why two girls are kissing. So I said ‘well, I’m not going to stop, so you’ll have to kick me out. So he said ’so I suggest you leave then,”‘ she told KOMO4 TV.

Mariners officials initially declined to comment on the incident, but did send KOMO News a copy of the field’s code of conduct which states “displays of affection are not appropriate in a public family setting.”

Mariners spokeswoman Rebecca Hale later told the PI’s Big Blog by email, “We would like folks to know that we’re treating these complaints and concerns very seriously.”

Hale said, “We’ve definitely not got a policy that states that if you’re gay, you can’t kiss at Safeco Field. Our policy is, if your behavior is inappropriate in a public setting, we are going to proactively intervene.”

Hale insisted that the policy is not selective. She claimed that Mariners staff have intervened twice in the last month or so in inappropriate displays from heterosexual couples — one in a Terrace Club lounge and another in a restroom.

The Mariners spokeswoman also argued that the incident, which is still “under investigation”, did not technically involve “security”. She said it was a “seating host” — one of the people in the green jackets — who addressed a complaint from another guest.

Hale claimed to Big Blog on Thursday that the complaining guest said that two women were “groping and making out.”

Guerrero and her friends insisted to KOMO News that the couple was not being lewd in any way with their peck.

When The Stranger’s Dan Savage called Guerrero to tell her about the then-new Mariners charge of “groping”, she was incredulous.

“Oh, my God,” Guerrero told Savage, “that is so far from the truth, it’s ridiculous.”

She pointed out that the Mariners hadn’t said anything about “groping” KOMO first talked to the team about the incident.

“When did their story change?” Guerrero asked. “When they came up to us during the game we were were told to stop kissing, that a woman had complained about her kids seeing two women kissing. We were told to stop ‘making out,’ and now all of the sudden we’re making out and groping? Where did that come from?”

Even in the initial report on KOMO, Guerrero disputed the term “making out.”

“We were eating garlic fries,” Guerrero told KOMO, speaking of the field’s obnoxious snack that sets up a stench that can be smelled from several rows back. “The last thing we wanted to do was make out with each other. Honestly, that’s what it was.”

Hale also claimed to the PI that Guerrero and her partner were not removed from the game.

After speaking with the seating host, Hale said, the women left their seats some time around the third inning and spent a “good chunk” of the match up filing a formal complaint to Guest Services. Hale did not know whether the women then left the game or returned to their seats.

As the PI’s Big Blog points out, Seattle has a reputation as gay-friendly city and has the second highest proportion of gay and bisexual residents, second only to San Francisco, but the incident calls into question the tolerance of staff at the baseball team’s publicly financed ballpark.

Monica Guzman of the PI’s Big Blog was curious enough about the incident to call the San Francisco Giants about the incident.

The Giants declined to comment on the specifics, but a spokesperson pointed out that Guzman had called on the afternoon before the Giants were scheduled to host the club’s 15th annual Until There’s A Cure Night — an event aimed at raising awareness of HIV/AIDS.

Spokeswoman Shana Daum told Guzman that, since 1994, the event has raised $1.3 million for a sometime controversial cause that still draws one or two angry phone calls to AT&T Park.

The Giants were the first professional sports team, Daum said, to host an AIDS awareness night.

“Some people — you’re not going to change their minds, no matter what you do,” she said. “People say it’s a family event, family entertainment, but this is the world we live in, things are happening in our community, and we are in a position where we can get the word out.”

Supervisor Tom Ammiano threw the ceremonial first pitch at the game. As a long time advocate for AIDS funding and research as well as Children’s issues, Ammiano was chosen as appropriate civic leader to kick off the game.

Giants players and staff wore bracelets in support of the cause at Thursday’s game against the San Diego Padres. A home plate ceremony recognized local leaders in the fight against the deadly virus, and a fireworks show will honor those who have lost their lives to the disease.

The Giants also sponsor an annual gay/lesbian/transgender night.

“We hope that we are inclusive of all groups in our community,” Daum said.

Citizen Rain points out Guerrero was a contestant on the MTV reality show “A Shot At Love II” with Tila Tequila. According to her profile, she works at the Cowgirls Inc. bar in Pioneer Square. Dan Savage at The Stranger is calling for a kiss-in at Safeco Field.

Source: KOMO4 TV, Seattle Post Intelligencer blog, The Stranger’s SLOG

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