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San Diego Gay Men's Chorus wants Padres to rehire ousted DJ

Mike Oz

There's been a change in tone from the San Diego Gay Men's Chorus, which on Tuesday said publicly that it wants the San Diego Padres to rehire the DJ fired for his role in the national anthem controversy that's had people talking since Saturday night.

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DJ ArtForm, the Padres' on-field DJ at Petco Park, was terminated by the team after its investigation into how a prerecorded track of a woman signing the anthem played while more than 100 members of the chorus stood on the field ready to sing. When that didn't happen, they left the field humiliated, saying that fans were taunting them with homophobic slurs. Afterward, the chorus wanted answers, specifically about whether it was discriminatory or a hate crime. The Padres' investigation concluded it was a mistake, that DJ ArtForm had hit the wrong button and played an old recording, but he was fired anyway.

On Tuesday, it sounded like all sides were aiming for a positive resolution. The chorus posted a message on its Facebook page commending Padres CEO Mike Dee and asking the team to give DJ ArtForm his job back:

"We applaud the San Diego Padres organization and its chief executive Mike Dee for its ongoing efforts to make something good come out of unfortunate recent events. We have met with Mr. Dee and he has agreed to meet with and work closely with the LGBT community to bring our communities together with constructive, positive change.

"We also would like to publicly accept the sincere apology of DJ ARTFORM and recognize his support for the LGBT community and equality for all people. We do not wish to see him lose his job with the San Diego Padres and kindly ask the Padres to reinstate him. Everyone deserves a second chance."

DJ ArtForm had broken his silence on Monday, releasing a statement on Facebook in which he took ownership and apologized, but adamantly said it was a simple mistake and nothing discriminatory against gays. He called the Padres gig his "dream job" and told Inside Edition on Tuesday that he hopes to get rehired.

“I believe we all deserve a second chance," he said.

Sounds like that's up to the Padres now.

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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at mikeozstew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!