Stanford featured a skit called “gay chicken” during their halftime show at the football game against BYU on Saturday night. According to ,Jackson Payne, a writer for the Daily Universe, the skit was “called ‘gay chicken’ involving two women getting married for ‘time and all eternity and then being told to ‘multiply and replenish the earth.”
When contacting Payne for comment he said, “I don’t have much else to say other than that the BYU fans in attendance were all confused and upset by the skit.”
Troubling incidents also occurred recently at other PAC-12 schools. At Oregon, an “F*** the Mormons” chants broke out in the student section and last year the same chant broke out at USC.
,[Read: “F*** the Mormons” Chanted at BYU v Oregon Game]
Stanford is a school that has ,routinely brought on football players who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A quarterback on the team, Tanner McKee, has served a religious mission for the Church along with several other players on the roster including Levani Damuni and Spencer Jorgensen. The director of defense coach, Lance Anderson, is also a member of the Church.
When contacting the members of the Church on the team, the Cougar Chronicle spoke to Damuni who said, “I didn’t see it but I’m assuming it was the Stanford band. They’re a militia of students who don’t represent what Stanford is about. I love Stanford.”
BYU visited Stanford for the first time since 2004 where the Stanford band made fun of ,polygamy and LDS culture. This caused the Stanford athletic director to issue a ,formal apology to BYU and the players. No simlar apology has happaned as of yet for this recent skit.
BYU went on to win 35-26.
UPDATE: A Stanford athletic department spokesperson contacted the Chronicle with the following statement:
“The Leland Stanford Junior University Marching Band (LSJUMB) has a long history of lighthearted and satirical halftime performances. Unfortunately, some of the language that was used in Saturday’s halftime show did not reflect Stanford University’s values of religious freedom and diversity, inclusion and belonging. The LSJUMB deeply regrets that this performance caused offense to spectators, and the halftime performance review and approval process is being adjusted to ensure that issues like this do not occur again.”
BYU and others in the story have been contacted for comment. This is an ongoing story and will be updated.
Written by: Thomas Olsen
Reporter at The Cougar Chronicle
The Cougar Chronicle is an independent student-run newspaper and is not affiliated with Brigham Young University or The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
