and in a sport that's main form of encouragement is man on man ass-slapping. for shame mariners.

I fucking hate peanut allergy sufferers, always trying to convert young children into their perverted "lifestyle." Time was kindergärtners could go to school with a good old Christian-American peanut-butter sandwich in their hearty lunch; but now the anti-peanut gestapo are forcing their deviant lifestyle on all of us. "oh no but my throat is closing" they whine. well you should probably go to a ex-allergy concentration camp to fix you wimpy fairy people into upstanding peanut loving Americans.

There used to be a time when peanut-allergy sufferers were actively shunned by society.

Now people just passive aggressively serve them food with peanut toppings "by mistake".

I thought the same dang allergy thing watching this story on the tv news last night. Peanut dust? Wow.

aren't there statistically far more sufferers of peanut allergies than gay people?

that said, what does either tiny category of society have to do with baseball (not that the sport is being played at Safeco, anyway)?

5: No. There are a reported 1.5 million peanut-allergy sufferers in the U.S., compared to an estimated 25 million gay people.

1.5 million people ruin it for the 299 million people. I seriously hope each and every one of them dies tomorrow.

Peanut dust is serious business, like the internets!! but really, I can't go into bars that do the peanut shell on the floor thing because it gives me hives and a bad asthma attack. Sucky. Good thing I don't care about baseball.

How soon they forget that Safeco hosted that Christianist "Mayday For Marriage" or whatever the hell it was called, the one the Stranger hired the plane to fly over?

How about we just reverse the flow of the next Pride Parade to move south and hold Gay Pride 2009 Festival at Safeco?

(And can the Stranger re-hire that plane to shower the place in nuts tomorrow?)

The idea of Gay Night at a Mariners game reminds me of something I once heard someone say about gay people getting married: "Haven't they suffered enough?"

This thread's level of antagonism for peanut-allergy sufferers is shocking.

@6, sorry, I had the impression that there were significantly more peanut allergy sufferers based on their impact on societal norms recently (offering kids peanut butter sandwiches, etc).

hopefully I didn't offend -- I guess peanut allergy sufferers just have a really good lobby.

I still maintain that gay night/peanut allergy night/autistic night/Libertarian night/etc has no place at a major league baseball stadium, but again, Safeco no longer really is that anyway

My argument would be that gay people can still go to standard games at safeco field and watch baseball, but peanut allergy sufferers are unable to go to standard baseball nights due to physical constraints. So I guess I don't really see how the two compare at all.

David, they are the biggest self important whiners in the world. Worse than vegans. I wouldn't lose any sleep if all of a sudden 1.5 million people died due to their peanut allergy. If it was legal I'd pump peanut dust into infant wards to kill them before they could grow into pampered adults who ruin the love of peanuts for anyone else.

It's easy for us blow off, say, whiny militant smokers, because it's clear they're being selfish assholes at everyone else's expense.

It's much harder to ignore peanut allergy sufferers, because even though they often sound a lot like whiny militant smokers, they actually have a legitimate need.  It would be much easier if they all simply went away.

I also take peanut allergies as compellign evidence that either god doesn't exist or god is a fucking douche nozzle with a perverse sense of justice.

"Well, after my son died how can I really continue on this path of magnanimous affection for man? I know, I'll make some people allergic to peanuts and I'll make them so completely fucked by their peanut allergy that peanuts will be forbidden for the vast majority of other people who have no allergy. I've screwed most people in the modern world and isn't even tee time with Vishnu yet."

Also, what Kyleen @13 said.

if we could combine peanut dust with smoke, we could kill 2 cancers on society with 1 puff!

Oh Bellevue, you have taken the hate mantel from Poe huh? ;)

my fantasy weapon is the peanut gun that Dede Kong has.

"KABLOW! SUCK ON PEANUT YOU LITTLE WEAK CHILD!"

Just kick in kindergarten doors and smash graham crackers under my boots and dump the apple or grape juice all over the children while shooting peanuts at them.

@20- I think I had nightmares just like that in kindergarten.

I would actually feel bad if someone died as a result of my outrage over peanut allergies. I just think it's craptacular when a parent thinks their precious little child's allergy should take precedent over the preference of other children. If i discovered that one of my child's friends had a peanut allergy I wouldn't go out of my way to protect said child from my love of peanut butter.

bellevue is nearly as funny as mistah poe, who is stirring things up at gawker. come back, mr. p. all is forgiven.

wahhhhhhhhh, as if gays dont pay enough attention to themselves they now need a night devoted to them, look at us everybody, love me daddy. And fuck you and your food allergies

"Buy me some peanuts and cracker jack,
I don't care if I ever come back."

Bellevue Ave, I sincerely hope your own child develops a peanut allergy, and takes up smoking.

Nah, @26, we don't need to wish any more grief on Bellevue Ave's imaginary child, they're already dealing with the handicap of Bellevue Ave as a parent.

Peanut allergies are easily fatal, and a sad thing. Not having a gay night at Safeco Field is also a sad thing, no need to set them up against each other.

For the record, 25% of children with peanut allergies outgrow them, but gay is for life!

(Except for Christian Recovery victims, er, "Success Cases")

We're not peanut allergy sufferers, we're peanut allergy survivors

@25: That just occurred to me, too. Do you think they'll change the lyrics to "Buy me some POPCORN and Cracker Jack" for the special occasion?

what doesnt kill my child makes them stronger.

for instance I've already decided to tell them santa isn't real at the earliest age possible. I've also prepared small tracts for them to distribute around kindergarten that has that very message on them.

and really carla, you're coming down to my level if you wish harm upon my kin. ONE OF US, ONE OF US!

Unless they bring back Buhner Buzz Night, there should be no more special nights at Safeco. No knitting night, no gay night, no free mani/pedi night, no cervical cancer awareness night. That's all minor league shit. Have you seen the M's calendar lately? You'd be hard pressed to see a game with no giveaways or non-baseball related theme.

In summary: keep Little League night and the bobbleheads, bring back Buhner Buzz Night, and toss everything else.

Well Bellevue, I highly doubt any woman would be stupid enough to reproduce with the likes of you, so I suppose it doesn't really matter anyway.

And I didn't wish harm; I didn't say I wished they would die from the allergy or the smoking, I just wonder how you'd feel about such things if you were dealing with them in your own offspring. Really BA, all smokers and people with peanut allergies should die? C'mon now.

Remember, smoked BBQ peanuts are not just unnecessary, they are an insult to both people with smoke allergies or ex-smokers and to people with peanut allergies.

No fair spilling some in their popcorn.

@30, Cracker Jacks have peanuts involved, they'll have to change more than that.

More on topic, odd that the M's are resistant to a gay friendly night, when so many other, supposedly less progressive cities are doing it...it ain't just San Francisco. What's the deal, what are they afraid of?

@35, they're probably afraid that they may have to devote nights to every single demographic subgroup. This is a stupid idea, let it die.

I understand that arguement, joykiller, but they are already doing pissloads of event nights, why not this one?

there may be no official gay night at safeco, but these lesbian softballers seem to have taken matters into their own hands... www.outatsafeco.com

I got lucky! I went through childhood without being allergic- it was only when I turned 17 and had to throw myself over a chair after eating a peanut butter sandwich!

/sorry kids
//try Cashew Butter-mmm.

Carla, I have a girlfriend that wants to have my baby. It isn't a matter of personality, it's a matter of slog persona.

For all you jackasses who missed it, stop yer goddamn victim belly-aching. The lack of a Mariners Gay Pride Night is lazy Dan Savage's fault.

@14 -- You know that wouldn't kill the babies, but would just make them more likely to have peanut allergies when they got older, right? You aren't born with a peanut allergy, but most studies show that being exposed to peanuts or related nuts as an infant dramatically increases your risk of becoming allergic later.

It is always depressing when groups of people facing discrimination target one another.

Members of sexual minorities (e.g., gays, lesbians, transgendered folks, bisexuals) face real discrimination, oppression, and violence in this country -- and the discrimination is often *legal,* for heaven sake. It's terrible. Many have died as a result. How many? Who knows? The CDC doesn't exactly keep track. Again, it's terrible.

Folks with peanut allergy or other severe food allergy have a disability that is, fortunately, protected under federal law -- not that most folks (including allergy sufferers themselves) even understand that or that laws are enforced. And food allergy sufferers are often discriminated against or even targeted for violence. Don't believe me? Read some of the comments posted here. It's awful.

Anytime groups play the "my discrimination" or "my oppression" or "my disability" is worse than yours game, everyone loses. Everyone.

I understand that the LGBT community is outraged by a recent incident at Safeco Field. It was a depressing story, and all too familiar. Horrible, though, that anyone would turn their righteous anger toward little kids with a life-threatening disability.

My daughter is severely allergic to peanuts and certain tree nuts. A tiny amount of the wrong protein going into her body can result almost instantly in massive, systemic inflammation with horrible swelling, itching, maybe GI symptoms, maybe airways swelling shut (read: rapid suffocation and potentially death), maybe even anaphylactic shock, in which a sudden, precipitous drop in blood pressure makes the heart stop beating.

If you don't believe that severe food allergy is a life-threatening disability, google "peanut allergy" and "death," for starters. Not hard to find information. Poke around at http://www.foodallergy.org.

Listen, folks, don't pick on kids with disabilities. Aside from it being totally sleazy, mean, and unethical, it's a non-sequitor.

One of the reasons, I suspect, that peanut-allergy sufferers got this lovely concession from the Mariners (something local advocates have been asking for for *years*), is because there are disability laws on the books that arguably compel private institutions like the Mariners to provide reasonable accommodation. And I do think that the two sections they are providing this season to peanut-allergy sufferers is pretty darn reasonable. There will still be risk involved for the allergics attending. The fans in other sections can as many peanuts as they like.

The LGBT community needs better legal protections. Not to bully little kids who have life-threatening disabilities.

-- A concerned reader who supports HRC (http://www.hrc.org), other pro-LGBT organizations, as well as organizations working toward a cure for severe food allergy.