I Saw Mommy Kissing Mommy

It's a busy time in our nation's capital these days, and there are some burning questions that need answering. Like, "Why don't they have a KissCam at Mystics games?"

That's the issue that guides Mike Wise's Monday column, which bravely deals with the don't show, don't kiss policy at WNBA games in Washington D.C. And — get this — there's even some good, old-fashioned, shoe-shine reporting. Fancy that! As so often happens in the reporting process, Wise soon outs the not-so-surprising answer to his query:

Understood is that women's professional basketball has two major fan bases: dads and daughters, and lesbians. The KissCam issue, frivolous on its surface, puts the effort to cater to both audiences squarely at odds.

...

"We got a lot of kids here," Sheila Johnson, the Mystics' managing partner, said when asked last week at a game. "We just don't find it appropriate."

That's coming from the woman who goes on to say that she doesn't have a problem with Exxon, a company that scored 0/100 on the Human Rights Campaign's corporate quality index, because Exxon brings in money. It's money that the Mystics need. But that other issue-that-must-not-be-named? It might be too jarring for the children.

Granted, the Mystics are in a difficult position, just like everyone else in Washington. There are, as you might have guessed, politics involved. But it's easy to think in ideals. If only we lived in a world where love equals love — where fathers could kiss their daughters, women could kiss each other on the KissCam and Exxon could kiss away its employees' human rights. Can't we all just smooch and make up? Mystics Give Big Issue The Kiss-off [Washington Post]