Major League baseball players will no longer be allowed to make their rookie teammates dress up as women, a long-standing tradition by veteran players that the new collective bargaining agreement has deemed "offensive."
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The news was not well-received by a number of retired players, who expressed their disappointment with the new anti-hazing rule on Twitter.
How rediculous! The world has gotten 2 damn sensitive! This has been a time honored tradition. The world is full of sensitive snowflakes https://t.co/Zhadz1MXBf
— Aubrey Huff (@aubrey_huff) December 13, 2016
Getting softer and softer...SMH https://t.co/tlGdyFIgmW
— Vernon Wells (@VernonWells10) December 13, 2016
Hahaha this is ridiculous but I'm retired I don't have to abide by they're rules anymore. I'm the rookie in my new JOB!!!! https://t.co/HrPBI7dumB
— LaTroy Hawkins (@LaTroyHawkins32) December 13, 2016
Yeah, sure, banning the costumes is a start, but it doesn't change anything about the locker room culture that got us to this point. pic.twitter.com/FDZsIQ4BSp
— Kate Feldman (@kateefeldman) December 13, 2016
Kelley on new hazing policy in CBA: "It's something that is taken seriously in our society & as athletes we have to set the bar by example"
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) December 13, 2016
Some defenders of the ritual argue that it's not at all about homophobia or transphobia, but merely a way of making their teammates feel different. Critics, meanwhile, say it's an issue that society as a whole has begun taking far more seriously in recent times, one that professional athletes should also begin addressing.
A similar incident reportedly occurred in November at the Texas Rangers training facility in the Dominican Republic. Four players were accused of sexually assaulting six teammates in a dress-up style hazing ritual.