The young guy who ran onto the court to kiss Rafael Nadal is probably wishing he hadn’t. Following his arrest at Arthur Ashe Stadium during the U.S. Open, kisser Noam U. Aorta is being hit with charges of third-degree criminal trespass and interfering with a professional sporting event. If he’s convicted, the judge can hammer him with the max of one year in jail and a $1500 fine.
U.S. Open organizers are freaking out about what they say is a security issue. They are tightening up. The district attorney is insisting that it could have been a replay of the 1993 incident when Monica Seles was stabbed by a spectator. Still, we LGBT folk have to wonder if the charges would have been less if Aorta had merely shaken Nadal’s hand instead of kissing him…or if pro tennis were friendly to openly gay players.
Lucky for Aorta, Nadal was evidently not eager to add sexual assault to the list of charges. The Spanish player said, “For me it wasn’t a problem. The guy was really nice. He said, ‘I love you,’ and he kissed me.”
A year behind bars seems like a heavy price to pay for an impulsive sporting-event trespass, let alone an unsolicited guy-to-guy kiss. But that’s America today. Always dedicated to keeping our “correctional” institutions crammed with as many minor nonviolent offenders as possible. Prison-guard jobs have to be protected at all costs.
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 7:28 am
Oh come on Patricia…there is no homphobia here. I doubt he’ll get a year in jail but if he does, I’m fine with it. The fact that he was able to get so close to Nadal is ridiculous. And then you have the incident at the French earlier this year with the fan running after Federer. The fact is that both of these could have been another Seles incident or like the incident in baseball where those two idiots beat the hell out of the first base coach a couple of years ago.
But the bottom line is that tennis needs to step up security. How hard can it be to secure a freakin’ tennis court, especially the main court during a night session. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to the US Open but anybody could easily jump onto the court and attack a player on one of the smaller outer courts.
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 8:55 am
Ummm I don’t see the issue of homophobia here either. I was at that match and was rattled by what happened. Just like with Federer at the French, it took me back to memories of Monica’s stabbing. That guy should never have been allowed to get that close to Nadal. While many seem to be making a lighthearted issue of it…all “hee hee ha ha” because nothing happened, its a scary reminder how vulnerable those players are on court. The fans are very close to the players…much closer than in many sports. What kind of message do you send if this guy gets a slap on the wrist? While I don’t agree with a year in jail, I do believe in a fine and probation with community service. This incident is nothing to be joking around about.
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 11:09 am
If the guy would have done the same thing to a female player, would you feel the same way?
I see no room for double standards.
Break the rules (which in this case is a criminal offense), pay the price.
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I also don’t see any homophobia here or anything of the sort. While I thought it was cute (and totally wish I was that guy
) it was completely over the line and inappropriate.
The last thing we need is another crazed fan to attack a tennis player - or any athlete for that matter. Time to beef up security!
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
wow someone really is reaching for a homophobia label here aren’t they? remember the boy who cried wolf at all?
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 8:03 pm
I agree that it’s not homophobic to charge Aorta with an offense whose elements match his alleged behaviors. That’s simply the criminal-justice system in operation.
What I am concerned about, however, is the potential for a stronger sentence based on the occurrence of a same-sex kiss. The alleged conduct constituting the offenses (trespass and interference) apparently all took place befor the kiss. Thus, it’s legitimate to be concerned that he may be punished more strongly than would another offender under the same charges, i.e., if he happens to draw a homophobic judge.
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 8:44 pm
Some clarification:
I’m not defending what Aorta did. The U.S. Open is right to beef up their security. (And what took them so long — especially after the two incidents mentioned above? And all the security precautions now taken at the Olympics?? It’s their responsibility to protect their event and their players. Aorta took impulsive advantage of the absence of barriers to rush over to Nadal.)
But I do think that WAY less media attention would have been paid to this incident if a girl player had been involved — especially since Aorta was not being violent and aggressive. From some people’s viewpoint, especially many in law enforcement, there is the euuwwww factor of an unsolicited guy-to-guy kiss. That’s the homophobia. New York prosecutors haven’t distinguished themselves in recent years for their homophile sentiments.
Should Aorta have been arrested? Sure. Should he get a year in jail and (correction on the amount) $5000 fine? No. Especially since it was an impulsive and nonviolent act. I’ve written on prison reform elsewhere, and this is something that I happen to feel strongly about. Such a sentence would be typical of the mindless and overly punitive sentences that are being handed out for misdemeanors now — sentences that ruin people’s lives. The punishment should fit the crime. In this case, I think this punishment would be excessive.
Would this sentence “send a message” about how to behave at the U.S. Open, as one commenter suggests? I doubt it. Not unless security is visibly increased, and visible barriers put up, and signs posted everywhere, and announcements made that unauthorized fan approaches to players will be dealt with rigorously. And maybe alcohol consumption should be prohibited (Aorta admitted he’d been drinking).
By themselves, stiff jail sentences don’t send messages successfully. If they did, the U.S. would have way lower stats on recidivism. And there would be a watertight argument in favor of the death penalty.
One commenter was all for probation and community service. I agree, and hope that the judge will look at the circumstances and see it that way. Especially since Nadal seemed to have no issues about it.
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Based on what happened to Seles, I believe if he went out to kiss a female player there would have been much MORE media attention, and it would’ve been much MORE critical of both the intruder and U.S. Open security.
on Sep 10th, 2009 at 11:20 pm
I heard the arguments on both sides about the amount of attention if it had been a female player, but what about a female assailant kissing Nadal, any difference there?
on Sep 11th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I’m with Joe. I think if it had been a female there would have been much MORE of an outcry, simply because women are seen as being more vulnerable and in need of more protection from men, whereas with a male player there is often the unstated belief that a man can take care of himself. I love PNW, but I think she’s got this completely backwards, and I DO think a strong sentence needs to be meted out as a future deterrent. A year in jail is probably not called for because ultimately it was not a violent crime, but a fine of several thousand dollars and a large community service commitment are definitely called for, but a cry of homophobia is not.
on Sep 11th, 2009 at 4:02 pm
I am just mad that Aorta didn’t squeeze that ass.
All jokes aside, if it has been Anna Kournikova, he would be hanging in the street with quite a few straight boys wishing that they had done it.
on Sep 11th, 2009 at 11:37 pm
When you go to an event you buy a ticket to watch not participate and with all the nut jobs running loose there should be no tolerance for attacking a player either for a kiss or something worse. This guy deserves whatever he gets. People who feel he should not get jail time should themshelves this how would the feel if someone came into there job and without warning kissed them or grabbed at them bet they would call the cops. Tired of all these excuses for unacceptable behavior.
on Sep 12th, 2009 at 6:07 pm
A fan holding a knife, whether male or female, is deadly whether the celebrity is male or female. This fan fortunately had no hidden knives, only a case of halitosis.