League dumps softball team because of lesbian coach

Memphis, Tenn. - An entire softball team has been dumped from the roster of a church league in Memphis, Tenn., because the coach is a lesbian.

The team is made up of gay and straight players who were looking for more games and more opponents. They heard about the Bellevue Baptist Church league and paid their entry fee.

However, after an organizational meeting, church officials became suspicious about their coach, Jana Jacobson.

They called her on the carpet and she came out.

"Finally, in my frustration, I said that I am going to be clear. I am gay, and I find all of this to be absurd and against the word of God as I know it," Jacobson told the Commercial-Appeal newspaper.

"I was judged by my appearance," Jacobson said. "I was brought in and questioned and I was sentenced."

Church leaders defended their actions in a video posted on the internet.

"You have to have certain standards for leadership," Pastor Steve Gaines said. "Leadership is not a right. Leadership is a privilege."

Jacobson thinks the whole thing is ridiculous when all the team wanted to do was play more softball.

"I'm not an activist," she said. "I'm just a ballplayer."